I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek, more earnestly, His face.

’Twas He who taught me thus to pray,
And He, I trust, has answered prayer!
But it has been in such a way,
As almost drove me to despair.

I hoped that in some favored hour,
At once He’d answer my request;
And by His love’s constraining pow’r,
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.

Instead of this, He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart;
And let the angry pow’rs of hell
Assault my soul in every part.

Yea more, with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe;
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Blasted my hopes, and laid me low.

Lord, why is this, I trembling cried,
Will thou pursue thy worm to death?
“’Tis in this way, the Lord replied,
I answer prayer for grace and faith.

These inward trials I employ,
From self, and pride, to set thee free;
And break thy schemes of earthly joy,
That you may find thine all in Me.”

Our hotel has a great breakfast buffet, so we got some good fuel in us to start our morning. I got a good night’s sleep (thanks to 1/2 an Ambian at 11 p.m and another 1/2 at 3:30 am!). I think the main reason we woke up was because our room was SOO hot…unfortunately, they are on centralized air and we can’t adjust.

We had a neat worship experience. The music was beautiful…sang some familiar hymns…and we were able to wear headphones and hear everything in English. He preached on Heb. 10:19-26 about why we have hope. We also shared communion with them.

We went to a neat mall and had lunch. Our stomachs needed a break from Greek food, so I had Taco Bell with a couple, a couple had KFC, a few had Asian, and the rest had crepes.

We headed to the Acropolis, but it had just closed, so we made up our own exploration tour around part of the city. We saw some ruins, National Gardens, some markets (Sunday is the big market day), the Parliament building and saw the changing of the guards, old churches, and other things that we don’t really know what they were, but were neat…It was an action packed day.

We came back and had dinner near the hotel (3 braved a new restaurant…the rest went to the yummy place we ate yesterday, but we all had great food again. Hopefully the gazillion times I climbed the hotel stairs and all the walking we did today will help keep me from gaining too much weight…

We spent the rest of the evening prepping for work with refugees. We have a morning and afternoon session tomorrow.

Hoping for a good night’s rest for another exciting day!

Tomorrow starts the 21 day Easter Journey at Living Hope Baptist Church.  If you email subscribe to this blog, a daily email will be sent with scripture, prayer points, and devotion from one of our leaders.  These 21 days will be a great time to renew ourselves spiritually and help us prepare for the celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

During this time also, pray for those in your life that are unchurched or dechurched.  Be looking for ways to share Christ with them and invite them to church.

God really blessed us with our airplane situations…only 25 on our puddlejumper…so we had lots of room. Even on the big flight, most of us had two empty seats between us and another team member. I’m not sure that has ever happened to me on an International flight!

We had an amazing Greek lunch, got checked into our hotel and then headed to Orientation. After that, a couple headed back to rest and the rest of the team went with a couple of leaders and we went exploring the city. We thought walking around would be the best way to stay up until 8 or 9 p.m. It worked! We had lots of fun and laughter and cultural experiences…and another great Greek meal. It was so amazing. We got to see the Acropolis up on the hill…it was beautiful…lots of neat sights and sounds.

We LOVE the leadership team…love their hearts, love their passion, love their sweet spirits…we just plain love them. Excited about serving alongside them in the coming days!

Thank you to those who are lifting us up…this is such a truly unbelievable window of opportunity we have with these people from areas that are normally very closed. We are so very grateful to have this opportunity.

The team is in-country. They had great travel. Both flights were not full. The trip over the sea had two people on four person rows. How come I can never get that lucky:) They had a great lunch and a brief orientation. The remainder of their day is to see a little of the city or sleep.

Be praying for the Costa Rica team as they return today. They had a great mission and did some great work.

Please be praying today for our adult education pastor, Matt Haste.  Jason is out this Sunday and Matt will be filling in.  Unless you are a preaching pastor, it is hard to understand the efforts that go into a message.  There are 3 things a pastor has to focus on to preach.  One, the pastor is responsible to God to bring His message – enough said there.  Two, the pastor has to read and research the word as he seeks God’s direction. Finally, the pastor has to fight the flesh in wanting to impress and entertain people.

Pray specifically for Matt to have peace about the Lord’s message.  Pray for protection from Satan’s distractions that will be sent Matt’s way. Pray for health and energy as he prepares to preach tomorrow.  And, pray for the attenders’ hearts to be open to God’s word.

We had a very safe and productive Tuesday at the Abraham site. We got some much needed equipment repaired, (8) 10 ft security fence panels complete and good progress on refinishing the cement truck. Donald and Penny began a small herb garden fence today for the local elementary school. An excellent day. The team has grown very close. Blessings! God is good.

Day 3 at the Abraham Project saw God still at work. The ladies taught an English lesson about Noah to the daycare students. We made great progress wiring the new building, welding and finishing fence panels and preparing wood. A gift from one on our team will cover pulling the electical service wire to the new building tomorrow! This team has been outstanding in all respects! Blessings to all! God is good.

The ladies have loaded up on the plane and are in the air. Please pray for safe travels and great ministry. Stay tuned for more updates.