Tears

The thing I hate about living here is the sadness and pain that comes with it. I was on my way to the office to write this blog and someone said, "you'd better hurry if you want to say goodbye to the two boys". Two boys left, just like that. Their mom came and took them. No real good-byes, they just got in the car and left. These two boys had lived in my house when I was here before. One of them was in my English class now. I was working especially with him, and we were making progress, and now he's just gone. I don't even really know how to describe how I feel right now. A little angry, sad, and part of me knows that life will just keep right on going as normal. I don't understand what God is doing. I want those boys to stay here. But it's not my decision. Good thing God is in control and not me. But that doesn't take the sadness away.

In other news, I wrote last time about the week of prayer. We finished off this weekend with communion. I don't really know if it had any effect on the kids or not, but it was good for me. I began to pray every day this week for God to send "divine appointments", and He sent them every day. Maybe nothing extraordinary, but just chances at meaningful conversations, getting to know people more than just at a surface level. And some of the conversations took surprising turns. I heard stories of what brought people here, stories of how they became Adventist, stories of their lives. Sharing stories is just such an incredible experience, praise God for His answers to prayer.

It's been a busy weekend. It began Friday evening as all the Sabbath School classes met together to practice their part for 13th Sabbath. Each class was supposed to present a drama or a song or something. I somehow missed out on what my class was doing, but I ended up helping with the younger kids - we sang "Father Abraham" and did the motions. But I ended up playing the piano to accompany several of the groups, plus playing for the normal hymns and such, plus playing during communion, so I felt like I was up front the entire day. It was quite a long service, but hopefully it was meaningful. I spent the afternoon helping one of the kids prepare for the talent show in the evening. It turned out really well - we had songs and poems and dramas, a lot of them people who don't normally get up front, so that was pretty cool. Today we missionaries decided to go help out in one of the houses. The mom was making pupusas to sell, so we helped watch the kids, do some cleaning around the house, that kind of thing. It turned out really good, she really appreciated our help. Today was also visitors day (when relatives can come visit the kids), so some of the kids were occupied with that. It's really exciting for those who have visitors, and really sad for those who don't.

I guess the thing I've been learning this week is that God is often working behind the scenes where we can't always see what He is doing. Our prayers are vital, and He is answering them, in His own time, His own way. I still have a dream for revival in this place. I'm still praying that God will work miracles here.

"What He opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open...see, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut" Revelation 3:7,8