Yesterday ended a great two day of work. The VBS had 120+ kids in the morning and another 30 or so in the afternoon. They reached over 200 kids who made not hear about Jesus any other time. The ladies did an incredible job with help from each of us during one of the sessions and Tim Brumfield from Sunset proved invaluable to the effort. He was one of the roses brought up and thanked last night in our meeting.
The singing effort was another success. I think we passed out nearly double the number of fliers as last year. The morning effort was slowed down by rain and by the afternoon our voices were wavering. During our first afternoon session, we were in a tough location because of the noise around us. We took a break, had some coconut water and churros and then headed back for the final round. More of the Brazilian brethren had arrived and our group of 18 were able to stay together and sing instead of spreading out and it was wonderful. We had a crowd of 20-50 stopped and listening at any given time and when it was time to leave, our whole group wanted to stay and sing longer. We sang until our voices gave way. It was an incredible afternoon that really ended our work on a high note.
One of the people spotlighted in our session last night was Amy Walton. While we were singing in the morning, a man who was mute was listening to us. Amy knows sign language and was able to come over and tell him who we were and what we were doing. It was incredible.
Our talk last night was about the body, the many parts and the different strengths they have. The body working together was evident over the last two days with all of us doing different things, communicating in different ways and getting the story of Jesus to thousands of people. The body was alive and working over the past two days.
We are headed for the retreat site in just a little while. We are excited but with some reservation as we start a new phase at a new location none of us are familiar with. Cold showers and toilet paper in the wastebasket are just 2 little changes we will adapt to but I know the time with brothers and sisters sharing Christ and the love of our hearts will make those obstacles easy to overcome. We will miss the air conditioning as it is very humid and we will be inland, away from the ocean breezes. Our kids already have soccer balls out and are ready to play. Others of us have been working on Bible lessons we will present with the aid of a translator.
One thing so very evident is that God is at work in our hearts. You can hear it in the things everyone is talking about and in the actions you see in each other. Keep praying for us, that we will all come to know God more and that we encourage each other to grow in Him.
We love you and thank you for the support you have given us.
1 comment:
WOW, God is certainly working through all of you and this is wonderful. I was reading Colossians for Rick's summer series and a couple verses in chapter 1 popped out at me and this is our prayer from the Decatur church for you all in Aracaju:
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you[d] to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14in whom we have redemption,[e] the forgiveness of sins. Col.1 :9-13
God's Blessing
Love, Mike and Paula
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