VBS at the Colonia

Today we had our first day of Vacation Bible School with the kids of the Colonia; this took place in the open-air church right in the middle of the Colonia. They were so excited to see us and not a bit intimidated, they knew we were bringing nothing but joy and the opportunity to play and be a kid. Plus, we threw a little discipleship in there. What is so amazing is the fact that these beautiful children have less than anyone that we know personally, yet they all had these wonderful smiles and the eagerness to put up with us and our lack of the ability to speak their language. They actually enjoyed the fact that we asked time and again, "como say dice ..., como say escribe ..." it was so much fun kidding around with them. A couple of the kids brought along their younger siblings, an eight-year-old had her 9-month-old sister on her hip, a six-year-old had to help watch over her 1-year-old sister; nothing new, this is their life as they know it and we got the opportunity to be a part of it for the day. We all took turns holding the small ones so that their older siblings could just play and be a kid for a couple of hours. We made a craft that the kids really enjoyed, we sang songs, read a Bible story, played some games, ended up playing a game of soccer with a plastic bottle cap.

After lunch, we drove back to the Colonia and had three trucks filled til over flowing with kids. We took them over to the only soccer field in the area. They were so excited to get the 'gringos' on the field and give them a once-over. It was very hot, but Trey, Anna and Wiley hung in there. No language barrier when playing sports, just the joy of the game; Honduras won, we play again on Wednesday and will hopefully redeem ourselves. After the game, Pastors Jason, Chris and Andrew asked two of their teenage mission team members to give their testimony, Anna and Cole shared their story as the local pastor translated to the kids. Wiley got to participate in a role-play that demonstrated how the only way to salvation is through Jesus Christ and not by yourself. It was all pretty moving and if even just one kid got the message, it was well worth it. That is what it is all about, one person at a time and all of it totally on His time. We can't say enough about how much it has meant to us that we were able to jump in with lw4r and the mission team from Roopville Road Baptist Church, to take part in something that will be life-changing for many of these children and their families.

This evening we went to our usual Monday night spot and got brick oven pizzas after cooling off at the beach. We were totally drenched after vbs and soccer, so the ocean was just the ticket for us. Besides, we were in no hurry to get home because the power had been off all afternoon, the restaurants and big resorts have giant generators; just as we finished dinner the power came back on. We have great favor!

Needless to say, by the time everyone showered and got ready for bed, they all started passing out before 7:30. Awesome what a full day can do for a peaceful evening, love it!

Take care and God bless!