It's really stinkin' hot here. It apparently started yesterday, and should last until mid-September sometime. When I say hot, I don't mean "it's hot so I'll sit under my shade tree and drink some lemonade and be fine" hot, I mean "I'm sitting here in my underwear typing this at 12:30 in the morning with no sun in sight and sweating like I'm running through Death Valley" hot. It's a good thing September is only 3 months away...
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This past week I took a volunteer group of 50-60 year-olds to another semi-nearby city that has no Christian witness in it. This may sound like a blast, but I had my reservations before hitting the road.
To understand my apprehension, you have to know where I'm coming from. Before this past week, I had only been to this city one time. And the one time I did go, I wasn't overly impressed with the local population. Me and another team guy went down there last August and met a couple of guys. To make a long story short, they stole my partner's camera and ran away. With that in mind, I wasn't too enthusiastic about taking a group of 10 "tourists" over there for a week.
On Monday morning I drove the van over to the hotel and started the trip. We were going to be gone a week, so I stuffed my favorite and only backpack with t-shirts and underwear and hit the road. My guests weren't as economical, and fitting 15 trunks and 10 people took some doing. (Okay, it wasn't 15, but it was several). But, we got it all in there and hit the road.
It was an uneventful, and good, trip over there. The only weird thing is that my driving muscles were sore the next day. I'm not even kidding, my right forearm and my right foot were kind of sore. It's been about a year since I've driven regularly, and I guess my body has grown more used to bus-riding then car-driving.
After arriving in the city, we found the hotel and started unloading the mountain of luggage as people walked by and stared at the foreigners. No one tried to steal anything, at least. After a fun trip parking the van, I headed back to the hotel and wondered what kind of week we were going to have.
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Just like in January, the minute my class ends I hit the road. This time it's with 10 other Americans, though, who have come over for a week or so. We'll be heading to another city to meet people and be a light. I'm heading out tomorrow (Monday) and should get back Friday...
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Friday afternoon, I left my classroom a free man! That's right, LANGUAGE CLASS IS OVER!! It's been 10 months of class, homework, silly discussions, uncomfortable desks, ping pong during the breaks, and general language learning.
To be honest, I felt kind of sad as I left. There are a lot of people I won't see anymore. The class was made up completely of foreigners, and a lot of them are going back to their countries. There are several friends I probably will not see again. I really was kind of bummed out as I walked to the metro after class.
But, it's not all bad. Now that my days aren't completely filled with class, I can do more of the main stuff: meeting people and sharing truth. Plus, not hearing my alarm go off at 6 every morning will be a welcome change. I'm a graduate!! (again)
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Three weeks ago I met a really old lady while running one Friday morning. (Don't ask how, this kind of thing doesn't happen in the States. It's one reason I like this country.) Two weeks ago I went over to her house to meet her family. I met her husband and her son, who's maybe a couple of years older than I am.
We made nice conversation for a while, and it came up that the old lady ("April") has cancer. She got it a year or so ago, and it's pretty obvious that the cancer is winning. The husband and son went to another room for a while, and April and I talked alone some. Before she got cancer, she lived like most people here, calling herself a muslim but not practicing at all. When she found she had cancer, though, she started going to the mosque and praying and doing all the muslim stuff.
I asked her why she started praying and all, but I already knew the answer. She is terrified of death, she told me so herself with tears rolling down her face. She has no hope, she is going to die soon and go to hell, and she knows it. It terrifies her.
We talked for quite a while. I shared with her the only hope she's got, the gospel, and she thanked me, but told me she couldn't turn from being a muslim. I prayed with her and left some stuff with her, basically did all I could for her. Nothing mighty or showy happened, she's still going to hell. She's heard the truth, she can read it for herself now, but she hasn't really seen it. No one can make that happen but God.
I left the family a while later, completely sobered as I walked home. This is the end of billions of people's lives. Scared, hopeless, and going to hell. They fill up their lives with wordly pleasures and pursuits, not thinking about death or the life after death, just enjoying this life. But eventually, they reach a point when they can't ignore death any longer. Then they realize their hopelessness, their need for a Savior. Whatever people do in their lives, ultimately the only thing that matters is what they've done with Jesus Christ. It is a terrifying thing to come to the end of your life and realize what lies ahead after death.
It was a sobering night.
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I was having a conversation with the chicken-sandwich-maker guy in my neighborhood today, and a small part of it went a little like this:
Me - "Hey, what's your favorite food?"
Chicken-Sandwich-Maker Guy - "Uh, I don't know... (thinks a minute)...probably sheep brain."
Me - "What?" (I start to laugh, thinking he's kidding around.)
Chicken-Sandwich-Maker Guy - "Yeah, it's really good. You cut open the head, take the brain out, soak it in some water, then put it in a soup. It's really good."
Me - "That's...nice."
It was then I realized I really am in a foreign country. I'm just thankful there are chicken-sandwich-maker guys here, otherwise I'd be eating sheep brain.
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For the past week or so, I've been sharing the apartment with 3 college guys from the States. They came over to see more of the world, experience a new culture, meet new people...and eat all the fudge cookies they possibly can while they're over here. (Yeah, the cookies are pretty good.)
The guys will be over here for another week and a half or so, and things will definitely stay busy while they're here. They're doing a great job, they've met a lot of people, and it's been good to have the company. And I've never met anybody who loves fudge cookies and Walker, Texas Ranger as much as these guys. What more could you want in some roommates?
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Happy Anniversary to me! May 31 marked the halfway point of my term here. If I don't extend, I'll be coming home May 31 of next year. If I do extend, it will probably be May 31 of the year after next.
I wish this was my anniversary cake.
It's weird to think that my time here is halfway over already. What have I done? Not that much really, when you stop and look at it. I've learned a language and shared the gospel some. I don't know what else I would have liked to do, though, since I came here to learn the language and share the gospel. It's just weird to look back on a year of your life like that.
The time here has flown by, it definitely doesn't seem like a year. 4 or 5 months maybe, but not a year. I guess that's life for you. What does this next year have in store? I'm hoping to share the gospel a whole lot more, and maybe eat some cake like that one.
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