January 1, 2008

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me!
Amazing LOVE, how can it be, that God, my God would die for me??
How deep the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure...
And my heart is overwhelmed, that you would call my child...

Praise God that He is alive and real and evidently present today. How vastly deep his love is, that he would care for us, and want us to be in relationship with him. Upon visiting a few Hindu temples today, I am astounded at the reality of God. He is not a painted idol, nor will he be confused with a man made token of worship. I am broken over the reality of peoples deception and challenged by the importance of Truth. God has already started using this trip to "chip away" at my mind -- to put those pictures in my head that I cannot erase.

We've been here in St. Helena, Trinidad, at the Trinidad and Tobago Urban Ministry (TTUM) compound for less than 48 hours and I've already experienced things that have rocked my world, or changed my heart in one way or another. Our team arrived in Trinidad late last night and was taken by bus to the TTUM compound were we are staying. As we departed from the airport in our "Maxi Taxi," we had fun adjusting to how Trinidadian's drive on the "wrong" (left) side of the road, seeing the many different sights, and hearing many of the different sounds of another culture.

One difference we all experienced is the fact that Trinidadians like to be loud... if they're going to party, they figure they might as well be loud about it. As a result of this fact, (combined with the fact that they were celebrating "Old Years") the neighbors of the ministry compound blasted party music for one and all to hear last night. They continued to play the music until we woke up this morning, when we were awakened with even more music. It was such fun to experience just one little slice of the different culture right from the very start. Even now, at 12:29am , I hear some far off music. This has been quite the adventure for me, and has resulted in my having a CONSTANT song in my head or on my lips.

We are all eagerly awaiting tomorrow, when we will be visiting a drug rehab center in the morning and doing VBS in the afternoon.

Thank you all for your prayers. - Everything is going very well.
From the sunny side, Liz Bird