Our first week of ministry has been completed!
What a blessing it has been. I was placed into a program called Beats and Books. Their organization focuses on teaching kids English, Math, and Music. This program prepares kids to try and get into a real school and makes sure that they won’t be behind when they get accepted. It’s a push towards a bigger future. 4 of our Beats and Books children just got accepted into Global Leadership Academy. Praise Jesus!
Beats and Books is placed in a small home. It is filled to the brim with books and counter space for kids to sit and complete their work. From 10am until 12 we clean and do organization work until lunch time. We eat our humbling peanut butter and jelly everyday and after lunch we prepare the children’s work and the spaces they are going to be working in. There are 30 kids who come everyday and pile into the home. The house is immediately filled with 3 different languages, kids reading to themselves, piano lessons happening in the corner, violin lessons happening in the next room, and the constant “Aunty Isabelle” and “Aunty Carla” beckoning us to come over and help.
If you stop and look at what’s really happening, through the chaos of all the sounds and everyone accidentally bumping into each other, you can see the Holy Spirit moving. Everyone who works there sees these children through God’s eyes and sees them all as precious. Some kids are excited to learn and some aren’t, but all the kids show up and all the kids want to be there whether or not they want to do their work. Aunty Carla (she runs Beats and Books) has created such a safe place.
God is doing major work in and through Beats and Books and it’s beautiful to see and be apart of even if it’s just for a couple weeks.
Even though it’s amazing to be apart of, it is so so tiring. Once Friday was over I was overcome with physical and mental exhaustion. Being “on” all day everyday has really been taking a toll on me. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows over here. It takes a lot of prayer and sacrificing myself to God every single day to get through the day… and we just got done with week one. A phrase that I hear sometimes is “God doesn’t give you more than you can handle.” That simply is not true. He DOES give you more than you can handle. He does this so you aren’t able to lean on yourself but instead lean completely on Him. He gives us more than we can handle but never more than He can handle.
Everyone on my team has a day of the week where they stay back from ministry and clean the house we’re all staying in and cook so that dinner is ready when people get back from ministry. We call this “Housewife Day”. On Monday’s Mason, Liv and I have housewife day. I learned a lot last Monday. When we went to the grocery store we noticed that a lot of people were barefoot. Wendy, who is our host mom and was at the store with us, said that it’s completely normal to go places with no shoes. This Monday Liv and I didn’t bother wearing shoes as we shopped. Mason was still a little skeptical so she kept hers on.
“No shoes no service” is NOT a thing over here. Housewife day is officially a day for cooking, cleaning, and going barefoot. I’m going to miss it when I come back to America.
Me, Tiffany, Mason, Nicole
Prayers:
Beats and Books has been getting broken into very often and recently lost their printer (which they use everyday) Please cover that house with protection in Jesus’s name
Pray that our group would have open eyes to see more opportunities for us to serve inside and outside ministry days
Pray that I would continue to have discipline when it comes to spending time with Jesus and that I would fall more in love with the Word of God
Pray that I have mental strength and child-like energy everyday so that I can love these kids the way these kids need to be loved
Oh Isabelle!!!
I love seeing your heart! Prayers spoken on your behalf and your team so often!!!
I love like you!
Mommas
I’m thrilled to read your blog. Will pray boldly for the things you wish us to pray for. Love you forever.
Isabelle! I love reading about your adventures and love seeing the pictures. You and your team are in my prayers.
Isabelle- It is so wonderful to read your account of your being Jesus’ hands and feet on the mission field! God is using you beautifully to love His children for the glory of His kingdom. And, Happy Birthday!! ????
Isabelle!! This is so exciting to read Its so cool to hear how God is letting you be a part of his work!!! I love you!!!
Love it Isabelle!
Dear Isabelle: So excited to be able to read how God is working through you to help these children. My heart is full as you speak of how You are learning to rely completely on Him!! Praying for strength, endurance and safety for you daily!!
So happy to hear your heart and the way you’re finding God’s abundant provision in n being beyond what you can handle on your own. I love imagining kids’ voices calling for ‘Aunty Isabelle’