My plan of writing a blog every week or 2 and newsletter every month has failed dramatically but I hope and pray you forgive me and enjoy the little I manage to get out no matter how little it is. This last month or so has been one of challenge. As I was going through the hassle of renewing my visa I realised that I have been here 2 years now, and now nearly 2 1/2 years!! time really flies and I now feel completely at home here in the culture and in the ministry of El Refugio. However, this can be a dangerous thing, as many of you know this is not my end goal, my vision is to have a ministry that reaches out to girls caught in sexual exploitation. I always said I would need at least 2 years here to be learn the language and culture well enough to even think about starting anything on my own, however now that 2 years has gone past so I have felt challenged to make a start. For several months now I have had information about 2 non Christian NGO projects working in this area and I need to ring them to visit and discuss with them the problems and gaps in service for these children. However, being "comfortable" leads to non-action, so I have set myself the deadline of my trip to the UK to do all the research I can so that I can write a mission plan while I am at home.
Thus far I have read all the information on the websites and some local government papers about action plans etc (no mean feat in Spanish!) but I still haven't over come that hurdle of actually ringing the projects. I know it seems strange for a former call centre worker, but the idea of ringing fills me with terror! I remember the foreign callers we had and how it was a struggle to understand them and for them to make themselves understood! I still ask Johanna, my Colombian colleague, to call my health insurance call centre every month!! But it is something I need to do, I have sent them emails but not had any replies, so I need to bite the bullet, get out of my comfort zone and contact them to make the appointment to go and see them. Please pray for me to have confidence in myself and my Spanish in order to go forward in this research and this plan to start the ministry.
Other challenges have been on a more personal level, although I am succeeding in my goal to loose weight, my other personal goal of spending more time with God is not going so well. At the end of last year my walk with God was not so good, so I decided to change that and with help of some good Christian friends I came up with a workable plan of getting some quiet time into my daily routine. However, my constant battle with my TV addiction keeps taking first place! Even here in Colombia access to UK and American TV is possible online, and as such is on demand! I need to continue to put my quiet time first and then watch TV not the other way round. I am reminded of the passage in Romans 7 where Paul talks about knowing the good you should do but not doing it, it is a constant battle against the flesh to do what you know is right and Godly!! I am fully aware that I am on the front line of a spiritual battle here and I am wanting to and planning to go even further into enemy territory so my relationship with God needs to be as close as possible in order to not get beaten down. Please pray for me in this too, as Paul finishes in this passage:
"What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body
of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
I take relief in knowing that I am not alone in this struggle and that even Paul struggled, also that I am doing better than I was, even if I am not where I want to be yet. We are all in a process, sometimes we go forwards, some times backwards, sometimes we plateau. However, We need to desire and strive to carry on moving forward.
I hope you guys are all well and moving forward personally, spiritually and in every way :)
Many blessings
Petra
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