After the first week of me teaching classes, I don't have a voice!!! I finally got my schedule for classes late tuesday morning, and I have 5 classes to teach on tuesday and 5 classes to teach on thrusdays... Thursday went well, just about all of my classes cooperated with me, listened and were good students, however, I was left without a voice!!!! My schedule now constists of teachign 10 hours, and working translating 5 hours on wednesdays, plus, working in 3 church plants, being in charge of 3 children's ministries!! I'm sure keeping busy, and God is giving me the strength and understanding each day that I need to do His work!!
Let's see, work in the church plants is taking some shape and form. . . Seeing restults as we devote more time to prayer and fasting for the children and for the churches, communitites. This coming week, Wednesday we are going to have a special service in Punta de Mata for the children where we are going to annoint the children with oil, because the environment there has been very rough. Keep these children in your prayers. They come from poor, broken homes with tough living and family conditions!!
Other news, a last minute decision from my part, this Sunday, tomorrow, I am going to be baptized here in the A Dios Sea La Gloria, church. I talked with Pastor Casto about some doubts I had about baptism and if I needed to be baptized. . I felt an un-easiness so to speak because I hadn't been baptized with my personal decision and conscience. Pastor Casto encouraged me to take advantage of this opportunity!
God is taking me to a new level, higher level spiritually, and it's been a tough process to learn but It's been good, to be able to grow and learn, change. Still learning, stilll growing, still changing. . Learning to spend quality time, real quality time with God daily, to listen clearly to His voice, and follow his calling. Go deeper, into who God really is and fall in love with God. Go deeper in prayer, learn how to pray, how to interecede, be a woman of prayer. (Things may seem very simple, or normal thats what the Christian life is all about, but making each of these REAL in everyday life, wow, what a difference.)
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Saturday, September 13, 2008
What am I up to now??
Well, and now. . . . Tuesday the 16th, I start classes again, teaching in the school. Unfortunetly I don't know what classes I will be teaching - well what grades. I know I have 1 class of Christian education 2nd grade. . . English classes but I don't know what grades.. Planning is tricky - I feel un-prepared to start classes again. God knows what he is doing. That is the most important. I am finally updating, as well as cleaning the house and all the other maintence that needs done and I just haven't had time to do it. I'm learning and enjoying the importance and intimate time with God, reading his word and praying. How things get done, and how things, people change, is through prayer and fasting. I am learning, slowly but surely to implement these important spiritual disciplines in my daily life. . . How refreshing it is just to be in God's presence, and enjoy His presence.
. . . Caracas . . .
I forgot to mention that our team consisted of Jose, Jhonmar (Jose's brother), and Luis Guillermo. 3 guys and myself, the only girl. We arrived at the church and were greeted by youth and families from the church. They already had our night planned because it was the birthday of one of the girls from the youth group!! We ate an arepa and headed off to the house. I was kinda tired from the bus ride. For the most part felt okay. We had a time of worship and sharing the word in this house and the only thing I could do was cry. Through out the entire week, everytime I was in the presence of God, the only thing I could do was cry. God changing my heart, working in my character, and my love for Him. The week was filled with prayer, fasting, evangelism, house visits, evangelism, arepas, pasta, arepas, pasta, arepas and more pasta. It was a time were God called me farther out of my comfort zone,to pray with people, to bring a word of encouragement to people. The leaders in Caracas asked me to pray, to give a word. God glorified himself. Most of all changed my heart toward Caracas, and Venezuela. . . gave me more of a passion, more desire to pray, and to be in communion with God. To end the trip we had a little connection to attend a Jesus Adrian Romero Concert - an amazing worship leader!!
WEEK FOUR: Arriving back from Caracas monday morning, resting a little, wednesday work with childrens ministries, thrusday I'm asked to help with a children's camp, helping with planning and preparations for childrens camp. Friday same, and seminar to attend about finances and leadership and childrens ministry to lead. . . Began problems with electricity here in the entire country, where the electricity will go out randomly for minutes, to hours. .
WEEK FIVE: Monday first day of children's camp - my job to be incharge of the 5 year olds. Lead the class, the crafts, and stay with the 5 year olds. No one shows up for the welcome, songs, to start - kids are running in the sanctuary, being kids. I lead games and songs as intro, divided into the classes, gave the class, in the afternoon they asked me to lead games and recreation, . . . . following day. . . . all over again I became 'in charge' of everything. . . . At the end of 2 full days working with kids I was exhausted!!! Wednesday work with childrens ministry, thrusday arrived a Pastor and his son from the United states, and Friday began Missions conference. Thrusday - Monday, spent just about all day every day translating!!!!!!!!!!!! Through all of this God is showing me how he wants to use me, He wants me to step up and allow Himself to work through me. The gentle reminder that I am just a tool that God wants to use, I am just clay in the potters hands. If I allow God to use me, if I forget about myself, my gifts and talents, my fears, and weaknesses and just let God use me how He wants to, He receives the Glory and the Honor. . . That's how our lives should be.
WEEK FOUR: Arriving back from Caracas monday morning, resting a little, wednesday work with childrens ministries, thrusday I'm asked to help with a children's camp, helping with planning and preparations for childrens camp. Friday same, and seminar to attend about finances and leadership and childrens ministry to lead. . . Began problems with electricity here in the entire country, where the electricity will go out randomly for minutes, to hours. .
