Immense

Psalm 81:10 "I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it."

I always thought this verse sounded kind of funny with the metaphor that God was using...but as I look back on this past week...I realize that we have received some immense answers to prayer.  As a team, we have petitioned the Lord for opportunities regarding reaching out in our community.  This Sunday us four girls had a chance to host five young students at our house for an Easter celebration.  We shared the story of Easter with them...and all of them said it was their first time to hear about it.  Afterward, we introduced them to a more 'American tradition'...Easter egg painting.  We had a really good time with them and were so grateful for the chance to tell them a little more about our faith.  Some of our students want so much to spend time with us, that they'll come to church with us, even if they are practicing Buddhists!  If we can't understand the service, at least they can... our prayer is that while we are here, and after we leave, the students we have gotten to know will think about the way that we American teachers are different, and seek out more about the faith they see in us.  

Us four girls are trying to organize a Saturday program we can have for a small group of students.  Most of our Saturdays are spent doing something with them, but we really want to start a consistent time to get together.  We could really use your prayers - a lot of times for us the weekend is so easy to just take for ourselves and rest after the school week than struggle for several hours over a language barrier with young teenagers.

For everyone back home who has been praying for my safety overseas...your prayers came in handy today.  I had my first car + bike accident - and I was on the bike.  I was on my way to the store to pick up some bacon for dinner, when a parallel parked car started to pull out into the road.  There wasn't enough time for me to stop or swerve away.  The front tire of my bike hit the front fender and I lurched into my handlebars and got flipped sideways onto my back.  I was stunned, but I was also laying in the road, so I jumped up and went to my bike.  The tire was at an almost right-angle with my handlebars and the right pedal was stuck under the front of the car.  I yanked it out, (I must confess not really caring if I was damaging the vehicle that had just inflicted such trauma to my person) and tried to get back on...that's when I realized about the handle bars.  I put the tire between my knees and twisted the bars back into position and hoped that it would stay put - I still had to go get the bacon.  I was still shaking when I got home, and a little bit bruised, but as I look back, it could have been so much more serious.  God has his hand over me, and it's such a safe feeling to realize that nothing can happen to me that He does not allow.  My name is written on His hand and everywhere I am He is continually aware of my needs.  -Isaiah 49:16 "Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me."