As I was getting ready for class this morning, I contemplated on whether or not to wear a jacket. Last night, the weather forecast for today said the high would be in the upper 60s. Fall is finally here, I hope. After a week and a half of monsoon weather, the sun, too, has finally shown its face. Today, I found myself looking up at the sky as if I had never seen the color blue before. The weather is beautiful.

Unfortunately, with fall comes allergies, colds, and the flu. I hope I don't get the flu (although I've had it the last three years), but I have contracted a small cold. I'm taking 18 hours of class this semester, but as I have often told those who ask me, school is very easy right now. I can't remember ever having such a small amount of homework, papers, and tests in my college career. To date, I have had zero projects/presentations, zero tests, 1 one-page paper, and maybe 3 written homework assignments. Life has been easy. Although, I know it can't, and won't, last long.

Last school year, some of you may remember, I taught 5th grade boys at church on Wednesday nights. This year, I am teaching 2nd grade boys. I have to admit, it is a breath of fresh air. My second graders are so much more well-behaved and mindful of what they're told. And believe it or not, 2-3 of them usually volunteer to pray at the end of class, something that NEVER happened with my fifth graders. I am also the only teacher in the class. Last year, I was a co-teacher with an adult man. Starting out, I was nervous about teaching and keeping everyone in order every week, but I have grown accustomed to it (although a second voice would be good sometimes). However, I am very thankful that God is trusting me with more responsibility and opportunity.

I recently bought a new book. Well, it's not new, but it is new to me. It's entitled "A Gentle Thunder", written by Max Lucado. This is the second book of his that I have read. I really like his style of writing. It's pretty generic, so there's a pretty good chance that whatever one is going through, it will be mentioned in the book. Also, when I was book hunting at Barnes & Noble, I just felt compelled to buy it after reading over the back cover. Surprisingly, every chapter is very short, but begins with scripture with a page to itself. The introductory chapter starts with Psalm 81:7, which says, "When you were in trouble, you called, and I saved you. I answered you with thunder." In a nut shell, this is what draws me to this book. We have all had our times when we were either so in tune with God or so far outside of His will that we KNOW God intervened and spoke to us. Well, I've had those times too, and as wierd as this may sound, it often happened through thunder. Yes, thunder.

When I read Psalm 81:7, I started doing a little researching on thunder throughout scripture and what it means. I used my Quickverse program on my computer to search "thunder" and it shows up in the NKJV 21 times. With exceptions of the story of the Exodus, the word thunder was used to either represent God's voice or presence, or God's might or domination over Israel's enemies. I really like the story of Job, and in Job 40:8, God asks Job, "Do you have an arm like God? Or can you thunder with a voice like His?" Revelation 6:1 also describes God's "voice of thunder".

I have no doubt that God speaks through thunder. Maybe not through every rumble and to every individual, but being someone who enjoys listening to and watching thunder storms, God knows how to get my attention. He speaks through thuder.

Hear attentively the thunder of His voice,
And the rumbling that comes from His mouth.
He sends it forth under the whole heaven,
His lightning to the ends of the earth.
After it a voice roars;
He thunders with His majestic voice,
And He does not restrain them when His voice is heard.
God thunders marvelously with His voice;
He does great things which we cannot comprehend.
- Job 37:2-5

Early this morning we flew out of Hong Kong, bound for Nashville. I am very pleased to tell you that I am now back in the United States of America. Tomorrow, I will fly home from Nashville. However, I wanted to give you the final thoughts of the end of the week....

Not to sound negative or anything, because it's not, but VBS on thursday was pretty uneventful. However, we taught the kids of how we can serve Jesus. The story was about Jesus telling the disciples to cast their nets on the other side of the boat after fishing all night long with no success. The story continues as Jesus asks Peter, "Do you love me?" We all know Jesus asked him this three times and each time Jesus told him to "Feed My sheep."

Thursday night, most of our team went out in search of mexican food. Yes, MEXICAN food. We were all CRAVING it! We finally found a place on Hong Kong Island that was very good and left us with full and content stomachs!

Very early Friday morning, three other guys on our team and I decided to get up and go to Llama Island, which is still part of Hong Kong. To get there, we took the MTR (the subway) and then a 30 minute ferry ride to Llama Island. We hiked from one end of the island to the other. By the time we were done, we were soaking wet from just sweating, but it was totally worth it!



Friday was the last day of VBS. We taught the kids of how we can obey Jesus. The story was about Peter's escape from prison when an angel of the Lord appeared to him and freed him from his jail cell. He then went to his brother’s house to tell everyone that he was free.

My 3rd & 4th graders for the week:


Although VBS ended Friday afternoon, our team returned to ICM later that evening for Family Night. Every child was encouraged to invite their friends and family members to ICM. The kids sang songs from this week and the Gospel was also shared with everyone in English and Nepalese (language from Nepal). The reason it was translated into Nepalese is because the Jordan community is full of refugees from around Asia. Most of the children at VBS were Nepalese. Speaking of Nepal, some of the women who help with ICM cooked us lunch. Most of it was Nepalese food.



Finally, I want to thank you again for all of your support, whether financial or through prayer. All of our plans went smoothly and God did miraculous things this past week! In all, there were FIVE children who accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior this week. Although just witnessing boys and girls come to know Christ is such a blessing, we were able to do something else for ICM while there. The children who attended VBS at Brentwood Baptist Church a few weeks ago took up a missions offering, so that other children in Hong Kong and South Africa would also be able to hear about the love of God. The BBC children gave over $7,000! We were able to use half of that to help ICM in Hong Kong. We bought 50 Bibles (some for kids, some for teens), Christian-themed puzzles and such for the kids to use at ICM, and we were also able to give $1200 to ICM to hire a custodian for 6 months. This may seem miniscule, but it was a big need for ICM. It will allow those who have been taking the time to clean it every day to spend more time with the children. We were also able to give money to ICM to use in their food program, which feeds the children. On our last day, we bought all the children a happy meal from McDonalds. The kids were so excited mostly because, even as cheap at McDonalds is, these children cannot afford to go there but on very rare occasions.



So, again, thank you for all that you have done! I truly believe that when you reach Heaven, you will know the children who accepted Christ this past week, simply because of your obedience.

I just wanted to quickly update you on yesterday at VBS, because I didn't get an opportunity to do it last night.

We do not yet have a final count, but we do know that there were some who made decisions of faith yesterday at VBS. As you know, we presented the plan of salvation to all the kids yesterday. The theme was "Confess Him", and the story revolved around Peter's perspective on his denial of Jesus, the crucifixion, and the resurrection.

Thank you sooo much for your prayers! Please continue to pray as we have two more days of VBS. It is still possible for people to make decisions this week or even after we leave.

I have to go. Our group meets in 5 minutes for the 4th day of VBS.