1 1/2 Answers to Prayer

So I've been trying to pray a little different recently. I've been
trying to talk to God with the attitude that he is listening. The
Bible says that he listens and intellectually I believe it to be true.
Yet often when I pray I talk to myself or I run through a checklist
of things I need, hoping it does some good. So I've been praying for
less things, remembering what I prayed for, and watching intently to
see what happens... on a good day. I'm a work in progress.

The other day as I was walking I really felt like an ice cream cone
(they sell this awesome ice-cream on the street. It costs about 40
cents and usually doesn't give you diarrhea). But I only had 20 cents
in my pocket. I let God know that I really felt like an ice-cream and
that I would love it if it only cost 20 cents. I promptly forgot what
I had prayed (like I said, I'm still working on it), and kept on
walking. I saw an ice-cream vendor and walked up to see how much it
cost. To my dismay it cost 40 cents. Ahhh. So I said, "thank-you"
and walked off. But the guy called me back. He told me he'd pay my
other 20 cents!! I was pumped. Then I remembered what I had prayed
and praised God as I ate my ice cream cone.

The other one has to do with food as well. About 2 weeks ago I was
sitting outside a store close to my house chatting with somebody. I
had earlier bought a yogurt at the store and I ate it as we talked. I
finished the yogurt but my craving wasn't satisfied. I sat there
wondering if I could justify buying another yogurt. Then the thought
came to mind that maybe I should pray and ask God for a yogurt. It's
kinda a ridiculous thing to pray for and I wasn't sure what to exactly
pray. As I was pondering what to pray my friend who I was talking to
asked me out of the blue, "Hey, do you want another yogurt?" I
laughed. How could it be so perfect? I said yes and enjoyed my
second yogurt incredibly. I didn't even begin to pray for it and God
answered!

So now I'm asking God for a corvette, 1000 hamburgers, and a million
bucks to go with my swimming pool full of Jello. No, God can
obviously not be controlled and manipulated by feeblies like us. But
I think He likes it when we honestly place our desires in His hands to
do what He wants. And sometimes He surprises us by doing just what we
so selfishly asked for. Who can compare to this God?!!

Sunday Sunday Sunday

I'd like to tell you about what I do on Sundays after church.

I go to a zoo of sorts.

I run around with a bunch of kids and try not to lose my head while
they have the time of their lives. It's great!

Every Sunday afternoon is Soccer School and Francesco and I have been
helping out with it for the past 2 ½ months. The person in charge is
this guy named Jordan de Fritas (Fritas is the Spanish word for French
fries and he is sure to order them whenever we are in a restaurant
together; to keep with his name of course). He is from Brazil and is
in the country to coach the Men's National Team. He is a fantastic
guy who loves the Lord as much as he loves soccer. When he speaks
it's probably as much Portuguese as it is Spanish but the kids love
and respect him and we do too.

And the kids… all 36 of them. What a joy and a challenge! Much of
our time is spent in crowd control, yelling things like "Drop it!",
"Leave him!", "Quiet!" and other equally threatening words. As far as
I understand, discipline in this country looks like this:

- ignore the problem until you are incredibly mad
- ignore it a little longer
- yell something
- take your anger out by clacking your kids on the head or something worse.

Usually things stop by the third step but it's not uncommon to see
parents "disciplining" their kids on the side of the street. It's
just how things work. So it makes it difficult to control the kids
when you're not good at ignoring things, didn't grow up in a yelling
family, and don't have the guts or the desire to smoke the kid on the
head. But to be honest, things are getting easier. The kids are
truly loveable and I'm starting to understand things a little better
(both culturally and language-wise). Praise God for his help in times
like these.

But now it all changes. Jordan was let go as the coach of the
National Team and left for Brazil on Wednesday. And now Francesco and
I are in charge. Before Jordan left he showed us how everything
worked and gave us all the equipment needed to continue the Soccer
School (hundreds of dollars worth of stuff). What an amazing
opportunity! I wish Jordan was still here but I feel that part of the
reason God has us in Equatorial Guinea is to continue this amazing
ministry. The first Sunday without Jordan is this week and we will
need all the praying we can get. Even though we feel very
unqualified, we feel peace that the ministry is in God's hands. Let
the zoo begin.