Ladies Camp

Last Thursday, Saturday and Sunday were definitely days to remember.  It really was a blessing to spend time with my sisters in Christ and to hear some great teaching.  The theme of the camp was Ps 141:3 which talks about controlling our tongue and what we say.  There were a morning session, afternoon session and an evening service.  I usually only attending the morning and afternoon sessions.  I was also privileged to be chosen as part of the 4 person team who "inspected" the rooms each morning.  This was definitely a cultural learning experience for me to see what they do to make their rooms beautiful. 
Saturday afternoon there was a short time of games.  One game that we played was a "friend" game.  Everyone's name was written on a piece of paper and placed in a basket.  Then we each picked a name from the basket.  This person then becomes your friend.  Kyrk jokingly called this pre-facebook.  Yes, I now have a friend.  Still not sure what this means but it was a neat experience to be a part of this and to have "friends."
Sunday was interesting.  We all filed into the church in a parade type way.  It was a very slow dance type walk which lead us eventually to the front of the church.  There were not quite enough benches for all of us, so we were squished nicely. 
We sang 2 songs.  One was the theme song for our camp and that is the first video.  The second was a song that only the ladies from Atrel sang (that is the second video)
Praising God for a great weekend and praying that God will continue to strengthen the relationships with these ladies.

What is a Need?

One Thing
Over the past couple of weeks we have been running low on supplies.  At the end of this month we have a family coming to visit and supplies are coming with them, but in the mean time it has been interesting to try and make do with the things that we have. 
We went to our local “market” last week and tried to find some supplies.  This market is an open market and it is quite large.  You can tell the size of the market based on the size of the donkey parking lot.  This market has about 5 parking lots and they all have between 50 and 100 donkeys, so it is a large market.  Thankfully we were able to find a sac of flour, rice, onions, a few potatoes, and some vegetables.  There was one item that was extremely hard to find..... Toilet paper.  We saw only 4 rolls in the entire market and they were double the price that we usually pay for toilet paper.
So this got me thinking about what we consider needs.  For us coming from American and Canadian cultures we usually put toilet paper as something that we “need.”  But we have discovered that in this area at least, toilet paper is not even available to them and if you can find it, it is a luxury.  Wow, that really makes you think about other things in our lives and if they really are needs.
Yes, we need food, but God is teaching us to be thankful for nourishment, even if it is lacking in variety or food that we don't like.
There really is only one thing that we “NEED”  That is Jesus.  I’m so thankful that God has placed us here in this community of Atrel to learn more about Him.  These past few months we have had some additional time to study and learn more about God.  We are so thankful for this time and praise God for the ways that He is teaching us and equipping us to be Godly examples to those around us.

Ladies Camp:
Yesterday afternoon was the beginning of a ladies camp being held at our church.  There are around 60 ladies from this area and they are expecting around 50 more ladies coming from several surrounding areas.  I am planning on joining them all day Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.  It is really going to be a stretching time for me.  I praise God for the relationships that I have started to build with these ladies.  There are times when I am pushed way out of my comfort zone, but I truly am thankful for this opportunity to get to know my sisters in Christ.  This coming Sunday will be an adventure.  As many of you know it is very hot here right now.  On Sunday the Atrel church ladies are going to wear our special uniform for the church service.  This uniform is: Long sleeve purple shirt, black vest, black skirt, brown nylons and black shoes.  Oh boy!!  I think I’m going to be hot.  I’m praying for a little extra cool breeze to blow Sunday morning, but at the same time honored to join with the ladies for this special service. 
I will try and get some pictures from camp and Sunday, so check back next week for an update on how it goes.

Men’s group:
This past Sunday all the married men were invited to stay after church for a meeting with Pastor Fritz.  Pastor shared how there are groups for the youth and ladies, but they as men were not gathering together to study God’s word together and encourage one another.  They have decided to meet together each Friday morning.  Kyrk will be joining them weekly and has also been asked to be part of the committee.  It is so encouraging to see God opening this door and we pray that it will be a great time for the men of the church to grow together spiritually.