Friday, June 28, 2013

Hello, Summer!

Summer is here!!! In full force! It has been around 80-90 degrees this week, after a high of 60-65 degrees. YAY!
Hello Summer! Putting away the boots and jeans, and getting out the flip-flops and sun dresses.

However I may feel about summer, the Portuguese also have a love for summer. And everything else comes to a halt. Afternoons are spent at the beach and evenings are spent walking outside or sipping coffee at a café outside with friends. This is a great way to meet people or to meet up with people. It also can be frustrating when the Portuguese are, well, absent or sloooooowwwwww in responding to meetings.
Pray that we will be able to maintain relationships with the Portuguese during the summer as well as start new relationships and ministries.

But I can cope with the slow-pace of summer in Portugal.

My biggest prayer request this summer is for the purity of our minds during this season.
The dress in Portugal, or lack thereof, reminds me of late 80s and early 90s movies. Lots of neon. Lots of stomachs. Lots of leggings. Lots of see-through shirts showcasing colored bras. Lots of booty shorts. Lots of guys without shirts. And this is just the Metro…We won’t go into what is on the beach. The advertisements and TV shows in Portugal also are pretty scandalous, especially during summer. There are no ratings or censors in Portugal…things that I could watch because things were bleeped or blotted out back in the states, I can’t watch in Portugal.
Please pray that Christ will keep our minds and hearts pure for him… 

Language. Sometimes it seems like a bad word. We are meeting with language helpers and trying to speak with people at church, people that are in stores, and that we meet randomly. We are also trying to study from home.
Please pray that we will be motivated to learn the language, that we can find people to meet with us for language study, and that we will be bold in speaking (although not perfectly) Portuguese to people we meet. Our goal is always to be sharing God’s love with people, and preferably in their own language. Pray we will remember, always, that goal.

My last prayer request is that God will allow us to be a part of great ministries here in Portugal. We are trying to figure out another ministry, other than football, that we can be a part of to start new Bible studies. ESL, Game nights, English club, ESL, University ministry…There are so many options! Please pray with us that God will direct our path and show us which ministry to pursue.   

God is doing so much in Portugal! Thank you, Jesus, that we are able to be a part of it!

What ministries are you a part of this summer? VBS? Church camps? Mission trips? We want to be praying for you this summer, like you pray for us. Let us know how we can best pray with you!