Posted in General Articles by Andrea Lindquist on 12/29/2010
Almost 2011 and over a year later since my last blog.
Almost two years after coming off the World Race.
What can I tell you?
What do you want to know?
What has ministry looked like for you in the U.S.?
Work, life, and ministry are all in the same. If I have any goals, I would hope to accomplish that. I get to work at a non-profit Christian legal clinic where I have the liberty to talk about Christ and pray with people. Pray that I take up those everyday opportunities that I take for granted. Working with internationals gives me air to breathe and couldn't ask for better co-workers. Yet God has also called me to discipleship in the states. I sensed it clearly since getting back in May '09. So mentorship and discipleship of college-age ladies has been a huge piece of ministry. They are blessings to me. Truly.
How does a person do ministry in the USA? Is it like being a missionary abroad?
The things I knew when I returned:
1. Summer in Wisconsin to minister and be with family
2. Return to the amazing church in Indianapolis that sent me
3. Trust. Maybe this could go first
Trusting Him in every detail. As my Grandma Rita would say, one of the most powerful 'nuggets of wisdom' I received on the plane over was, "when you return, return as a missionary to the United States". A person in the USA doing the work of the Lord is best to have confidence of God's reality, have experienced the transformative power of His love, and be able to create space for them and God. We are all at different points in the journey and all are capable of sharing the hope of Christ. But I understand what has helped me during this time. No formula available for ministry in my possession. Holy Spirit, trust, and fellowship. Then listen. Regarding the latter question, living conditions abroad provided extremes to look back at for gratitude here. However, it would be fair to say that a missionary here faces different battles than while abroad depending on that location.
What helps your relationship with God in American culture?
Finding TIME with Him. Seeing the Creator in creation and keeping awe in worship. Giving past comfortable. Remembering that the very worst on Earth is not worse than separation from Him.
Finding like-minded fellowship.
What's hard?
Getting too comfortable. Forgetting.
How do you deal with the mundane?
Thankfulness, thankfulness, thankfulness. Humming, laughter, and the love from others.
What has been on your heart recently?
Being married soon to the most amazing man of God, Tony. The Lord is very clever in His plans, and very gracious. Also, on my heart is the hope of future missions abroad and an understanding of God's specific call on my life.
Through you the readers, I reflect. At a glance or widely, not a week goes by that I don't see that time abroad on the World Race sewn into the details of my life now. Thinking too at whoever reads this; What are your struggles as Christians, seekers, new-believers here in the United States? Any specifics of the culture, understanding Scripture while living in the 21st Century America, finding meaning, etc?
Grateful to you all and always curious.
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Posted in General Articles by Andrea Lindquist on 11/30/2009
So much time has passed since the last blog I wrote that I had forgotten the password to log-in. I can't help but be a bit curious to find out who will read this.
Chasm between realities: Sitting here across from a glowing pine, I think back to a year ago today. Location: London, England due to airport protests in Bangkok, Thailand. Much has happened since. Today: Indianapolis, Midwest USA. 12 months create a cognitive chasm with the help of a plane and time, and the two realities divurge with more time. The timeless memories make me into a mime with words, the latter's futility is deafening. Should I come to accept that no one will quite get the full picture what I came to know? The new people became a good pair of well-worn shoes and the old people became new again, and I speculate it may be because something was new in me. Do we start over wearing-in new pairs shoes? And seeing now that transition like this one tries to transition you into another season, place, or another thing all-encomplassing, I don't want to....season yes, place maybe, but if I assimilate with the transition then a piece dies within and if I don't, then how without alienating and isolation?
Decision: Or shall I say indecision? Too much can be said about this and so I won't knowing that it will only morph into complaints. At this point everyone has made some pretty big decisions in their lives; marriage, kids, 401K, IRAs, buying homes, etc. Desires are one thing, but acting on them are another. I desire to go to grad-school for linguistics but I also desire to function out of my missionary heart doing long-term ministry, but either can be a good decision...which is the best? When it's your life and not another's, this changes how you might give advice...it's not so simple when that one decision alters the very course of your life.
