Our first group arrived on Saturday July 3rd. That morning before the group arrived we watched the Argentina Germany game and then Theresa, Ryan and I went to a little park by our hotel to outside and read. I have been blessed with wonderful friends who sent me letters for each day. This day was Alyssa's day. I love that girl. The following are some of her encouraging scriptures: Eph. 6:7, Phil. 2:14, and 2 Cor. 12:9-10. Also Bec challenged me to memorize Ps. 67. It was a great morning preparing for the group spiritually and spending some good alone time with God before the group arrived.
Happy 4th of July!!!! Sunday we went to a church named Real Vida. It was awesome. All their songs were Hillsong and the preacher was great. I was sitting there and I noticed a red headed girl sitting 5 rows in front of me. I thought to myself, "Hum, that looks like the back of Rebecca Griggs head." Then I looked and noticed Daniel and Ms. Ruth! How crazy is that, that out of all the churches in Guate to go to, we went to the same church. It was very encouraging to see them one more time! Our group went to Antigua for the day. It is the colonial area of Guate and is surrounded by volcanoes. We went to the market, ate at Monoloco and then headed home.
Happy 4th of July!!!! Sunday we went to a church named Real Vida. It was awesome. All their songs were Hillsong and the preacher was great. I was sitting there and I noticed a red headed girl sitting 5 rows in front of me. I thought to myself, "Hum, that looks like the back of Rebecca Griggs head." Then I looked and noticed Daniel and Ms. Ruth! How crazy is that, that out of all the churches in Guate to go to, we went to the same church. It was very encouraging to see them one more time! Our group went to Antigua for the day. It is the colonial area of Guate and is surrounded by volcanoes. We went to the market, ate at Monoloco and then headed home.
First Baptist Naples wearing monkey masks at Monoloco.
Monday was our first day in the village. It took us about 2 hours to get there and 2 hours to get home each day. And it rained everyday! Right now about 100 children attend the one room school house. Our purpose in the village was to dig trenches and lay a foundation for an addition to the school house but God had bigger plans for us. Since there was not enough tools for everyone, we also played with the children and split into teams to go door to door in the village. It was great! The children are so precious and so hungry for love and attention.
Tuesday I started to memorize Col 4:2-6 and thought about these verses through out the week. It says,
"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us too that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders: making the most out of every opportunity. Let your conversation always be full of grace, so that you may know how to answer everyone."
Some of my favorite little rascals. I wanted to take a picture of them and they wouldnt let me. When they finally turned around, this is what they did.
Wednesday was awesome! My favorite day of the trip so far. We finished the trenches and everyone was playing with the kids. I was playing with some kids and a little girl named Norma came up to me and asked my for a Bible. I got her one and sat down to share the gospel with her. I asked her questions and shared that gospel with her and she knew all the right answers. She was already a believer so I asked her if she knew the story of creation. By this time a group of kids had gathered around to listen. I went on to tell them about Jesus' birth, death and resurrection. All the kids had heard the gospel presentation already so most of them had already prayed to receive Christ. The kids went to go play but this one boy named Adian stayed. I told him the story of the little boy with two fish and 5 pieces of bread. He wasn't ever looking at me while I told the story. He was watching all the children play. I just knew that he wasn't paying any attention to me so I started to ask him question about the story. He knew exactly what the story was about. He probably would have sat there all day and listened to me tell Bible stories.
The kids came back over to where I was sitting. I gave them silly bands, taught them father Abraham and then videoed them. They loved watching the videos of themselves.
It started to rain so we all loaded up and got on the buses. The dirt roads were really muddy and there was a huge hill we had to get up. I was on the first bus. We tried to go up the hill but got stuck halfway up it. All the boys got out to push and all the girls went to the back of the bus and jumped up and down to give the back tires traction. We made it up after a couple tries but the truck and other van still had to come up. I just sat in my seat and prayed! Miraculously, we all made it up the hill.
Back on Tuesday the groups that went to the village witness to some ladies, gave them a Bible, and told them same passages to read. Then the next day our team would come back and discuss the passages with them. They were so hungry for God's word, just like the little boy Adian who listened to me tell Bible stories. This was a huge wake up call for me. When was the last time I spent more than an hour reading the Bible or praying or memorizing scripture. And when was the last time I resisted the Holy spirit telling me to go share Christ with them. Its time to step up! I read Psalm 6 and I want this to be my daily prayer! I want this passion to be the passion I have to see non believers accept Christ. I encourage you to read David's cry to God in Psalm 6 and try to think of the last time you felt this way, or if you have ever felt this way.
Peace and Blessings!
It is cheaper to ride on top.