More VBS and Soccer Matches

Today was the second to last day of vbs with the mission team from Roopeville, GA. The kids of the Colonia are really growing attached to the team and we are just delighted to be a part of the whole thing. Anna and Wiley have quite a following, the kids just gravitate toward them. We have to remind Wiley that playing in this kind of dirt may not be such a great idea (no sewer systems or plumbing). We all end up sitting on the dirt and holding not so clean hands, but it really is no big deal when you see those great big smiles. Anna gave her testimony today, she was nervous but got through it with a translator. She brought her photo album with pictures of her baptism last summer, the kids were so excited to see actual photos of our life. What a proud moment for a parent to watch your child take the opportunity to have a positive impact on other children.

This afternoon's soccer tournament was a success for the gringos (3-2) so they were excited and the achy muscles were well worth it. I got a shot of Trey after the victory, Wiley thought someone had dumped water over dad's head because he was soaking wet. Too funny. A first for everyone was watching a work truck pull up and just drive through the middle of the soccer field during the game, our guys just looked at each other and the kids hardly noticed the truck. I guess they had some work to do right then. When the game got too extreme Anna and Wiley played a little pick-up game on the side lines with some of the younger kids. While we were finishing up our game, a Honduran girls team showed up to play a girls soccer team from Illinois that was in doing mission work. We stayed and watched them for a bit, they were really good.

Our power has been going off quite a bit, so we have not been able to respond to email as frequently or get on Skype in the last couple of days, but no fear we will try to jump online when the juice is actually flowing.

Take care and God bless!

Getting to know the kids of the Colonia

Today was day two of vbs at the Colonia. Those kids are amazing. They were there eagerly awaiting our arrival, figuring out which one of us they were going to hug first or who's back they were going to jump onto. They are so loving and willing to trust.

Anna and Wiley are beginning to grow friendships and bond with a couple of the kids. Their closest buddy so far is Ashlie and Aylisa was right by Anna's side all morning. It is amazing that even with a language barrier all kids speak one very common language, unconditional love. We played lots of games, colored and read a Bible story today. Anna has even expressed an interest in possibly sharing her testimony with the other children, she is such a great kid.

After lunch, Trey, Anna and Wiley joined the mission team in their effort to give a bible to every single home in the Colonia. They split up into several teams to cover more ground and will continue this process on Thursday afternoon as well. After they gave the bible to the family they offered to pray with them if they wanted to do so. There are close to 600 actual homes that will have a bible by the end of the week and the knowledge that someone actually cared enough to bring it to them and pray with them.

Tomorrow afternoon the plan is for the 'gringos' to redeem themselves in a heated soccer game. Not sure if we mentioned what awesome soccer players those kids are, but goodness, they are awesome. Most without shin guards, and a few without shoes, survival of the fittest on that field. These kids are amazing.

We had a couple of short power outages today, at least the wind was blowing and the house was cool when we were home. Trey and Wiley tried a new home made tortilla recipe, this one is the ticket. Just like the tortillas at Papasito's and Taco Cabana, muy bien!

Once again, thank you to everyone for the great feedback, comments and emails, this really keeps us going and lets us know that we are definitely having a positive impact on those closest to us as well as anyone else that may stumble upon us.

Take care and God bless!

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!