Humanity: God is teaching me the toils of man in this world, whether you find it in Vietnam, in Wisconsin or in your own life. Gosh, humanity is messy but lovely. My workplace sees people in bankruptcy, in poverty, in domestic violence shelters, and people who've come to expect disappointment from life. But they have some of the most lovely demeanors and whose graciousness puts me to shame. I hope I show them half of the kindness they show me. And that of our mortality...do we really understand the implications of believing that after we die the Lord awaits when we have given our lives over to him on Earth? I tell you what...when you watch your friend's body whither away from cancer, you think about it more. It becomes very relevant, that is, mortality and eternity. Mourn with those who mourn and rejoice with those who rejoice - great advice.
Heavy blog. Thanks for reading. Thoughtful feedback welcomed.
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Posted in General Articles by Andrea Lindquist on 8/14/2009
I've returned to Indianapolis recently to live, work and to be part of the body of believers here. I've opted out of the free ride and decided to put myself in a posture of need; need for a computer and need for a job/income I could live off of that would allow for a September (extending into October) faith-based stint in Europe. It might be laughable. In this economy? With this job market? HA
Well, I think I made God smile when He heard me say, "I cannot do this, but You can".
Americans need jobs now, but why need when you can choose not to? It's like asking: "If you're hungry and the food is set before you, why wouldn't you choose to eat it?" Let's move into a paradigm shift for a second that traverses our conditioned understanding of this world.
For example:
We need work because...
We work for what we need. Our needs met help us survive. That is good. Our paradigm gets this.
But -- We need 'need' in a relationship with God because...
We need God and to eliminate 'need' is to nullify how we relation with God. Need is at the core of our doing anything physical (speaking mostly secularly), so for those of us believers in Christ, why wouldn't we parallel this spiritually to our lives? Our paradigm does not get this.
I suspect because stating a 'core' implies a universal constant for all humans, and outside of the recognized physical ones, spiritual absolutes labelled 'core' or otherwise, does not amalgamate with the thought of this age. It comes down to this: to put your reliance [faith] in something or someone other than yourself to get what you need, is considered a number of things. These are a few -- weak, stupid, impractical, childish, thoughtless, ignorant, etc. I say again -- we don't cease to work, but we cease to strive for our own, on our own. I consider that thought of our age an incubator for hopelessness, heartlessness and ultimately faithlessness in even ones own self. But let's look at the thought of our age 'a la imagery'. We like short lines in grocery stores, at the restaurant, in traffic, as well as in our thinking. Short lines in our linear thinking is considered good. So the shorter the line (shorter the scenario) to get what you need, the better. Is this not so?
I generalize in that statement, but the overarching mindset of this nation is not in accordance with posturing ourselves as one in need. Let's not be mistaken. Too many a people have misused that posture in the name of 'need', and that posture is not what I'm referring to. Efforts must be taken, decisions must be made, the biggest of all is the decision to choose the riskier and narrower path which leads to His voice. I say to His voice, because the Lord's Spirit helps us discern a step like this from some ascetic value in our flesh that appears holy but is not for the name of Christ. However, need is not need without work and work is not work without need. We work because we need something and not always for physical attainment. And when we need, we CHOOSE the work/to work to bring fulfillment of the need. That is cyclical. This is cyclical thinking. It does not end. A relationship is cyclical -- give and take, talk and listen -- and the choice to keep it cyclical is KEY. Hopefully it remains cyclical so that it does not end like its linear counterpart. Because we're human, we're always in some kind of need. We'll always be in need of God but choosing to take the posture in right relationship with Him is the tricky part. This is all to say, the Lord provided a used laptop and a job for me. Not only a job but a job I'm excited for! This is despite the odds and opposite posture 'noising' in my ear saying, 'You don't know what could happen, why don't you think this over?' Post-world race I will still pray past that and remember that although my need doesn't stop, He never changes. That I can trust in.
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Posted in General Articles by Andrea Lindquist on 6/22/2009
What do you think of when you think of 'risk'? Risk of losing a job; risk of losing a friendship; risk of losing your life.
What do you fear? Fear of losing money; fear of losing respect; fear of losing control.
What about...risk despite losing a job; risk despite losing a friendship; risk DESPITE losing your life.
'Despite', though seemingly a common enough word, has two synonyms not commonly associated: 'against' or 'in defiance of'. Once 'risk' becomes a command, its meaning changes entirely from a noun connoting ominous prospects to a verb augmenting the view of such prospects, though they be unknown. 'Losing a job' or 'losing a friendship' or 'losing your life' are all things that understandably induce fear. Each could be interchanged in a sentence:
Risk despite [losing a job]. Risk despite [fear]. OR, risk against [fear]. Risk in defiance of [fear].
