community.

Yesterday was a work day for the church revival. A bunch of the men got together and dug holes and put up lamp posts throughout the Predio and then strung wire between them all to get electricity to the lights. It was a pretty cool process to see!

While they were doing that a group of us had a meeting for Scouts which starts up the weekend after the revival. We talked about different things that needed done as well as put us into groups on who will be helping what age group. I'll be helping with the younger kiddos and Staci is helping with the high school aged. I also got dubbed the official photographer for the first Welcoming Day!

It was pretty encouraging to sit there and be able to pick up most of what was being said! It helps that Patricia is easy to understand in general, but I have learned a ton of Castellano (Spanish) since arriving here! Along with classes twice a week we've been taking it upon ourselves to watch movies (mostly animated, or ones that we've seen a lot) in Spanish so that we can learn more. It can be kind of frustrating because in most cases the subtitles don't match what is being said, but it's the best "homework" you can get!

Here are some pictures to enjoy from last night!

A bunch of the guys working on the lights!

Daniel and Alejandro taping a TON of wire together 

so they can be strung to all the light poles.

Staci found a bike that had a machete tied to it!? 

Hector of course demonstrated what it was used for! Haha!

Take one on a group photo haha! I accidentally had it zoomed all the way in!

But it is a nice picture of Sole! Haha!

Take two on the group pic!

Diana, Staci, Sole, and I!

The guys using their makeshift (two short ladders tied/wired together)

ladder to put up the wire and the lights.

Staci saving the day by shoveling out dangerous spiky weeds!

We were sitting at our meeting and the guys walked by..

"Take a picture! Take a picture!"

A nice picture of Sole, Patricia, and Diana!

At the end of our time there I sat back in my chair and looked at all the people around. The guys doing the "manly work" and their wives and kids supporting them, helping when possible, serving food and mate. Work towards the revival, and work towards Scouts, all meshed together in the same place. Just hanging out and getting things done for hours. Not really bored or dying to get home or on to the next thing. Just living in community. 

It was a scene that I will not soon forget.

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fighting anxiety.

I've been reading a book called "Future Grace" by John Piper. I really enjoyed this excerpt about anxiety. It is an encouragement to fight unbelief with the Word which is something I'd love to strive for!


"We should follow the pattern of Jesus and Paul. We should battle the unbelief of anxiety with the promises of future grace. When I am anxious about some risky new venture or meeting, I battle unbelief with one of my most often used promises, Isaiah 41:10... "Fear not for I am with you, be not dismaybed for I am your God, I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you, with my victorious right hand" (Isaiah 41:10, RSV). When the motor of my mind is in neutral, the hum of the gears is the sound of Isaiah 41:10.

When I am anxious about my ministry being useless and empty, I fight unbelief with the promise of Isaiah 55:11. "So shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it."

When I am anxious about being too weak to do my work, I battle unbelief with the promise of Christ, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9).

When I am anxious about decisions I have to make about the future, I battle unbelief with the promise, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you" (Psalm 32:8).

When I am anxious about facing opponents, I battle unbelief with the promise, "If God is for us, who is against us!" (Romans 8:31).

When I am anxious about the welfare of those I love, I battle unbelief with the promise that if I, being evil, know how to give good things to my children, how much more will the "Father who is in heaven give what is goo to those who ask Him!" (Matthew 7:11). And I fight to maintain my spiritual equilibrium with the reminder that everyone who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for Christ's sake "shall receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life" (Mark 10:29-30).

When I am anxious about being sick, I battle unbelief with the promise, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers him out of them all" (Psalm 34:19). And I take the promise with trembling: "Tribulation brings about perseverance, and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us" (Romans 5:3-5).

When I am anxious about getting old, I battle unbelief with the promise, "Even to your old age, I shall be the same, and even to your graying years I shall bear you! I have done it, and I shall carry you; and I shall bear you, and I shall deliver you" (Isaiah 46:4).