WEEK FIVE: Monday first day of children's camp - my job to be incharge of the 5 year olds. Lead the class, the crafts, and stay with the 5 year olds. No one shows up for the welcome, songs, to start - kids are running in the sanctuary, being kids. I lead games and songs as intro, divided into the classes, gave the class, in the afternoon they asked me to lead games and recreation, . . . . following day. . . . all over again I became 'in charge' of everything. . . . At the end of 2 full days working with kids I was exhausted!!! Wednesday work with childrens ministry, thrusday arrived a Pastor and his son from the United states, and Friday began Missions conference. Thrusday - Monday, spent just about all day every day translating!!!!!!!!!!!! Through all of this God is showing me how he wants to use me, He wants me to step up and allow Himself to work through me. The gentle reminder that I am just a tool that God wants to use, I am just clay in the potters hands. If I allow God to use me, if I forget about myself, my gifts and talents, my fears, and weaknesses and just let God use me how He wants to, He receives the Glory and the Honor. . . That's how our lives should be.
5 or 6 weeks later. . . .
I have had a pretty eventful past couple months actually.. 6 weeks. The WEEK ONE: I was on "vacation" to the mountains, called La Colonia Tovar. It is a German settlement, and now a toursit town, where all the buildings have a german look, white with black lines.. It was a good time I enjoyed the 'cool' temperature, and the refreshing coolness of the mountains. The landscape was amazing, breathtaking. However, it was a time where I was wreslting, as I wanted to go on vacation to relax, and refresh my spirit, to spend time with God kinda as a retreat, and to me God was silent. . . Through His silence He was preparing me for the weeks to come and the events that were to come!!
We return home from the Colonia, about 8 hour car adventure, through mountains, curves, tunnels, and Caracas (the capital city). Back to work, in one of the church plants with the childrens ministry. And for me more work preparing a seminar for youth to teach, train youth about missions. . . Deciding what was the most important to share, and how to deliver the message, took time preparing.
WEEK TWO: Missions training - I go to the church to help out with missions training and to my surprise they don't have ANY help, so during my week of vacation - God was talking to me about this missions training and even though I am ''on vacation" for this time - I felt him telling me, "Heidi, you are here to help and to serve, be willing to help in any and all areas that you can." SO I told the young man who was in charge, Jose Noguera, that hey, I'm willing to help in whatever, the house, the car, cooking, leading games, leading a team - if you need leaders etc. So he put me in the kitchen to help cook, then run errands, then put me in charge of team building games and activities, plus the missions class that I was in charge of, and to be a co- leader of a team. I was okay there were a lot of leaders need and a lot of different cities that they were going to so I was okay with that b/c there was one city that I didn't want to go to. . . CARACAS was the only city/ trip I didn't want to go on. Tuesday I give my first class and the youth are great very responsive very eager to learn and to serve. And Tuesday night as we were closing the day, the guy with the list to team leaders and places was sitting next to me, and I saw part of the list so I was like, Hey let me see that list. . . In my heart, I knew, one of those feelings, my name is going to be next to the city of Caracas. Sure enough, there it was Caracas - Jose Noguera, Heidi Hoover. I knew, that it was God sending me to Caracas, I didn't understand why. But I understood that it was GOD. The rest of the week was great with training, getting to know more youth of the church, sharing with them, talking to them. Also time to prepare and pack for Caracas, help send off the other missions teams.
WEEK THREE: Caracas - We leave at 8:00 in the morning for a long 8 hour bus ride to Caracas. The whole bus Jose was talking with me, asking me questions, and sharing a lot of things. We were sitting right where the name of the bus was so we couldn't see any of the scenery.. We arrive in Caracas and I'm expecting tons, and tons of people and crowds that are horrible. We arrive and 2 leaders from the church are waiting for us at the bus terminal to guide us through Caracas, to the metro - subway, and to the church. . The subway, not bad either - it actually reminded me of Santiago, Chile.
We return home from the Colonia, about 8 hour car adventure, through mountains, curves, tunnels, and Caracas (the capital city). Back to work, in one of the church plants with the childrens ministry. And for me more work preparing a seminar for youth to teach, train youth about missions. . . Deciding what was the most important to share, and how to deliver the message, took time preparing.
WEEK TWO: Missions training - I go to the church to help out with missions training and to my surprise they don't have ANY help, so during my week of vacation - God was talking to me about this missions training and even though I am ''on vacation" for this time - I felt him telling me, "Heidi, you are here to help and to serve, be willing to help in any and all areas that you can." SO I told the young man who was in charge, Jose Noguera, that hey, I'm willing to help in whatever, the house, the car, cooking, leading games, leading a team - if you need leaders etc. So he put me in the kitchen to help cook, then run errands, then put me in charge of team building games and activities, plus the missions class that I was in charge of, and to be a co- leader of a team. I was okay there were a lot of leaders need and a lot of different cities that they were going to so I was okay with that b/c there was one city that I didn't want to go to. . . CARACAS was the only city/ trip I didn't want to go on. Tuesday I give my first class and the youth are great very responsive very eager to learn and to serve. And Tuesday night as we were closing the day, the guy with the list to team leaders and places was sitting next to me, and I saw part of the list so I was like, Hey let me see that list. . . In my heart, I knew, one of those feelings, my name is going to be next to the city of Caracas. Sure enough, there it was Caracas - Jose Noguera, Heidi Hoover. I knew, that it was God sending me to Caracas, I didn't understand why. But I understood that it was GOD. The rest of the week was great with training, getting to know more youth of the church, sharing with them, talking to them. Also time to prepare and pack for Caracas, help send off the other missions teams.
WEEK THREE: Caracas - We leave at 8:00 in the morning for a long 8 hour bus ride to Caracas. The whole bus Jose was talking with me, asking me questions, and sharing a lot of things. We were sitting right where the name of the bus was so we couldn't see any of the scenery.. We arrive in Caracas and I'm expecting tons, and tons of people and crowds that are horrible. We arrive and 2 leaders from the church are waiting for us at the bus terminal to guide us through Caracas, to the metro - subway, and to the church. . The subway, not bad either - it actually reminded me of Santiago, Chile.
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