Do you see what I'm getting at? Fear is not from God. So what do we stand against when we risk against fear? Yes, you've guessed it: the devil, evil, the enemy.
Fear is everywhere. I've seen how it convolutes reality into some one dimensional shape to the point where you're seeing in black and white, and somehow you're believing in a flat Earth. You start thinking, 'God forbid I ever get on a boat for India, I'll fall right off of this planet's crust into abyss.' But if you gather up your nautical nerve, you may end up in 'America'. When I say fear, I'm not saying the Holy Spirit sense of warning for protection or cautiousness. This is the kind of fear that makes people irrational, and it makes me angry because of how it distorts one's understanding of life and life's interactions. Specifically if they are followers of Christ.
When you take a risk, you've first and foremost made a big decision. But risk unfolds consequtive decisions of unknown results, each contingent on the last, and often growing more momentous than the first. But you face fear. You choose fear or you begin the process of choosing against it, and moving toward the Lord; who is not the source of fear. Fear always chooses you and will continue trying. Maybe chooses your friends, your job, your words, your thoughts, your appetite, and each time its given permission through omission. It's a nail hammered into an early spiritual grave instead of into your spiritual flesh.
Knowing you're obeying the Lord brings peace and joy because obedience is loving Him. His love returned is far greater and more powerful than imagined from the 'saved' sidelines. Who wants to be the 'starter' on this team? Are we afraid the ball will be passed to us? Don't choose fear by sitting on the sidelines. Society is driven by fear. It is a fear-induced society where no one trusts their neighbor, and that neighbor doesn't find it too hard to return the same sentiments.
Fear's principal agitator is pride. Pride inflames through fear's deceptive lies of the unknown. Unknown. I think God must hang out there. The abyss, right? No sir. The 'unknown' is what hasn't been revealed yet. However, the revelation of Truth and grace came through Jesus Christ. Let's not be confused by the characteristic of mystery that we KNOW is embodied in His deity, which leaves us to wonder at His glory. I have faith in what I know, not in what I've deducted from what I don't know about Him. So let's not be mistaken. He was made known and can be known, if we understand that we too can be known by Him. But we must also trust Him. We must know Him, be known by Him, love Who we know, and trust Who we know. Then express such love to others without fear that we'll lose something even if it's unrequitted -- pride will take its greasy hands and smear itself all over the place here if you let it.
When we trust our Savior and God as reality and the One who fulfills His promises, then what can this world rob us of? You may be naming a few things off in your head right now. More poignantly, what should we fear? In the Name above all names, we have the greatest, holiest authority in all divinity and humanity. And yet, He thought of us. How remarkable is that?! The Cambodian AIDS orphan that I held; He thought of her. The Malawian moslem who had a dream of a dove flying to his shoulder; He thought of him. It's something to awe and revere in how it's said, to fear the Lord. The latter 'fear' carries an entirely different word meaning than the 'fear' I have been contending with. Unfortunately, contention between the two has dulled and with some time amalgamated a perspective of God which charts a map for unexplored waters while on land. This evades interaction with our neighbor and ultimately with God. But to have awe, reverence and a firm understanding that He thought of YOU!
 This is our strength because it's here we find our incapability to know or save ourselves without Him, and therefore we find our need for something so intimate with our Creator. We're drawn in by His light. Seeing the consequences of ourselves being independent from that gives some a contrite heart and leads to repentence. For these people, they can't help but fall to their knees and in time humility results. Another strength against fear: humility through a contrite heart. Fear can't hold onto a person who is choosing the nails in the spiritual flesh which leads to humility. Pride can't stick because its being actively eroded and redressed with the fruits of the Spirit; all which hold far more authority than pride. Hate, gossip, slander, or any other manifestation of pride will be considered undesirable and avoided at the cost of one's fullness in the Lord, witness, and expression of our love for Him to the world. When you boast in Him, you've already resolved in seeing yourself for who you are, a sinner just like the next person, but then choosing to recognize who you are in Him. You give no authority to the enemy or its fear in your life, because you are functioning instead in the authority of the Lord.
This is called freedom. No fear. No condemnation. No pretence. No hate.
