Tactic is an amazing place!

Tactic is a pretty amazing place. Yesterday, we were blessed to have a day off - Yippee! I walked 5 minutes down the road to the market and went grocery shopping. I bought a huge honeydew melon, a papaya, 3 pounds of potatoes, 1 pound of green beans, 3 carrots, 2 onions, and 4 pounds of chicken for under $15. I also bought 2 pounds of fresh berries - kind of like blackberries but more tart - to make platz for $1.50. I already had a vase full of calle lillies, so I didn't buy any more flowers, but if I had, the going rate for lillies or other exotic flowers is about Q10 per dozen, or $1.50. Wow! There is never a shortage of fresh produce and flowers - in fact the abundance is sometimes overwhelming.

Last week I broke off half of one of my molars. I bit down on a hard candy and the inside half of my tooth just feel off in my mouth. I was pretty nervous about going to the dentist. I don't really like going to the dentist in Canada, but I was actually a little afraid about going here. Les phoned for an appointment and got me in that morning - this would never happen at home! - and off we went to Coban. The dentist told me I needed a crown and he could do it right away. Less than an hour later, I paid my bill - Q500 / $64 - for a crown! It would have been more than 10 times that in Canada!

The scenery here is also incredible. I had actually started to take it for granted until I looked through this last team's photos and found this one here. This picture was taken at the end of the road in Chakalte, a small village 1/2 hour from Tactic. The layers of mountains in this photo give you a really good idea of the landscape here - nothing is flat! Because of the terrain and the difficulty in getting around, there are many who have not yet heard the Gospel. If you can just imagine, in between each mountain is a valley with many little villages scattered on either side.

This amazing place is where the Lord has called us to give our lives away. Wow! We are so blessed.

I just finished reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan. My mom and dad were reading it in their cell group and they bought us a copy. If you haven't read it, you should. The subtitle is "Overwhelmed by a relentless God" and it was such a good reminder of how awesome God is and what a privilege it is to call Him our Lord, Saviour, and very best friend. In the last chapter, Chan summarizes what he hopes this book has done..."My hope and prayer is that you finish this book with hope, believing that part of your responsibility in the body of Christ is to help set the pace for the church by listening and obeying and living Christ. Knowing that God has called us each to live faithful and devoted lives before Him, by the power of His Spirit. You do not need to preach to your pastor or congregation; you simply need to live out in your daily life the love and obedience that God has asked of you."

I know for us, we are just learning what it really means, "to live out in [our] daily life the love and obedience that God has asked of [us]." We are learning to walk by faith, not by what we see with our human eyes, but with our spiritual eyes and ears focused and in tune with our Creator. This is not always easy, but it is always rewarding and fulfilling.

I pray the Lord's richest blessings upon you as you walk out your faith.
Karren