Remember, Remember, this November

Quick update on November. The thankful month. A time in which we are reminded to remain in gratitude. For us in Oaxaca, November was full of big changes, huge rewards, and ginormous steps forward.

The month began with a wonderful event at our church, Lluvias de Gracia. Twenty-two people were baptized!

They each shared a bit about why they wanted to publicly and officially state their faith, and the whole congregation was in tears. Dads helped baptize their youth as they walked with them through the next step in their faith.

Families were baptized together as they promised to challenge each other and grow. And some were baptized with the knowledge that such a step would ostracize them from their families and villages. The whole church came together to support and encourage those being baptized, and we were able to see and feel how the church is truly a family. The church has also been visiting a village that was hit hard by the earthquakes the last couple of months. Over 60 people have accepted the Lord there, and we are so excited!

The month continued with activities and ministry, busy as always. I was able to give a talk at our school’s youth group on depression. It was a tough conversation to have, and yet it opened the door for the youth to come to us leaders with questions and concerns. As heavy-hearted as I feel when I learn about the difficult things our youth deal with, I am glad to have the opportunity to work through these things with them. The 9/10 English class is currently reading The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, a book that has led to many excellent conversations about their walk with God. In my last blog, I wrote about how I see my life oftentimes reflected in the life of Moses. My students are writing a paper on their lives reflected in a Bible character. The purpose of the paper is to look at the people in the Bible as real, with real struggles and weaknesses. Then, as they compare those to their own lives, they can also see the hope and the purpose to be a huge part of the story of God in the world. It has been a cathartic, self-reflective activity so far.

As of a couple of weeks ago, I took over teaching the 7/8 English class at OCS, in addition to the 9-12 I was already teaching. It was truly sad to say goodbye to one of our teachers, and it is overwhelming knowing that I am the sole English teacher now. I am, however, excited to have the entire High School working on a similar rhythm. I also happen to love the books they read at that stage, so it will be fun.

OCS is all about community, and we get to do fun things with our students. To promote school spirit this month, we had Spirit Week!

We dressed up, played games, and had a carnival to finish it off.

I love being able to connect with the students (especially since I now teach all of the High School) inside and outside of class. For Youth Group, we had an all-girls tea party at my house this month as well. It was an opportunity for us to dress up, have fun, but also talk about our worth in Christ. It was probably my favorite youth activity this month, and encouraging the girls and watching them encourage each other brought everyone together.

At the end of the month, the team that has been working together in women’s outreach here in the city was able to travel to Mexico City to learn from a program that is currently running there. We spent a couple of days watching their program and asking millions of questions. They have classes and counseling and staff and teams and so much, and it was so encouraging for us to see where we could take our project. It was a confirmation that we are on the right track. It was also proof that we’ve grown and learned so much in the year that we’ve been working. Due to the sensitive nature of our project, I will not share more details, but please send me an email if you would like to know more about our project.

So as the month of thankfulness wraps up, I’d like to take a moment of gratitude. I’m grateful to work in a job/s that I’m passionate about. I’m grateful for the teams of people that work alongside me. I’m grateful to work at something that so clearly impacts others, and even myself, and that furthers the Kingdom daily. I’m grateful that God has chosen me to participate in and see His work.

Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and support!