Relinguishing control of the illusions in our lives to God will bring forth what He has offered and still offers. FREEDOM. Freedom to His children of faith and eternal life for everyone who believes. Freedom my friend has a lot more to do with risking than you may think. As small as baking cookies for neighbor who you haven't talked to in four years, or as large as leaving your career, the question is: is what He's saying worth the risk?
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Posted in General Articles by Andrea Lindquist on 6/22/2009
Something I've been learning since my return to the U.S . 
I've been watching Isaac a lot, my nephew, and since I love him dearly I don't mind. One day while watching him I said, "Isaac, give me the brush or I'll have to take it away from you." I recognized that voice. And you think. Who? Your mother? No.
Actually, those same words were being spoken to me from our Father in Heaven. I heard His voice through the identical verbal words that came from my mouth to Isaac. He wants to give lavishly in ways that surpass expectations but we hold onto things that may be good, but can die in our hands. When we give whatever it may be to Him, the source of life, they grow into what they should and were intended to be in our lives. Blessings instead of curses.
He said, "Extend your hands to me. Choose to give me the things I've entrusted to you for a time so that I can give back 10-fold and more fully to you. So that I don't have to take them away from you. Don't allow those gifts to decompose in your hands, because just like seeds I will plant another in that leftover 'soil' (in your life) and ask the same as I'm asking now. I desire good things for you. Trust in me. "
Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean NOT on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge HIM, and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3
"God gives where He finds empty hands." St. Augustine
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Posted in General Articles by Andrea Lindquist on 6/4/2009
Dear supporters, encouragers, and prayer warriors,
I could not have done this year without you.
Thank you for your devotion and love stateside that was an essential part of this trip of missions.
This isn't the last of the blogs, but I wanted to send a big THANK YOU to each of you. This is not necessarily the end of missionary life as the United States is another ministry site of great proportions, and not to mention the strong mission possibility in my future of continued work overseas, but more long-term. Where the Lord might have me in the future is not certain, but I am certain that I am a missionary at heart.
So here's a few THANK YOUs ...
U.S.A.
Thanks to so many for coming alongside me and having the same vision for His kingdom. Believing in the specific call placed on me to be sent has made all the difference, and will change the remainder of my life in so many incredible ways.
Gracias for your prayers against sickness.
Ca-mun for responding to updates and blogs with encouragement.
Thailand
Korp Kun Ka for remembering me at random moments of your day and praying for me.
Cambodia
Acoon for your great comments to the blogs written and feeling the pain for the Cambodians along with me.
England
Cheers to each of you trusting in the Lord right alongside us with the country swap.
Mozambique
Obrigada for praying for protection over our group. It was needed.
Swaziland
Siyabonga for considering supporting fellow squad members in need.
Malawi
Zicomo for showing grace with the lack of blogs being produced and responding so well when blogs did come.
Hungary
Kisanom for your prayers of provision. He provided in full.
Romania/Moldova
Multumesc for caring for the lives of gypsies and Moldovans a globe away from you.
*Special thanks to Angie Simmons for sending those letters of encouragement (with pics!) and for all your love over the past year*
I encourage you now, as witnesses of this loving and powerful God that we serve, that you continue be the light in this world. We all have a call. It is our responsibility to respond. It may not be a call to Thailand or outside this nation, but in daily decisions that lead us to obedience and ultimately vocation. Again, thank you. You give reason to hope in the church.
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Posted in General Articles by Andrea Lindquist on 5/29/2009
In the beginning of the trip I decided to paint something from each country of ministry. Each has some significance or story. But I'll be sharing an excerpt from my journal about what God was doing, next to the painting. So alas, after some leg pulling I've put this blog together.(more blogs to come to close out the trip)
Drum roll please...
 Mexico: 7/8/08 "We went to a house where we sang worship, prayed and I gave a word from the Lord. He is good. He provided me with John 3:1-21 saying that Jesus makes you reborn with the Holy Spirit and gives life. I read the verses in Spanish and spoke what I was being told by God. The wife there afterwards had us pray for those in a circle who wanted to know Jesus. Each of those people prayed that Jesus would come into their hearts. Amazing. They gave us food and drink. We took of it. Those of us who think it takes years of hearing of Jesus to know Him might find this too quick, too simple. But the Gospel is simple enough to be understood by a child and the faith of a child is all He asks. It starts with a mustard seed."
