Update from Heather Trojahn: Keeping At It For His Glory
This is an update from Heather Trojahn who is interning with us at the moment. You can find out more about here at her blog. Please pray about donating to help her financially. She is doing a great job and being a tremendous help in the ministry.
I can’t believe that it’s been four months already! I feel like the longer I’m here, the more I come up with ideas. I guess that’s fitting since it does take some time to get an idea of the culture and what people like to do. It also takes time to get to know people. Things don’t seem to come easy here… I’m not sure if they really come easy anywhere, but it’s not one of those places where you have a special event and get 50+ people to come right off. You have to really keep trying new things to meet new people. Some things work better than others and some things just seem to absolutely flop. That’s when it’s easy to get discouraged. I think for me, I’m constantly thinking “What did I do wrong? What is missing?” You wallow in thoughts like that and everything seems very bleak. That’s when God reminds me that I’m really not all that. I could plan the best program or event but God is really the one who brings the people. It’s a comfort to know that if 50 people come or if no one comes that God still gets all the glory.
With that being said, Teri and I started the Mums & Tots group. The flyers were designed, posters put out, newspaper advertisements made, radio announcements made, toys washed, bread and jam bought… and no one came. No one has come in fact. It’s been two weeks and no one has come. I think Teri and I were both a little down about it for a while. Just like I said before, that’s when God reminded us that it’s really not all up to us. We’ve decided to keep it up, pray about it, and just have fun! We’re going to have prayer time and Bible study while we wait and see if people come. That way, the time isn’t “wasted.” I’m looking forward to it this week! Meanwhile, Cali loves it that we turn church into the biggest playroom she could want with a buffet of toast and jam all for her!
Don’t get the idea that things aren’t saying busy! We had another lovely ladies tea this past week. We had a great time talking about the need in Derry and started gathering ideas for a ladies event that the church ladies could invite their friends to. We ended the tea by going around the room and praying for Derry. It was really a sweet time of fellowship!
I also had the opportunity to have my friends from university over last week. I love those girls! They really have a heart to serve God. We just had a fun evening together. I wished I would have thought about it earlier, but it would have been awesome to start a weekly Bible study with Teri and the girls on campus. Sadly, they are finishing up finals right now and are scattering for the summer. I’m going to miss them so much!
As I said earlier, there are so many opportunities to minister here. There’s a lot of religion in this city, but it is still without the gospel in many areas. I took the Snode kids to the cathedral near the church and there were probably 20 people there, in the middle of a weekday, saying prayers. It broke my heart. There is absolutely no hope in what they believe. Jesus Christ is risen and has all the power over sin! I’m so glad that He paid the price because there’s nothing I can do to merit salvation. There are so many people that still need to hear the gospel here. Pray for Derry!!
