From Colleen

Greetings,



This week was harder than I ever imagined it could be. I never approach my week and think, "Wow, this'll be easy!" But physically and emotionally I got beat up these last several days.



The illness made me feel terrible for a few days, but harder to deal with was the sudden death of my teammate Laura's father. He died probably of a heart attack, a seemingly healthy man in his prime. Please pray for her, she left last night to return to the States to be with her mother and younger brother and sister. There will be many things for her to sort through emotionally as well as ways to be a support to her family. I can't imagine the difficulty for her, but her father is rejoicing in heaven. We do not mourn like the people of this world mourn.



There is a selfish request related to that as well. I have lost a dear friend and someone with whom I have spent nearly the whole of the last 2 and a half months. We ate, prayed, worked, drove, walked, prayed, and laughed together. I mentioned prayer twice in that list because she blessed me so much during our times of prayer together. We also spent much time laughing. Please pray for me that I would be encouraged, comforted, and that I would continue to laugh. A lot of things become a lot harder here without another single girl.



I remind myself, however, that God knows what he is doing. This wasn't some random accident from his perspective. So, I have begun looking for the possibilities of new things or old things that I could invest in that I didn't do as much of these last few months. I am going to work harder on Kurdish and specifically learn the terms and vocabulary for spiritual conversations. In addition, I hope to spend some more time with our neighbors, a new Christian girl, and another family here that I know, none of whom speak English. As I studied this afternoon I realized that this will not be an easy thing to attempt, but how often do I counsel my students to push through and persevere through difficulty? Nearly every day.



My work at the school has not been abandoned, however. I am still blessed by conversations over the last few days. Ron (if you remember my astrophysics/quantum physics 6th grader) approached me again today with questions about diversity in Creation and Evolutionary theories, he was very sure and thought that he must have me pinned. God is the giver of grace and words. But I left him thinking about absolute truth and how the basis for truth according to him is a random series of chemical reactions. He said he'd have to chew on that one for a while.



The struggles I have draw me closer to Christ. The dilemmas I come across make me re-evaluate the truths and things that I have taken for granted. God has proven himself faithful. Please continue with me in prayer.



Sent to serve,

Colleen