 Nicaragua: 8/18/08 (after the male witch encounter) "We have a choice everyday how we are going to live our lives, what we will recognize as reality and what we're going to live for. My challenge for you is to not allow the trivial strife for comfort or whatever the vice be, lead you down a lukewarm road of complacency and ultimately death. Rise up and live for what brings life in Christ. Be a threat to what robs like a theif in the night, and overcome evil with good."
*Both Mexico and Nicaragua paintings are done in cafes*
Vietnam: 9/13/08
"Through the streets of Ho Chi Minh City sign after sign read in a language completely foriegn to me. When ordering hot tea and a plate of pineapple for breakfast I received hot tea with pineapple flavoring. Then upon ordering hot black coffee, I received iced expresso with chocolate flavoring. My last attempt was the lunch order of plain noodles with beef and the meal arrived drenched in thick sauce without beef. Maybe if I order the iced coffee next time, hot coffee will show up? In such stark contrast to Nicaragua, I suspect God is fix'n to use this time well to stretch me. Maybe to exhibit His strength instead of mine?"
*Buddhist temple across from the local Pho stand*
Cambodia: 10/7/08
"The sun is setting on another day in Phnom Penh. Most of this feels like a dream from which one day I'll awake and think, what? Think myself happy because I awoke or happy because I dreamt?...I have no answers. I have absolutely nothing but the promises God gives me. How utterly broken I am! Hear the cry of my heart Lord!"
*Angkor Wat near Siem Reap*
Thailand: 11/3/08
"Today we chopped down big branches from a tree, picked and carried papayas (apparently a cow's delight) and bananas, I learned how to make Pad Thai, and we went out into a snake ridden field/jungle to chop weeks with our machetes and sickles to clear the land for electric wire fencing. Then after dinner, we had Bible study and played cards. The mountains with the sunset and stars at night are all extraordinarily magnificant. The words don't even adequately express this beauty."
*God's a better painter than I am. Plus I don't know where my Thailand pic is.*
 England: 12/18/08 "It says in Hunger for Reality, 'if we are informed, we realize that many of the young people who grow up in evangelical churches deny the faith before they are 25'. Sitting in a London Starbucks makes it easy to get comfortable and forget that the majority of people walking passed this window on Oxford street don't know the great hope and life in Christ. During this season the cafe is playing Christmas songs but they reach most ears as another familiar sound of the season, but nothing more. They all want to be great fortresses that no one can enter, but each of them acts as a wall against the other; even though they haven't laid a single brick. We are each other's great masons. What a pity this is. None of us are fortresses though, not one. Psalm 46:11"
*Big Ben*
Swaziland: 1/31/09
"Sawubona, unjani? The children are precious beyond words. Many have lost their parents to AIDS and even some themselves suffer from HIV. There are Grandmas (go-gos) and children left in this land, and most everyone else have HIV or are looking for jobs but the cost for transportation is too high to go to the places to apply. So they're stuck loafing at their homesteads. We gave shoes to kids from the care points after washing their feet and praying for them. So much need is here."
*Shoes of Swazi orphans*
Mozambique: 1/16/09
"The goat was slaughtered and skinned about an acre away from the center of the site here, but now we have a goat stew feast. But the well is about 3km away, making it difficult to replenish water."
"How I love you Lord, I urge my heart to say. But my mind plays the chord and I'm off on my day. How I love you God, I tell it ought not be today to know my lot and then watch it fray. How I love you Lord, I hear my heart sing. Sing about joy and sword, you've offered everything."
*Indian Ocean coast*
Malawi: 2/15/09
"We sat down and slowly a group of 5 children gathered in front of me. I began playing with them and then teaching them a hand game, in return asking them to teach me. The kids were more than thrilled. I'm learning often how to laugh at myself. At this point a group of 30-40 people congregated in front and behind Steph and I. We were trying to learn the song we learned here in Nkoatakota, but couldn't remember. I decided to sing the Mozambique song. I finished it in their language Chichewa, 'zicom Yesu' -- thank you Jesus. They wanted to hear more singing , more songs from ME!"
*Jake Livingston tree where the slave trade ended verbally*
Romania:4/7/09
"Yesterday was a good day filled with surprises. We picked up trash from the backyard area. Also, we painted the tree trunks and did various jobs around the house. It was fun to spend time with the family and to play with the kids who tell me, 'I much love Andrea'. So precious. I especially love the way they all live together and take care of one another. I love how the gypsies are people of passion."
