Because I slept in with no exercise yesterday, I determined that I had to run today…and I did. My legs felt much better, so I ran five kilometers (three miles), and it feels like I’m starting to get back into the running shape I used to have. The sprinting isn’t there yet, but the endurance is coming back.
I did my devotions in Acts chapter six. It is neat to see how God continued to work in the church, strengthening it and multiplying it through the ministry of the six men chosen by the church to help the apostles. Do our deacons and other laymen in the church have that same impact today as they serve?
It’s interesting how the chapter ends. Stephen was put on trial for preaching the gospel, and it says, “And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel” (Acts 6:15 NKJV).
You know how we often think of some kids as being “little angels,” or we look at a naughty little kid and don’t want to punish him because he looks like an angel? Well, in this case, Stephen was doing everything right, and he literally looked like an angel because he was suffering shame for the glory of God. He had God’s blessing upon himself!
I checked my email and read EBM’s dissolution statement and thought about the role of a mission agency. The night before, I had also talked with Pastor Jim about the concept of mission agencies requiring missionaries to retire once they got to a certain age. It’s interesting to think through these things and try to figure out the responsibilities of mission agencies, especially in conjunction with local churches.
For breakfast we had baked oatmeal, pineapple, and papaya. After breakfast, we drove back to town for a couple errands, and then returned to the school to re-install the school’s lights. The issue was with faulty florescent bulbs. They all had loose ends, so the connectors just detached and didn’t conduct electricity. Apparently the school had bought a batch of bad bulbs. So Pastor Jim bought new, good bulbs and replaced them all, and now they work fine!
While we were at the school, one of the church members walked by. She’s an older lady, and she stopped to talk to us. She got really emotional and told us that she knew Christ was returning soon. With all the protests and unrest in Brazil right now, she’ convinced that the end is near. She had been awake until 3am in the morning, praying about it, and she told us to watch and pray too because Christ was coming back!
For lunch we had tacos, and I spent the afternoon uploading pictures and getting some other small things done. Around 4:45 I was summoned to the athletic court on campus where several of the seminary students were gathering to play soccer. I was so excited!
I could barely contain a smile as I quickly got ready and walked up there. I finally got to play soccer with Brazilians in Brazil! It was something I had hoped to do, and my dream came true. I played a few rounds with them on their hard court, and I did fairly well. The first time I touched the ball, I almost scored but was
Peter and the apostles had been imprisoned, freed, and were now on trial again. In this passage, the Pharisee Gamaliel stood and spoke wise words to the angry council: “Men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do regarding these men…And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it – lest you even be found to fight against God” (Acts 5:35,38-39 NKJV, emphasis mine).
After breakfast we went downtown to finish the errands we could not complete the day before. We paid the bills, transferred a land title to a church, bought some eggs and went to a small children’s school to fix some lights. I learned some interesting things related to each of these four tasks.
Okay, the store where we bought the eggs was literally just an egg store with stacks and stacks and stacks and stacks of eggs. Just look at the picture. I’m sure many countries around the world do this, but I’ve never seen it in America! So I thought to myself, do they really sell out on these eggs in one day? But no, if they don’t sell, they sit there…and when people bring eggs home, they set them out until they’re ready to use them.