Wednesday - Thursday .... Fri, Sat, Sun... Mon?

So sorry for not updating you sooner!

Wednesday and Thursday of last week the adult team finished up ESL classes, and we enjoyed observing the progress the students had made throughout the week. As we have gotten to know the ladies on a more personal level, we have been blessed to hear their stories and have opportunities to pray for their situations. We made sabaya bread with one of the women’s classes on Thursday- the women were so excited to teach us something. As soon as the other classes found out we were making it a few different women came into the kitchen to show us the "right" (or how they do it) way of making it. It was incredible-- some women were in all black and as I would have been drenched in flour they didn’t have a speck on them.

During this time some of our team was able to make the bread and have conversations with some of the women. In these conversations it’s not uncommon as young women to be asked if you’re married, in Arabic culture the girls marry really young. This was a great lead in to find out more about the women’s lives. One young Yemeni woman shared with us about herself, she was married at fourteen and had her first baby by fifteen. She said she didn’t know her husband before they were married, and because of this she didn’t know how to love him; of course as women, hearing this broke our hearts. We felt for her so much. She then went on to say how she wakes up everyday sad and confused- that she had no joy. We were able to share with her about the joy Jesus has brought us.

That afternoon we had more teaching, specifically on women in Islam. We heard shocking stories of women being locked in their houses; some houses have all the doors and low windows barred. We couldn’t believe this was happening even here in the States. This brought us to the need for the Church to rise up and be strong in evangelism. R.C. Sproul once said “The reason we are so free to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in the United States is because it’s so watered down it doesn’t affect or threaten anyone.” As Christians we must shine the light of Christ, we can no longer live in ignorance to the injustices happening around us.

That night we watched the Stoning of Soraya M. The story told of a family in Iran, in which the husband wanted to divorce his wife in order to marry a 14 year old girl, she refused. He accused her of having an affair and threatened a man in order to get him to lie and say this was true. She was sentenced to stoning, her own father said she was no longer his child and threw the first stones. As a team we were devastated, this movie isn’t about uncommon happening, it’s based on a true story. After the movie we talked and discussed together. All I could think of was Jesus saying "he who is without sin can throw the first stone.” What a picture of the differences in Islam and Christianity.

Friday morning the Adult team left, while five of us stayed waiting for the youth to arrive. We were preparing for the huge garage sale that was planned for the next day. The few that stayed were able to go to the Detroit Institute of Arts, we saw Julliard students perform and a high school group that plays folk music. That night the youth team got here.

Saturday was the yard sale for the community. This is a huge outreach into the neighborhood. Some of the ESL students came to buy things, but there were some who actually partnered along side of us, it was so cool to see the fruit of the relationships that are being built. Our team made Sno-Cones, popcorn and cotton candy for the kids who came along. By the end of the day some of us were covered in sno-cone syrup, some in cotton candy and all of us were exhausted.

Sunday morning came along and we went to a local church, the pastor spoke on Mark 10:13-16. He taught our need to be like children before the Lord, totally dependent on Him and losing ourselves so that we can follow wherever He leads. That afternoon we went to the Arab-American National Museum. This shows how Arabs have been involved in American society and their contributions to the culture. A really cool thing about this museum is almost all the stories are based on individuals; at some parts you can even listen to the person tell their story. Last night we had a tour of Detroit, seeing beautiful buildings and hockey town of course! We stopped and looked around a Methodist church that has the largest organ in the Mid-West, its smallest pipe is the size of a pencil and its largest is three stories high!

This morning we will having the second ESL for the week, please be praying that the youth and leaders who are here will have peace, comfort and boldness while they’re aiding the teachers. Pray that we will be a unified team, shining the love of Christ by the way we love each other. Pray for strength, spiritually and physically, we’re all starting to realize how tired we are!

We look forward to sharing some more with you! Thank you all for your support and prayers!