Pray for Phillip

Today I had my last day of language class! I finished up level six (the last level in which you learn actual grammar). The rest of the levels consist in basically just learning Venezuelan history, customs, etc....so those are not necessary for us to take, since we'll be learning that from our interactions with the estudiantes at La Universidad. (I'm throwing in Spanish words, partly on purpose - so you can learn with me! and partly just because I'm consistently speaking in Spanish and the words are stuck in my head) Anyway, I finished my class today.....it's a good feeling - even though we've only been there for 2 weeks, 4 hours a day of Spanish has been a little bit grueling. I am at this point, by no means, fluent - however good enough to get around.

During our time at the language school, we met several other travelers who were also attempting to master this Latin language. There is one African American girl - Jessica from the U.S. One guy, Martin from Sweden - he's almost 7 feet tall!!! He's mostly just here to party, before he heads back to Med School. The third is Phillip (one L, two Ls?) Phillip is a very interesting character. He's very outgoing, and very self sufficient. He is an older man, probably in his 40s, from Switzerland. He told us a significant amount of his life story, leading up to his choice to leave his home and job, buy a huge boat, and sail around the world for as long as he wants. Phillip is from a small town in Switzerland, where he has lived all his life. He plays the mountain horn (pictures will follow at some point). A mountain horn is 3 1/2 meter long instrument - you may have seen it on a Ricola commercial. There is only one man in the world that makes them! Phillip brought his to class this week to show us, and play for us, it was incredible! Apparently they were originally used to communicate between monasteries in the hills of Switerland. I will post pictures as soon as I get them from Amanda or Eben, because really you have to see it.

Anyway, getting back to Phillip's life story. Basically he grew up in a small town, grew up and got a really good job (well, he makes lots of money). He was telling us that he's always wanted to sail around the world, and he's been putting it off and putting it off. About a year ago his live-in girlfriend (of 17 years.....wow) left him. Not only did she leave him, she took every physical thing he owned, leaving him with 4 suitcases and no home. He decided it was time to go for his dream. He bought a 42 foot catamaran (? I have no idea how to spell that) and took off. Currently his boat is parked in a harbor in Grenada and he is spending 6 weeks adventuring and learning Spanish here in Merida. Our conversations with Phillip have been brief, mostly only between classes and during breaks, but he has been very open in sharing about his life and beliefs. Currently he does not believe in God, or have any inclination toward religion, however, at the same time - he was very interested in what we're doing and what we believe. I think that God is working on the heart of Phillip - I think Phillip has hit a point in his life where he's truly beginning to search for what is meaningful in life - HE NEEDS JESUS!!!

I had my last interaction with Phillip today (because it was my last day of class). He bought me a cafe con leche - how sweet! He is truly nice guy, who is just so lost! I'm writing this blog today, so that you can "get to know" Phillip a little. I'm asking you to pray for him. He may not have accepted Christ with us this week, but God has definitely planted seeds of interest in his heart and mind. Somewhere down the road, I'm praying for Phillip to have continued interaction with Christians, and that God would call him into His kingdom.

It's a small victory but it has been encouraging to me this week to talk to Phillip, for him to share with us so much, and to be so interested in what we believe in and are doing.

Pray for Phillip! Pray that he would lay down his pain and burdens and humble himself to the Lord. He's tired, he needs Jesus.