*Baby lambs are slaughtered on Easter*
Hungary: 3/26/09
"I miss everyone and all that life there entailed. Lord please bless them and encourage them. I thank you for them. I praise You for Your loving kindness and how you've lavished me and Shanda with such extravagance! There are no words. You are good."
*Chain bridge in Budapest*
Moldova: 5/3/09
"We were in Slobozia village for a week where we stayed with Olga's family. An amazing family of Godly character. I even got to help translate when Katea went to Chisinau. I learned how to plant potatoes, beans and drank strawberry campot for the first time. That time will always be with me. 'Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints...the LORD delights in those who put their hope in his unfailing love'. Psalm 146"
*The blooming of red tulips of Slobozia*
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Posted in General Articles by Andrea Lindquist on 5/6/2009
Since April 23rd, a small group and I went to Moldova and served with an extraordinary family in a village for about 8 days. Talking to youth about prayer, giving testimonies about our lives and the trip, singing at services (and even having worship practice to carry a note!), hoeing up weeds around grapevine for the elderly, planting potatoes/beans, stripping down warped walls and reconstructing a room for four children with a neglegent mother, and having solid fellowship with amazing Moldovans. We used word and deed to share the love of Christ. And had fun doing it.
   We worked hard and played hard...
All in the family minus two brothers -- incredible family Moldovan Spring brought red tulips everywhere!
Planted potatoes on their land The Moldovan kids we helped
Even the bunicas (old women) from the community got involved
The last supper on May 2nd...Moldovan pizza :)
We'll always have Slobozia...home away from home
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Posted in General Articles by Andrea Lindquist on 5/6/2009
The Romanian Christian culture
is a hard one for the Christian youth of the country. As we have seen in so many places and churches around the world, including our own churches, religion often gets in the way of faith. The Communistic and Orthodox background here in Romania influences the religion and gives the country an extra challenge when it comes to faith. During Easter weekend we were witnesses to the challenges that religion and persecution have on one young girl.
Alex is a thirteen year old Gypsy girl growing up in Viile Tecii, Romania. She has believed in God for a few years now but has been scared to make the step of faith that comes with baptism. It is hard enough to be a young Gypsy girl in a country that does not welcome your race, but even harder to have a faith outside the religious box of Orthodox Christianity. When Alex found her faith in the salvation that comes only through Jesus, she and her family no longer attended the Orthodox Church and the teasing and harassment at school began. Alex wanted to be baptized but the church told her she was too young and she was scared this act of faith would make life even harder for her at school. Both religion and persecution were keeping her from acting on her new-found faith.
When Alex heard that two of the American girls wanted to be baptized on Easter Sunday, she finally worked up her courage to be baptized as well. Tears streamed down her face for the majority of the service because she was both excited and scared. She was excited to finally share her faith with her community and friends, but scared about the consequences it might bring to her social life. With her mother close by and her father baptizing her, Alex finally made her step of faith!
Of course, God always blesses those who step out in faith and Ferdinand's story is not a coincidence. Ferdinand is a young man who lives two houses down from Alex and her family. He has struggled with alcohol for years and his addiction has quickly been destroying his life. He is known in the community has a troubled young man, and his wife and child left him when the abuse got to be too much. Not that long ago, Ferdinand hit rock bottom when he got into a bar fight that left him in the hospital. He had made a deal with God that if he lived he would turn his life around, but after being released from the hospital he quickly went back to his same old ways.
Little did Ferdinand know that God would hold him to his promise. While Ferdinand stood across the street listening to the testimonies and watching young Alex be baptized, tears started streaming down his face. He had remembered the promise he made to God and was finally ready to give his life over to his Creator. He said that he could not explain what happened in his heart but he knew God had moved and in a moment he was changed! In that moment, Ferdinand knew that he wanted to be baptized and there was no stopping him.
I've already seen the difference that Ferdinand's faith has made in his life. One of the first days we were in the village this man came up to Katie and I with inappropriate intentions. I didn't understand what he was saying but his actions made his motives clear. As always, we blew him off and then avoided him every time we saw him outside his house. The day after Ferdinand was baptized, a few men were walking down the street at night and stopped to make a few comments in our direction. Ferdinand was outside his house and quickly came to our defense. The man who was once quick to join in the taunting was now standing up against his peers in our defense. This is just a small example of what God has done in Ferdinand's life already, but we see the evidence of his new faith in so many ways! God has completely restored him into a whole new person!
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