I overslept and missed church. Actually, I woke up at my usual 6 a.m., but fell back asleep. Ended up going to CCI for the English service. Jairo and Lourdes have been encouraging me to do that for a while. They say I need to have North American friends. Now that I have a car I can go! The first person I met was actually Honduran. It was a good service. I enjoyed singing in English. At the end I overheard some people describing where the live because they needed a ride home. Turns out they live basically across the street from me.
We talked and talked on the way home. Then they invited me in for watermelon. Part of me thought maybe this is not a good idea because I really don't know them. But I got a good feeling from them and they knew a lot of people at the church. They have been missionaries for 28 years and are doing some incredible things. They know Jairo too. So I figured they weren't going to kidnap me. In the end I think I made a new friend. Her name is Kim. We have plans to get together every Wednesday afternoon to talk and practice Theophostic Prayer Ministry. She also invited me to a women's bible study, but it's kind of out of the way and I would have to talk to Jairo before I joined a bible study with people from another church. I think he would be okay with it, but not sure.
It was kind of funny because I had mentioned to Marcela (my landlord's daughter) that I would be home around 6 pm. Even though I am a grown woman I felt like I needed to check in and let her know I was fine when I didn't go straight home. I didn't want her family to worry about me. In the whole time I've been here I've never hung out anywhere except with people from our church. It was strange, in a good way, to be out making friends of my own. Many of the people who go to that church service live nearby. I may make more friends in the future, but for now it was nice to click with Kim.
Kim just moved into this house. Her last house got broken into. She told me a story about a 3 masked men with machetes and a gun breaking in and holding one of her daughters at gunpoint. They ransacked the house, then left. The same three men broke into her friend's house and held her friend at gunpoint. Apparently they don't care if you are home or not. Scary!
At church we prayed for rain, then came home to wet roads. There was a little splattering of rain an hour ago, but nothing that amounts to anything. When I left for church the land directly across the road was burning pretty hard. After an evening of watermelon, conversation and zucchini bread, I came home to find the firemen controlling the fire. Here they don't put out the fire, the get it under control and then leave.
Besides praying for rain, the man prayed about the lack of joy in this city. I thought to myself that I see some horrible things, but overall, there is never a lack of joy in my environment. What a blessing! The breakfast program is full of joy. Most of the people I know are generally happy people. We do not lack for joy around here. During a time of prayer I really had nothing to ask God for so I just had a time of praise. I finally have a car and it seems like a great one. I am happy and safe. I have a lot of people who care about me and who include me in the things they do. I get to work with awesome kids and great adults every day. My family and friends are healthy. What more could I ask for? If my heart is not full of joy I have no one to blame but myself.
