Teaching about Strength, sharing about God's, NOT my Own

Last night i had the privilege to teach the Bible study at NOE and a group of about 20 kids were crammed into 1 small classroom to hear me speak. When Juan asked me to share, 2 or 3 weeks ago, i had just finished writing my blog on strength. He told me to pray and ask God what i should share about. After a lot of prayer and reflection, i realized that i was supposed to teach about strength.  In the last 2 months SO much has happened in my life dealing with strength, and so much of it had to do with my journey to them, that i felt it was what i HAD to share about.

God helped make the process very easy for me. i spent several days using concordances and searching through my Bible finding verses i had read about strength.  i then looked for verses i could use that related to the story i was going to tell.  I decided to share both about my sudden trip to the hospital 2 months ago and my flights here because those experiences forever changed my perspective on strength, and where my strength TRULY comes from.

As i was sharing i felt really encouraged, a lot of the kids laughed at my jokes, well they laughed when juan talked because he was translating for me, and they seemed to be listening really well when i was saying the stuff that mattered. Afterwards i got a great response!!!! Several people came up to me and told me how good it was and how much they enjoyed it.  However, three people encouraged me very much:
*One person shared with me how she has a similar problem and whenever she hears stories about how other people deal with it, she is really encouraged.
*One person told me that he had a similar thing with his heart. A problem that at first the doctors weren't sure what it was. But he repeated something (in Spanish) that i had said in my lesson that almost brought me to tears. he said, "God has the strength and that's all that matters."
*And another person that really encouraged me is one of my close friends down here who told me that he had a similar scare like i did.  He felt the same way i used to, that he was strong, and that his strength was his own, not God's. But he was mugged 2 months ago, and his view on strength changed dramatically.  He said he was really encouraged by what i said and that made me really happy.

All in all the lesson went really well, i feel like God gave me the words to get the message across that he wanted.  I'm so glad my story helped make an impact, but ALL the glory goes to God, because he gave me the words to speak, i was just opening and closing my mouth.

Please be praying for my continuing ministry here.  Juan is going to do  a Bible study based on the Driven life, and then at the end is going to teach all the kids how to drive (because it isn't as common for teenagers here.)  After he finishes that i am going to be teaching a similar type lesson on our thirst for God and how water is used int he Bible.  At the end i am going to teach the kids how to swim (because a LOT of them don't know how).  Please be praying for us as we prepare for these lessons.  Pray that the kids will enjoy it, that they will be open to it, and that not only the practical things, but the spiritual things in the lesson will change their lives forever.