This blog entry is a little bit different, as rather than focusing on what I’ve been doing, I’m going to focus on me, specifically the most important feature of my life, my faith in God.
I feel moved to write this entry for two reasons, God to me is central to everything that I am and do, and also today has been a wonderful day which has really helped to lift me spiritually. To all of you reading this, whether Christian or non-Christian, please think about what I’m saying, as I believe faith in the TRUE God is the single most important thing you can have. I hope non-believers will understand my God better and believers may be challenged or encouraged by this.
This week has been especially challenging for a number of reasons including a meeting, which was held on Tuesday, which discussed options for next year. There were some very different ides put forward which I think would un do all the hard work put in so far and so at next week’s meeting there will be some tough discussions. It did send me into a little quandary- if these changes are forced forward, could I stay and teach still? I don’t know. But I’ve been praying about this a lot and God has sent me 2 verses of scripture 3 times in the last 3 days so I’m guessing that’s my answer (Jer 17:7-8).
Since I arrived here I’ve struggled to go to church regularly as the only English Service is on a the same time as my Sunday school class. This has been difficult as I really value the instruction of a preacher and the encouragement that can be sought from being in relationship with other believers, however last night at a fellowship group a guy mentioned a house church that had meeting every Sunday afternoon. I went today and it was AMAZING! A real Spirit filled church, full of JOYFUL worship, teaching and time for fellowship and mutual encouragement. I really can’t express how happy this made me, being in God’s presence and receiving communion for the first time since May. I felt very emotional as I was reminded of the sacrifice that God made, but also joyful as I drank the wine, symbolising being washed clean and made righteous by the blood of Jesus Christ!
A real positive this week has been the coming to faith of one of my students. He admitted a couple of days ago that he had woke up in the middle of the night, knowing that Christ was real and he then gave his whole heart to Him. I ropy that this initial enthusiasm does not die when he goes back to his parents. He said that he had watched my behaviour and liked it. He had seen the changes in me since before I was a Christian, he talked about my stopping smoking and drinking and also how we can come to the throne of God and ask for anything, big or small.
A real low was earlier today. One of my students wanted me to go into a boxing ring with him however I’m not comfortable with this. The bible teaches us to love, to be meek, to be gentle and to turn the other cheek. I’m not sure how trying to cause someone else pain fits in with this but he didn’t accept the argument. Unfortunately one of his main reasons for this was me. He sees how I act with people in class and challenged me what was the difference from me hitting a student to someone playing football to another playing boxing. Whilst the comparison to football I felt was a little stretched, clearly there is no difference between me hitting a student and two people boxing and it saddened me to realise how I had affected him. I know that I, like all Christians, am still a sinner but this was a second reminder that others are watching and following. This to me is a big challenge to be careful how I act and speak at ALL times.
So to summarise I would like to make two points. God listens and answers prayers, in the most wonderful and unexpected ways. Two. What we do really does affect others, sometimes positively and sometimes negatively and we should all be aware of this.
