Mail, Earthquakes, and Youth on the March!!!

You've Got Mail - I received my first mail from the states!!!  A letter came from my friend Ashley Koniak the other day and it truly brought a smile to my heart.  Thanks Ashley :-)

Earthquake! - I experienced my first earthquake here in Colombia this past Sunday morning.  As I was sitting in church, the speakers for the worship band started shaking and I could feel a little movement on the ground.  Southwest Colombia got hit with a 7.1 earthquake (Bogota is in the center, so we weren't too close) - luckily they are reporting that no one was injured.  Praise the Lord!!  I knew there was reason that one wall in my classroom is labeled "Earthquake Wall"!

Teaching Integrity - Shepherding my student's hearts :-)

So, two months into the school year and the true hearts of my students are being revealled!  This week, I have had issues come up of how to be a good friend, being honest and taking responsibility for our actions, and taking things that are not ours.  How hard it is for 3rd Graders to understand their sinful hearts!  My heart was saddened at how hurt some of my students were. 

 

“The law of God is not easy for natural man. Its standard is high and cannot be achieved apart from God's supernatural grace. God's law teaches us our need of grace. When you fail to hold out God's standard, you rob your children of the mercy of the gospel.”  - Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp.

 

This week, my students definitely experienced how high God's standard is that he calls them to - and how their hearts are so inclined to follow their sinful desire to get what they want!  We have talked this week about how when they begin to see the sin in their hearts, they can learn to pray and ask Jesus in that moment to give them grace and help them act differently.  As we talked as a class about being better friends, I mentioned how Jesus responds to those who are mean to him - with no retaliation or means words back!  I asked my students how Jesus was able to do this and they responded by saying:

 

"Because he thought about others more than himself!  Miss Bergmann, it's just like our memory verse from Isaiah 53 when it talks about how Jesus was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and like a sheap before his shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth!" 

 

Oh, that my students would learn to respond to each other with grace, just like God does to each of us everyday :-) 

 

Youth On The March! - This past Tuesday night, I got to skype with the Awana kids from the Barrington Campus of the Orchard Evangelical Free Church!  What a blessing this was for me to see all of my precious children again :-)  They had such wonderful questions for me, such as:

 

Are there venemous snakes in Colombia?  (nope - not even any bugs!)

What are your apartments made out of?  (Stone and bricks - just like in the United States!)

What do you eat? (Rice, rice, rice, really big avocados, and ...cheese with caramel for dessert - Yum!)

  



God is so good to give me the support, encouragement, and prayers of some wonderful K-5th graders!!!!!!!!!   Thank you for being "Approved Workmen who Are Not Ashamed" to pray with me and join me in the spreading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Colombia :-)

 

Blessing of friendship from supporters:  When ministry gets hard and makes you weary, nothing lifts you up like catching up with friends and family from home.  I love getting to hear about your lives.  It makes me feel like I am not missing out on so much!!  However hard this may be, Jesus is completely worth the sacrifice and I am grateful that the Lord has allowed me to have such great partners in ministry!

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this: that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. - Phil 1:3-11



The Lord brought these verses to mind and filled me with incredible gratitude toward your partnership in the gospel.  Thank you to all of you who are praying for me and just like Paul said - I hold you all in my heart and long for you with the affection of Christ Jesus!!  Thank you Mom, Dad, Kristin, Mike, Kendra, Margo, Wendi, Aunt Mary, Madeline, and Nicky!!  You make serving Christ in Bogota, Colombia so much easier.  By pouring into me, you are pouring into each and every one of my students! 



 Prayers/Praises:

• My nephew, Joshua, just had to get stitches after bumping his head on an ottoman.  Please pray for quicky healing of his precious forehead and peace for my sister and brother-in-law as they watch and comfort their little one through this traumatic experience!
• My sister, Kristin, as she has only 5 weeks left until the arrival of my new niece or nephew!!  Pray that she gets some rest these last few weeks of the pregnancy
• Guidance as I continue to shepherd the hearts of my 3rd Graders - pray that God would teach them how to be a friend to one another, even when it is hard!
• Please continue to pray for my ability to speak Spanish!
• Please pray for Nicky, the student I took care of the past two years, as he transitions to having new people around - that he would be loved and genuinely taken care of!

Because they haven't heard,
Carrie