Needless to say it went as well as it probably could have. There were many points that I got stuck where I was bailed out by the pastor (I was very thankful for his presence).
For instance, talking about the imputation of our sin to Christ and His righteousness to us (in its forensic nature) would have been hard for me to find the words in English nevertheless in Spanish.
I was a little discouraged with my Spanish as I didn't see it as functional. However, I have been told that this is a normal process of learning the language. I'm thankful for the patience of the students, as well as my teachers. Thank you very much for your prayers and I hope that you'll continue praying for this throughout my time here.
In other news, we have been doing a lot of street evangelism and ESL promotion in the area surrounding Harbor church. We also did some visitation of some church (which I really enjoyed), and we were able to show our faces more in the community of city heights. This is an incredibly diverse community and we were able to interact with a lot of people.
Jim De Witt flew from Michigan the other day, and Dave Diaso joined us again as well. Along with Ray Call, we went around the neighborhood talking to people and promoting our ESL classes. We also met with leadres of a youth outreach program in the neighborhood in order to discuss a feasible way to reach the parents of this youth group.
I also had an opportunity to go with the Call family to a park down by the border. From the parking lot, the beach was only about a mile away. We could see the border and the TJ just south of it. The fence runs right into the ocean, and we were also able to see a lot of helicopter training and also so action with the Border patrol. However, we didn't walk close enough to see if it was actually something interesting. The following pictures are from that trip. (click on the panoramas to see them enlarged.)
 |
| Panorama of beach. |
 |
| Helicopter (possibly border patrol...not sure) |
 |
| Here is another panorama with TJ in the background |
 |
| Part of the walk to the beach |
 |
| Cool car in the parking lot |
Dear Brave Warrior Zach,
ReplyDeleteWe are so very proud of you and when I read that you were teaching the Word in Spanish, WOW! That's huge! Please know for those whom you are ministering the Word unto, that the fact that you are exercising their native tongue, no matter how badly you might mess up, this means a great deal to the folks. And the street evangelism, WOW that's huge too. Nothing more difficult than street evangelism, but on the POWER side, nothing will build your witness, your strength in Him and your confidence in whose you are than street evangelism. Talking about putting on the full armor of God!
Again my dear “guirded” up brother, “having done all, stand firm” in the word! I have this word for you, "Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. (Colossians 4:2-6 ESV)
In His Mission,
Woody & Cheri Woodward
Thank you so much Mr. Woodward! Your words are very encouraging, and I thank you for your prayers and support! It really means a lot that people are praying for me and the work that is being done here in SD/TJ.
ReplyDelete