Why LST is awesome...

I'd like to toot LST's horn a bit and give you a real life example of how effective the LST ministry is. A lot of people (i.e. missions committees) are sometimes a bit leery of LST because they don't understand what it is, what it does, etc. They find it an awful lot of money to spend on such a "short-term" project (although 6 weeks of Bible study is much more than most "short-term" mission trips do) and don't bother to really investigate the invaluable benefits. All you have to do is talk to a person who has participated in LST (yours truly, for starters) to see what a life-changing impact it has on its readers AND workers, an impact on which you absolutely cannot put a price.

Do you remember back in December when I told you about my friend Sarah? She started studying the Bible with the LST team in May of 2007. When I arrived in September, she continued with me. She also began a Portuguese study with one of the missionaries. All during this time she became incredibly involved with the young people and began to change her life. In December she was baptized. In February she convinced her Dad (although I don't think it too much convincing, her parents are truly lovely people) to let the entire church take over his house/ranch during four days of Carnaval so we could have a retreat. Then, over the last few weeks she spent morning, afternoon, and night at the church building, getting ready for VBS. On Sunday the missionaries called her forward during the worship service to give her a gift of appreciation, because she went above and beyond to ensure that VBS 2008 was a success. (And it was!) I couldn't help but get a bit emotional...one year ago we were only praying that one day she might make the decision to follow Christ...and today she is receiving awards for her service in the church! GOD IS GOOD!

So how does this toot LST's horn? Sarah never would have walked into the doors of Comunidade de Cristo had she not seen an advertisement for free English classes. Those English classes changed her life. Those English classes introduced her to Jesus. And she won't even speak English with me anymore...she's too busy planning VBS!

Sarah and I the day of her baptism