There's a few things I want to cover including (in order): 1. Overton 2. Burmese 3. Our Discipleship 4. Bible Memorization and 5. Upcoming News.... If only a couple of these interest you, then consider this your table of contents and you can just skip to that section. (It could get lengthy, but hopefully not too long).
1. Overton High School- Our meetings have continued on and have been really great. Each Wednesday, we meet and discuss/disciple the students who will be leading the First Priority club on their high school campus. Our numbers have gone down a little due to a few various reasons, but it's been good to see the students who want to be there and lead step up. We're still in the process of actually setting the club up where we will begin meeting on campus, but I believe we will be meeting on campus before January is complete. We recently challenged our students to pray with someone one week, and the teacher with whom one of the students prayed for wants to be involved with sponsoring the club. Her name is Mrs. Stafford so you can add her to the list of Overton prayer requests. Having a supportive sponsor will be so very helpful! Pray for this lady! Since the last post, there's also been a big change in partners for me. My old partner's schedule brought about conflict so my friend Autumn and I are actually getting to work together at Overton, which is a God thing because the majority of our students right now are girls. It's just been a great situation all the way around. I know that Overton is receiving prayer. I can tell, but I do want to encourage you to continue in your prayers for this school. The other day I told the students that Overton is going to change, and I think it really hit the students for the first time that we're not planting this club/meeting just to have something on campus. They're fixing to engage Overton as warriors in the Lord with the Gospel, and the Lord will change the school by changing the people in it. It's not just a hope, it's a promise, BUT it'll happen by the power of prayer, which releases the power of God. Prayer is our avenue for Power. Please continue praying as we continue to build this foundation. 1 Corinthians 3:10-15
2. Burmese Refugees- Our time with the Burmese is always great and always different from the previous experiences. We had two visits with our friends right before we let out for the holidays. During the first, we met and told them about Christmas and why we celebrate and such. It was a real good time as we met in an apartment close to where we live. There had to be at least sixty different people come through the doors of that apartment with maybe five of them having the ability to speak a good amount of English. Nevertheless, it was good to share the Good News of Christ by explaining why we celebrate Christmas. One other thing happened at that meeting though... We were invited to a Burmese birthday party. We decided that we didn't need to deny this opportunity so we said we'd come. After helping our friend, Lulu (who is the refugee coordinator for the Burmese), with the lesson plans for the Saturday meetings the Burmese will have until we return to Nashville, we said our good byes and told Lulu we would see her at the birthday party on Wednesday. Well, Wednesday came, and despite potential bad weather, we decided to head to the party. We followed three or four Burmese friends down a run down apartment complex to a small apartment filled with people. Of course, we are the only white people in the place so I figure most of the Burmese are wondering who we are (or what the heck we are doing there). After a minute or so, I recognize a couple of faces and we go and visit with Lulu. In our discussion, we were asked how we celebrate birthdays in America, and we said the basics like cake, games, etc... Then Lulu said something along the lines of "OK, good, so will you lead the party?". Not only were we invited, now we are the hosts!!! Haha. It was a great time and we had plans afterward so we couldn't stay as long as we wanted, but we led Simon Says, did the Hokey Pokey, sang Christmas songs & Happy Birthday, and presented the cake... and like always, we try to share God's Word with them. They're so appreciative, and likewise, we are of their hunger for fellowship, community, and His Word. I'm going to post a video of the party and a picture or two of some of the guests. You'll also see the birthday boy too. He is 2!!! Haha and... His name is Augustino, which by the way Lulu wanted us to spell with 24 candles. Check out the video and see how we used all 24 to decorate the cake. It's definitely a hot cake!
3. Our Discipleship- Acts has continued to show God's sovereignty more and more (yes, we're still in Acts). Whether good or bad, we've seen over and over that God is in control no matter the situation. Our study of Acts has definitely brought encouragement to our group on numerous occasions. It's just a great book of the Bible. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we've been going through the Old Testament and a book called The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer. It's been good to experience the Old Testament a little more in depth and see the beauty of God's love for his chosen people. It's even better knowing that this is the same love God has toward me. The Pursuit of God was great as well. We actually finished it the week before we left for the holidays. I do recommend reading it if you haven't. It's very short, to the point, and a great book study for a group of believers. The chapters cover different material, so missing a week wouldn't leave you behind if you were part of a group that was going through the book together (although you would miss out). I've taken much from this book, and I hope you will as well.
4. Bible Memorization- Ok... If by chance you were memorizing scripture with me (or at least trying to), my apologies again.. Right now, I'm at 48 verses and hopefully, I'll have 50 by New Year's Day!!! I'm just going to list the scriptures for you.. If you see me, please quiz me. I need all the help I can get in trying to retain these precious Words.
The Word: Matthew 4:4, Hebrews 4:12, Jeremiah 15:16
Prayer: John 16:24, Matthew 21:22, Philippians 4:6-7
Obedience: Romans 12:1-2, John 14:21, Hebrews 5:8
Witnessing: Matthew 4:19, Proverbs 24:11-12, Acts 1:8, Romans 1:16, Matthew 28:18-20
Salvation: Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Hebrews 9:27-28, Romans 5:8, Ephesians 2:8-9, John 5:24, John 1:12, Revelation 3:20
Assurance: 1 John 5:13-15
Guidance: James 1:5, Isaiah 30:18, Proverbs 3:5-6
Victory: 1 Corinthians 10:13, Romans 8:35-39
Christ the Lord: John 3:30, Galatians 2:20-21, John 13:13-14, 2 Corinthians 5:14-15
5. Upcoming News- This is just to give you a quick run down of what we see happening as 2011 rolls around the corner. It looks like I'll be in Puerto Rico in February, and there's a possibility of being in the Dominican Republic in March (from what I hear). I'll keep you updated (a lot better this time) about those as they get closer, but you can start praying for them for sure. I'm a tad nervous, but I know the Lord usually works best when my confidence is not in myself so I'm looking forward to big things from Him. Anyway, just pray for it please. We also start back on January 10th with our discipleship. The break away has been nice, but I'm ready to get back to some sort of routine as well. We (the students of Trek-X) have scheduled a get away to Atlanta for the Passion Conference, which should bring in the new year with a bang as we get to enjoy speakers like David Platt, Francis Chan, and John Piper. I'm looking forward to it and to what 2011 brings.
So... I hope that you feel updated and in the loop just a bit better about what's happening in Trek-X. Like always, If you have any questions, please ask. I'll try to answer them the best that I know how to. Also, I hope you enjoyed the update. Maybe you skipped around some, but hopefully you wanted to hear it all. If not, that's what the table of contents is there for. ;) Nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed, and I do appreciate all your prayers. May God keep you and Bless you in 2011. Merry Late Christmas and a Happy New Year! Isaiah 35:4-5