When I am anxious about dying, I battle unbelief with the promise that "not one of us lives for himself and not one of us dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living" (Romans 14:7-9).

When I am anxious that I may make shipwreck of faith and fall away from God, I battle unbelief with the promises, "He who began an good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ (Philippians 1:6); and, "He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25).

...Let us make war, not with other people, but with our own unbelief. It is the root of anxiety, which, in turn is the root of so many other sins. ...Take up the Bible, ask the Holy Spirit for help, lay the promises up in your heart, and fight the good fight-- to live by faith in future grace."



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If you would like to get my monthly updates, please email me! For ministry reasons I don't include everything on my blog, and you will also get a list of how you can be praying! Shoot an email to: l.iman1989@gmail.com
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I meant to add this to my February monthly update, but I am still coming up short on my in country and ministry costs. Please prayerfully consider donating a one time or monthly gift of $50 or $100. I will be here until the beginning of June and this would be a great help as I continue serving here in Argentina.

Send checks payable to "Evangelical Covenant Church," with "Lindsey Iman Support" in the memo, to:

Evangelical Christian Church 

8303 W Higgins Road 

Chicago, Illinois, 60631

If you have questions about how to do automatic monthly payments, email l.iman1989@gmail.com

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that which is set before me.

I have a ton on my mind that I’ve been learning and experiencing but I think it’s best if I just separate my thoughts out into different blogs. So for today: I am God’s. He will accomplish what he has planned, whether it includes me or not. And if it doesn't, that doesn't mean he isn't working in and through me in ways that I can't see.

It’s an interesting lesson to learn, because it looks strange in practice.

For instance, we planned on helping with a different church’s camp, but our Scouts camp got moved to the same dates. So we planned on Scouts camp; practicing songs to teach the kids and looking up the words to teach them kickball! And the day is finally here! We’re ready to roll annndddddd it doesn’t happen. And what’s weird is that no one really told us what was going on. We went upstairs to ask what time it would start and we were told that the kid’s parents didn’t get back to them and that there wasn’t going to be a camp. Odd... So, we go to church as usual of Friday night, a beautiful service as usual. 

Then… about a month ago, we decided that we needed to buy tickets to go to Uruguay to renew our visas. It’s cheaper to buy them ahead of time and before we bought them we told Fabian the dates we were thinking of going, he said, yea no conflict, sounds good and enjoy! Then, on Saturday, the weekend before we leave, we are told that the church will be handing out flyers to invite people to the revival next month…. WHAT!? But we’re leaving and we wanted to help with that!!!

It was a saddening feeling. We were geared up and have been ready to serve, but plans fell through, and plans conflicted… I found myself questioning, “God, why? Why are we here if the ways in which we can serve, aren’t working out?”

On the Sunday night service, between a prayer and a song, Staci turned to me and said, “What if God is doing this so that we know that without a doubt we are His. He is before us and has a plan for us here, whether it looks the way we think it should or not.”

A revelation to true to not review! We are His, and He is using us in ways we can not see. Maybe the church needed to hand out the flyers and do evangelism without us this time and we can join them next time. But maybe not! 

Pride… wanting to be able to have something to show. To have pictures or stories to tell about what I did. But that’s not always God’s plan. It's tempting to skip this post all together and tell you of something else that God has used me for but I am being humbled... It's just like satan to attack at this point, to accuse and say, "You're worthless." But it's not true! I still claim victory! God worked miracles to bring me here. And I can excitedly say that the church, the body of Christ! came together and took the word to the streets of Argentina. Pray for all those who heard of the revival; that their hearts would be sparked and maybe they would come and hear the Truth that will be told. 

And pray for me, as I learn to praise God and find joy in Christ, with whatever task it is that he has before me… working with kids, or attending a service. Inviting friends or neighbors to church, or praying for them at the Tuesday night prayer meetings. It is all important in the kingdom of God. And I pray that I don't loose heart and continue to love and serve in whatever ways to whoever God sets before me! 

Blessings,

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