Today, May 31 at 7pm local time, we will be holding a University student talent show at our center.  Please pray for this event with us.  Pray we will continue to develop relationships with the students that will allow for deeper and deeper conversations about God’s love.  The following week there will be a country wide Christian music festival.  We plan to invite the students from the talent show to this festival.  Pray that many will attend the festival and will meet God in a real and personal way.

To celebrate Independence Day the main thoroughfare in town was closed down and became a pedestrian walkway.  There were lots of exhibits from local businesses and all the emergency service vehicles and military apparatus were on display.  It was a fun day to join with the residents of the city and celebrate independence!  We continue to pray for freedom and God’s blessing of this little country in the midst of her powerful neighbors.

On Sunday we were showing the city to a friend visiting from the US and storm clouds approached quickly.  The city is tucked into a valley surrounded by mountains, so constantly changing weather is a regular part of life!

Our kids woke up yesterday morning to the news they did not have to go to school–though it felt like a “snow day” to them, the closure is not due to snow! City officials had decided to close all Elementary Schools until May 27 due to an outbreak of viral meningitis in our city. As of the last update, over 140 cases have been confirmed, many being hospitalized for treatment. Please pray for all the ill children and their families, and for the speedy containment of this virus. All of our team members are healthy, but one of our student’s child is ill. Please pray for her and for other students of ours who are Pediatricians working hard to help keep this virus under control. Thanks for your prayers for the health of all here in Green Mountains!

Everyone here makes their own juice and we’re giving it a go this year.  We are certainly rookies in this process, but we’re hoping it tastes great when we drink it!  It’s been fun to learn the local traditions and try our hand at them.

This is the setup before the classroom fills up for an evening conversation class…worksheets and lesson plans ready to go!  Notice the Michael Jordan quote we put  on the wall: “I can accept failure, I can’t accept not trying”.  Many students have a major complex about making mistakes in speaking English and we’re trying to make the Center a safe place for them to practice.  Our hope is that as they sense the warmth and care of our team they will always sense that this is a safe place for them to ask deeper questions.

On May 31st we will be hosting our final University student event.  We have been regularly having these events.  It has been a great time to get to know the students better as we also share our relationship with Christ.  Please begin praying with us for this event.  Pray that the right people would come out and that it would be used to bring people closer to a relationship with Jesus.