02-17-20
It has been a really long time since I've written a blog and I'm sorry for that. In the past couple of months a lot has happened. Lots of laughs, lots of new experiences, lots of lessons of which I am very thankful for. The Lord has truly blessed me with five months (so far) filled with learning and growth. Over the past few weeks I am seeing some lessons the Lord is teaching me, and just how he has allowed me to experience new things for His glory. I feel like I am constantly learning of God's sovereignty and being reminded that I really can rest in His plan. Even the struggles I have he knows, and it is really comforting to know He has a plan for everything. It is also comforting to know that God reveals struggles and allows us to go through difficult or stressful times so he can teach us more about himself, ourselves, and others. The past couple of months have been really full leading to some stress, but a lot of growth and fun. Full of new things like the Italy team joining us here in Cape Verde, new additions to my schedule, and new island experiences.
The Global Year team from Italy has joined us here in Cape Verde for 90 days due to their visa only allowing them to remain in Italy for 90 days at a time and leave the country for 90 days in order to return. There are seven of them including their leader, two girls, five boys - evening out our original seven girls and two boys but I really love them so much!! They arrived January 8th and since they have arrived our teams have truly meshed and we are a really big family. It has been so amazing to introduce them to Cape Verde and share our experiences and skills to work together to serve the Lord. They have challenged our team to bond and explore more as they are really close and love to be adventurous. One really obvious way they have helped us here in Cape Verde is just the simple fact that because our team has grown, our ministry opportunities have grown as well. We are involved in a couple more house studies, another English class and other opportunities. I am really thankful to have the Italy team here. It is really nice to have other people in the same stage of life as you, experiencing the same thing as you so that you can grow and learn from each other.
With the Italy team's arrival, my schedule changed and I am now focusing on teaching English with Jonathan, and Emerson, from Italy, and Jacob who has been in Cape Verde. This has been a challenge but defiantly a blessing. I have loved getting to know my teammates, new and old, better and learning how to organize and execute a basic English class. We teach Tuesday through Friday in two locations: ICCA, and Skola di Vida. We have been teaching in Skola di Vida for a few months now and will continue but classes at ICCA are new and are going really well. So far our focus has been on teaching them some basic, using songs and some fun interactive games, along with ending our classes with a Bible story to teach them about Jesus.
One last new thing has been the opportunity I had to go on a short term trip to the island called Brava. Brava means "wild" or "untamed" and it is exactly that. The island is mountainous and beautiful and also known for it's flowers. This is the smallest island in Cape Verde and has a very small population and an even smaller population of believers. Although the island was the first reached with the gospel, there are few true believers and only a Catholic church, and a Nazarene church present on the Island. A few teammates and I, two of our Pastors, Judjuka and her husband from Brava and another woman from our church set out for Brava on a five hour boat ride. We arrived safely and with a mission that we would visit Judjuka's family, do house visits/evangelism and just try to sow seeds and water seeds that have been sowed. Our trip was only four days including travel, but it was a really special time. I was humbled by the people's openness and hospitality, and walked in awe at how our pastor sang with us and how he easily recounted Bible stories in homes. Our time at Brava was sweet, and uncomfortable, but we got to see how the Lord is working in their hearts. We were able to witness a few people coming to Christ and encourage those who are already believers. I left feeling full, yet challenged that my faith needed to grow and thankful for the time I got to spend with my team and leaders. My favorite part was spending time with my Pastors, Pastor Manuel and Pastor Scho. They are so strong and lead with such joy yet with an ferverence for the Gospel and Jesus. I am really thankful to have been able to spend time talking with them, singing, and just walking with them.
Please be praying for Brava. The people there do not really have leaders other than themselves to grow in their faith. Pray that a fire would start in their hearts to share what they know and a fire to grow in God's word and their relationship with Him. Please also be praying for my team as we continue to mesh, work and grow together.