The Job of Reading Job
I see it's been a couple of weeks since I posted. We had a visiting preacher with us for our one-year anniversary celebration of the new church house. Bro. Neilson Amorim, a Brazilian missionary working in the Algarve region in southern Portugal, preached for us. He came without the support of a mission board, believing that God had called him to Portugal, and that God would provide the needs of his family. He and his wife, Ester, have two children, aged 8 and 11. Our church sends him a monthly offering, and it was good for the church to get to know him, and for him to get to know the church.
Otherwise, life goes on as busily as ever. Translation work now and then, and enough responsibilities at the consulate to fill up part of each day. We did organise a Thanksgiving Dinner for about 35 Americans...it was at a restaurant, so Abbie didn't have to do any of the cooking. All those present enjoyed the food and the traditional Thanksgiving treats, and it gave Americans the chance to meet other Americans they wouldn't otherwise know.
If I were to mention a special event over the past couple of weeks, it would be an incident in the prison. (Again!) You might get the idea that the prison has a special place in my life. Well, in a way it does.
Two weeks ago I asked the two ladies who came to the women's meeting to read the book of Job. "R" from Mexico was discouraged because of what she saw was unfair treatment from the judges. Under the law, the judge could have let her go now and she would have been sent back to her home country. But the present judge refuses to apply that provision of the law, and she will most likely have to stay another year. "Not fair!" "God doesn't listen to my prayers." So I told her and the other prisoner to read Job.
I skipped the following Monday because Pastor Neilson was here, so it was only this week I returned. "R" confessed that she had started reading the book of Job and stopped at about chapter 10. She skipped to the final chapter. We continued talking for most of the hour, and I told her she should read the whole book. There are lessons to be learned in the chapters she skipped.
Near the end of the lesson she said she had a confession to make. She said she quit reading because she started seeing herself described in the Bible passage, and she didn't like what she saw. Aha! Her experience has a couple of lessons for us: (1) Like her, would that we all would have eyes to see ourselves in the mirror of God's Word. (2) Unlike her, may we realize that the proper response isn't to close the book or shut our eyes to what's revealed about us. May we have the grace and humility to seek God's forgiveness and have Him change our lives into the image of His Son.
Update on Jackie: Today she bumped into her doctor in the store and she asked about the results of her last tests. They were to have been ready a week or more ago. He said he got them yesterday and she doesn't have anything wrong with her. That is, what they were testing for (cancer in the blood) turned out negative. We praise God for that, but it still doesn't help her feel better at the moment. Pray that she will be guided to the proper doctor and specialist who can determine her problem.
Otherwise, life goes on as busily as ever. Translation work now and then, and enough responsibilities at the consulate to fill up part of each day. We did organise a Thanksgiving Dinner for about 35 Americans...it was at a restaurant, so Abbie didn't have to do any of the cooking. All those present enjoyed the food and the traditional Thanksgiving treats, and it gave Americans the chance to meet other Americans they wouldn't otherwise know.
If I were to mention a special event over the past couple of weeks, it would be an incident in the prison. (Again!) You might get the idea that the prison has a special place in my life. Well, in a way it does.
Two weeks ago I asked the two ladies who came to the women's meeting to read the book of Job. "R" from Mexico was discouraged because of what she saw was unfair treatment from the judges. Under the law, the judge could have let her go now and she would have been sent back to her home country. But the present judge refuses to apply that provision of the law, and she will most likely have to stay another year. "Not fair!" "God doesn't listen to my prayers." So I told her and the other prisoner to read Job.
I skipped the following Monday because Pastor Neilson was here, so it was only this week I returned. "R" confessed that she had started reading the book of Job and stopped at about chapter 10. She skipped to the final chapter. We continued talking for most of the hour, and I told her she should read the whole book. There are lessons to be learned in the chapters she skipped.
Near the end of the lesson she said she had a confession to make. She said she quit reading because she started seeing herself described in the Bible passage, and she didn't like what she saw. Aha! Her experience has a couple of lessons for us: (1) Like her, would that we all would have eyes to see ourselves in the mirror of God's Word. (2) Unlike her, may we realize that the proper response isn't to close the book or shut our eyes to what's revealed about us. May we have the grace and humility to seek God's forgiveness and have Him change our lives into the image of His Son.
Update on Jackie: Today she bumped into her doctor in the store and she asked about the results of her last tests. They were to have been ready a week or more ago. He said he got them yesterday and she doesn't have anything wrong with her. That is, what they were testing for (cancer in the blood) turned out negative. We praise God for that, but it still doesn't help her feel better at the moment. Pray that she will be guided to the proper doctor and specialist who can determine her problem.
posted by EP | 10:45 AM | Permalink
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