Sardines on the 4th of July

The past few days consisted of 4th of July and church on Sunday.

To be entirely honest, I was dreading 4th of July. It is that one 'family & friends' holiday that is always so much fun and memorable, but I would be spending away. Nevertheless, Saturday turned out to be quite the cultural experience. Our schedule said "Prey and Fasting" Service on July 4th. Yes, P-R-E-Y. We were very unsure of what to expect, but sure enough at 2:00 Tomas picked us up for the service. It turned out to be an hour long ride to a small "hut church." It had already begun, but we found our place and tried our best to sing along. The service turned into a worship service and at the end there were different areas to pray for different topics, so everyone prayed aloud and lifted up different people and situations in prayer. It was about 4:00 when the service was over and we walked outside with some of the Nazarene youth that we knew from the Seminary. The youth told us that they were taking us home instead of Tomas, so we needed to walk to the bus stop! An adventure was coming, we were all sure of it as soon as we heard those words. So along with everyone that was in the service, we walked through the mud and dirt to the bus stop. It was actually just a corner of the dirt road, crowded with people selling things, and some others waiting for a bus just like we were. After about 15 minutes the crowd starting running towards a bus up ahead, so we did too! It was a normal sized city bus and it looked to me like we would have a pretty "normal" ride home. That thought didn't last long as we all began to cram in the bus like sardines. Each set of seats (made to seat two) sat about four and the isle wide enough to hold one person standing up, held about three. I am serious when I say sardines. I sat on Kaylee's lap, next to a lady with her child on her lap. I couldn't help but laugh at this situation - Kaylee and I found it surprisingly humorous. I don't think there was another option. All I could think of was how thankful I was that it is winter here, because it was hot on that thing! Through all the excitement, we made it home safely and managed to keep the cookouts and fireworks off our minds for the evening. We made a great dinner of homemade mac n' cheese, thank you Google, and ended up enjoying our cultural 4th of July experience!

Sunday was a pretty low key day. Church was surprisingly shorter than most days and we didn't even have to eat anything there when it was over. It was a nice break and a relaxing day. The slow pace of the day made me a little homesick. I began feeling a little overwhelmed as I thought about the things we still want to do here and our sometimes unreliable transportation situation. Thankfully the Lord hears all and is our true source of comfort. He definitely has the perfect timing and is with us in these times. Through the past weeks, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 has been an incredible source of comfort:

"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.""

I know that Christ is strongest in me when I am weak... I have learned to cherish these times as hard as it may be, and let him work. We all know that he has plans for the remainder of our time here as things wrap us. Please continue to pray that we will all stay driven and determined to finish out these last few weeks strong. Today was a great day and thankfully, Tomas took us grocery shopping! (See, why do I even start to worry?) :) Tomorrow we will continue with our scheduled After School Program and begin preparing for our giant birthday party on Friday... I am so excited for that! Thank you for all your love and prayers... I am truly blessed to have all of you.

Love Always, Allyson