2. Teams, Tours, and Teaching

I apologize for the delay in getting another post up, from touring Hindu temples to making late night home visits, things have been busy! I'd like to share just a few things from this last week.

Team One: Living Hope Church

Our first short term team came in last week. Teams will be coming in for a week at a time throughout the summer to come alongside us and see the work we are doing. We hope to educate them, train them, and let the see first hand what God is doing amoung refugees so that they can enact similar ministry in their home towns as well as explore a potential calling to missions or even Clarkston! The team was a huge encouragement to the staff and interns and it was obvious many of them had experiences that refocused their hearts on Jesus and the task of reaching the nations. Two of the short termers, a young couple named Brian and Lea, have already planned to apply and participate in this internship next summer. The two have a huge heart for missions and plan to pursue full-time mission work! I ask that you pray for Brian and Lea in their journey!

ESL: English as a Second Language

As I mentioned last time, I work in the community garden in the mornings. In the afternoons, all the interns participate in ESL teaching. We traveled out into the community during the first week to find families and individuals that would be interested in learning and studying English. Last week we began classes! My student is a 34 year old single man from Iraq named Emad. He was a taxi driver in his home country and left because of the continual bombings and shootings. Since the first time I met Emad I knew that I wanted to work with him and it has been extremely rewarding, he is very welcoming and eager to learn! We meet for two and half hours a day and practice English, in that time we have gotten to know a lot about each other. 

During one afternoon session it was myself and two short termers, Brian and Jimmy (Jimmy is a missionary and missionary mobilizer and one of the wisest guys around). After a while Emad asked Jimmy and Brian why they were there and Jimmy said that they were volunteers but Emad didn't understand this word so Jimmy got the idea to tell Emad the parable of the Good Samaritan. As we were explaining to Emad that we were going to tell him a story from the Bible and asked if he had heard of Isa in the Quaran, and immediately he said "Jesus, yes! I love Jesus!" He had read about Jesus in the Quaran and it was obvious he wanted to know more. Jimmy read him the parable as Brian and I acted it out to make it more clear. Then we explained that just like the Good Samaritan that loved his neighbor, Jesus calls us to love our neighbor and that Emad is our neighbor. Emad smiled and said "this is a very good teaching!" Emad had to have surgery last week and can't work until he is better so I ask that you pray for healing and that he would be able to find a job soon. We pray in Jesus' name with Emad every day and he is always very open and appreciative of it.

This is Jimmy showing Emad the Bible on his phone.

I ask that you continue to pray for the team as a whole as many have gotten sick and worn out this week.

God bless,
Jake