The picture you see here is a group of girls from church. One of them is from albania, 1 italian, and the other 3 (including myself) are american. They are new christians and it gives me great joy to see them here. What also brings me joy is seeing a father and his 2 sons (9 and 7) and how they are growing up in the church. Their father takes them to church every sunday not to mention having to deal with his ex-wife for custody and the italians refer to her as the "holy terror" but yet he still does it. He even comes to our tuesday night bible studies every time at 9pm after along day of hard work and a long day at school for the boys (not to mention getting close to their bedtime). And the tired face on the father still smiles and smiles on those boys faces as they enter, and how they always bring their own bibles and look through the scriptures with us and participate. Pray for that family. He's trying to get custody and at the same time, the mother is fighting b/c she doesn't like the idea of her ex-husband or sons becoming "christians". It's seeing a man, Marion, who has a condition with his spine and is crippled, but still makes it every sunday with a bright attitude that makes you smile when you see him. It's seeing a business man, on the way to work, stop at a local bar (coffee shop) and buys bottled water for the construction workers outside to show him that he appreciates them and their hard work. These are just a few of the many people that encourage me without words, but through appearance and just being themselves.
