Summer Update

Happy weekend encouragers! I had the chance to spend some time talking with J this morning and catching up on the things going on in her life lately.  As you all have read in her past couple updates, she’s been up to a lot with her team.  The walk through the city went really well, and J and her team were able to meet and talk to several different people.  She was pretty excited about how the time went and is thankful for you all lifting her and her team up at the time she asked you to.  Our Father heard you and worked through the team as they walked through the city.

J talked a little about the volunteers that have been helping her and the team she is with throughout the summer.  She said they were, for the most part, very helpful in coming alongside J’s group and working in the areas they were needed.  Now that the summer is ending, it sounds like J will be getting back into her normal routine with the Center, that is, after Ramadan has ended.  Because of Ramadan this month, J won’t be teaching classes at the Center.  However, this is not a necessarily a negative thing!  As you read in her last blog post, this time of Ramadan in the city means there are many, many opportunities for J to get to talk with people in the city that she has gotten to know, as well as people she comes into contact with during the month.  She is really looking forward to what the month has to bring as far as opportunities to share with the people she meets.  And, now that she has her own car to drive (and not just a moped!), J will have more mobility which means more opportunities to get to know people and build relationships, and ultimately have chances to share with them.

As hard as it is to believe, J is coming up on her first year of being in her city very soon!  She finds it hard to believe she has only been there for a year because so many things that happened and she’s settled in, but at the same time she says she can’t believe it has been a whole year.  There are still so many things she is learning and she says she is still finding her place there.  Please be lifting her up in that area—that J will find where she needs to be in her city and feel confident and sure she is where she should be and doing what she is supposed to be doing.  Also, even though she has been in her city for a year, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t need as much encouragement now as she needed in the beginning when this was a new adventure for her.  Please be continuing to encourage her; in fact, try to encourage her now more than before, whether that be in the form of letters or messages or just lifting her up. She covets your encouragement!