Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Great Happenings


Pic: Diego, Charlie, Kay, Me, Anto, Keziah

Hi friends,

I am inspired to write this evening and decided I better take advantage of the flame before it goes out....

First, I must write about Liping- an advanced Bible student who was given to me because her Bible teacher went back to the Spanish congregation.
Liping has been making considerable effort to come to all the Sunday meetings. We set a goal for her to try to attend more Tuesday meetings as well. This is a challenge for her because she owns a laundry business, and she stays up until 2am during the weekdays folding and ironing clothes. However, during the co visit last week, she came to both the Tuesday and Thursday meetings. On both occasions, you could tell she rushed over, her hair wet from a shower. Several friends in the congregation commended her for her effort. During our study, I told her how one of our elders noticed her progressed. She shed tears of joy, and expressed how grateful she was that people did not criticize her for not wearing the right clothes to the meeting (That's another thing we have to work on, setting a date to go shopping with her and replace glittery sequined jeans with modest skirts). She is very humble, and mentions that she wants to get baptized. I am so grateful to Jehovah for letting me taste the joy of helping a Bible student progress!

Another beautiful Bible student that fell into my lap from Jehovah is a lady who owns a laundromat around the corner from the Kingdom Hall. I had found her daughter, Jessica, the first day that I went out in service in Buenos Aires. For a few times, I could not get past just sharing a few scriptures at the door with Jessica. However, one day, the mother, Ms. Chen, came out and eagerly asked me how God can help us during times of distress. This is because one of her relatives was diagnosed with a terminal illness. She wanted to know if somehow prayer could cure the illness. I was invited into their laundromat, which is also their makeshift home. Since then, I have been studying on a regular basis with Ms. Chen. Jessica had been studying with us, but recently, she moved to her father's store and I have to track her down.

Ms. Chen is a wonderful student. I asked her to prepare for each lesson, and she writes out the scriptures. Last week, her homework was to read the Sermon on the Mount. She asked me what Matthew 6:24 meant ("cannot slave for 2 masters"). My preaching companion, an Argentine sister, explained the scripture in excellent Chinese. Ms. Chen's reaction was remarkable- she commented that the scripture spoke of her heart, because she knew that making money was her greatest priority. Seeing her humility and appreciation for the Bible was so rewarding- she was the last Bible student of the week, and I had arrived quite exhausted, but she made me so happy I wanted to cry.

On a lighter note, we had a great time with our circuit overseer and his wife- Charlie and Kay Kim. They are (obviously) Korean, and very lovely. They were very zealous in going preaching with all of us. I had the privilege of making Teriyaki chicken for them here. The hilarious thing is- Argentinians have never heard of teriyaki chicken!!! They think I'm the best cook ever with that recipe!