i will have to let you know tomorrow, as i have been ordered to bed until this stupid headache goes away. whether it's from the schedule and time zone change, the heat, the work, or all of it combined, i'll never know but my head is trying not to explode right now and i took the painkillers about 11 seconds before my stomach asked to join the party (thankfully, it decided not to).
but headache aside, we had a great day!! dan, tony, and rodrigo and a few church members got us all ordered and organized and at our stations. we'd left the hotel before 0730 (which is 0430 jackson time, fyi), so we were ready by 0800! it took a bit for our first visitors to come; something things tend to be fairly universal across cultures- waking up early on a saturday morning is a crazy idea. but we were there when they did come! everyone started at the evangelism tent and got a personal explanation of the gospel. then they were directed inside the church to choose a pair of reading glasses or sunglasses along with a handmade eyeglass case (made by our very own marlene!!). next was our blood pressure and accucheck station and then flip flops! marlene was running a second blood pressure machine beside me, and in the afternoon we were joined by a church members who was also a nurse. she and i both were able to counsel a few visitors and make some recommendations- a few of them a bit more earnestly and urgently- and answer some questions. we were also able to remind them that bethesda church members would be following up with them to pray for them and ask how they were doing. second to the gospel, the only other important thing i wanted to reinforce was that they were genuinely cared for by this church. this area seems to be more middle-class than other towns we've been to, so i was unsurprised than many of them were already aware of and medicated for high blood pressure and other such things. (many more lower-class areas are farther from clinics, less good insurance, and fewer opportunities to get appointments or meds). so we had 81 or so follow-up cards, but i'm not sure how many kids were outside, getting their hair cutting or face painted.
there was a little lull in the flow around 1600, but we finished our last visitor at 1710.
it was a full, wonderful day, even with the headache 😁
ways 2 praise:
*81 people on a first day is great. several indicated they wanted to return to the church, even tomorrow!
* what a blessing for church members to come be involved! our new nurse friend even got to meet a neighbor, giving another connection for relationship
ways 2 pray:
* pray for bethesda church, as they worship tomorrow and as they follow up with those who came today. it can get discouraging at times, when many people say "yes" to things at first, but forget about or juat reject church and God and anything religious once they get home.
* pray for the 81 (and more) seeds that were planted. with so many being catholic (or at least nominally "catholic), there is likely less of a felt need for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. no matter how long it takes, pray these seeds bear fruit
*pray for our team, both the american and brasilian parts. besides my headache (which is thankfully fading even now), one american is fighting a sinus infection, and the heat is draining, especially on a few of our retired members.
*just pray some more. i've been reading a book on missions in muslim-dominated areas, and time after time it proves how foundational, how vital, how absolutely and definitively essential prayer is for *any* mission work. none of this "work" we do here is worth a hill of beans without Holy Spirit doing His work.
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