wake up and smell the coffee

I am so excited to share with you what all  that has been going on lately  in pretty,pretty Porto!!!

Saturday, Hannah, Michelle, and I attended an annual women's mission meeting that takes place once a month for several local churches in this area.This was such a neat, cultural opportunity for Hannah and myself to see how women, here in Portugal, worship Jesus. There were several different ways of worship including: by singing,guitar, piano, cello, hand bells,praise dance,scripture reading and a message all in Portuguese.
Though I can not yet speak the Portuguese language and could not make out some of the song lyrics or message, I COULD, however, feel the Holy Spirit moving in our time of worship together.During the message part of the meeting, Michelle  helped by whispering some of the message to me in English; the speaker was sharing about the woman who washed the feet of Jesus and at one point, tears began to run down her face and I felt her passion for the Lord.Without understanding  her words, I could clearly see that she had recklessly abandoned her life to Christ Jesus and longed to make Him known. This is the cry of my heart; I pray that people will clearly see Jesus when they look at me. None of Jennifer White.

This time of worship was very refreshing and was another great reminder as to why I have been placed here by the Savior,because, while at the women's meeting, my heart began to break even more for this country and the people here.

 You see, there are about 10 million people living in Portugal and 2 million of these call Porto their home, yet, there are only 6 evangelical churches in this area with around 50 or less people attending on any given Sunday,  

 So, while sitting in the meeting, I began to wonder to myself, "Wow, If I were to invite each woman from each church in Mobile, AL,  to an annual missions meeting;how large of a number would show and where on earth would I fit them all?!" You can do the math...

 Yes, I know what you're thinking, there is no comparison to mission fields and  that there are broken and hurting people in Mobile as well. You are so right, However, the amount of people without the love of Jesus here, is extensive and mind blowing. Not to mention that there are less than  2% of Christians here to date. Just to put things in perspective,  I can look back on  my high school  days and remember over 100 students praying to Jesus  around a flag pole on the national day of Prayer; yet,on the other hand, I spoke with a young girl the other day here who told me she was the only believer in her grade level.....

 I felt so blessed to be surrounded by a room full of  these devote,loving and genuine Christian ladies on Saturday, however, I pass so many each day on the street  here that are searching for that love with desperation written on their faces and my heart breaks that they were not there Saturday nor will be in  one of these six churches on Sunday.

Response : "How can they hear unless they are being told?" Romans 10:14

And, If they were all there, Saturday would have needed a much larger venue and I am pretty positive there would be more than 6 churches to be found....

 So, It's time to step outside the  comfy walls and live love like never before. I am a firm believer in wake up calls, and I am so thankful that the Savior is waking me from this slumber I have been in for years. I have for far too long sat around in the comfort of my own secure eternal future while thousands are dying daily and headed to a place of sheer torture in absence of the Prince of Peace. As John Piper says, "Don't waste your life!" I'm not sure about you, but I have for far too long, wasted my life on me. Let's wake up and live love.