Sunday May 25, 2003 From Lisbon With Love: Bom Dia,....or is it Howdy ya'll,........We're just not sure anymore. We are still rolling along here in Lisbon pretty much the same as we were on our last update. Language school is getting more and more challenging, and we are learning more and more every day. Thank you so much for your continued prayers concerning our language study. We have our good days and days when it is all we can do to just remember why we are even studying this language! But, all in all, we are progressing well. We have had some family tears of sorrow and of joy this month. Ann's grandmother Lois McPherson passed away on Friday, May 16. It has been a long hard road for her, and she is finally home. Also, Ann's sister Irene Cobb gave birth on May 11, Mother's Day to a bouncing baby boy, Maxwell (Max) Roy Cobb. So, please keep Ann's family in your prayers for healing of our hearts and for the new baby and parents. Our time in Lisbon has not only been a time of language learning, the Lord has been teaching us some valuable lessons as well, and continues in shaping us according to his desires and purposes for us. Something in particular that we have been and will always be learning about is living in community with our team. We had discussed what life would be like on the mission field, but we had never even lived in the same town together! It has been great to live here in Lisbon together, growing together, getting to know each other better, and just plain hanging out together on a more regular basis. It has been so good to have these teammates during the hard times and the good times, too. We really depend on each other, and it is wonderful to see the way God is working in our relationships together and molding us into the body of Christ. Something that we in particular are learning is the appreciation for a simple way of life. Our apartment is small, the smallest place we've ever lived, and all we brought here were clothes and a few books, but life is good! We have really grown to like this kind of life, sure our stuff would be nice to have, but it is good for us to learn this lesson, especially before our move to Mozambique in December. It is good to be back in Europe again, but man oh man were we ever not made for the city life! But that's O.K. 'cause a country boy will survive...or something like that. It has been such a change to go from living in Longview to living in a city with 3 million+. There are so many things that are different about the city. One of the biggest things you notice about the city life is how many beggars there are and just how open people are about their poverty. We have really been stumped lately as to how we should minister to these people and what our role is to be while we are here. But God in all his wisdom has begun to show us that the world is full of impoverished people, whether they are lacking materially or are trying to fill the void in their hearts, they are all impoverished. I have realized lately that God is not necessarily calling us to a life lived in absolute poverty but God is calling all believers to open their eyes to the hunger of people all around us. Our classmates, colleagues, bosses, and teachers are all longing for something deeper, fuller, richer, and more meaningful. They have no way of providing for themselves, they can't make enough, give enough, be enough to fill the emptiness that haunts them at every turn. Brennan Manning once said, "You are never more like Jesus than when you are choked with compassion over the brokenness of others." I believe it. I think this is our calling, to truly open our eyes and see that the fields are ripe unto harvest. May that be our prayer, that he would soften our hearts to the hearts of others so that we can bless and dispense his grace as much as we are given and blessed with the incomparable riches of the love of God. May God bless you, Rusty and Ann Caldwell