Friday, December 28, 2012
This was our first VBS day! We started off the day by going to the village of San Martin. It was about an hour drive there and it was considerably cold since I was riding in the back of the truck. Me and Bo actually were able to find a nice comfy recliner-like set up. Sam, Collin, and John G. were not so lucky.
We did however see some really awesome scenery on the way, along with a huge cattle drive.
Once at San Martin, we started our VBS by following Alexa in doing the motions to some Spanish VBS songs that she had learned.
Then, Karla translated as I read the story of Daniel and the Lion's Den as Torre, Sam, Andrew, John G, John O, Bo, and Collin acted out a skit that we put together. John O and Bo were the lions, and they clearly enjoyed it!
After the songs and skit, we made a crafts with the kids. We were making lion faces out of coffee filters, construction paper, and pipe cleaners. When they were finished with the lions, we gave them coloring sheets to do. The kids had a lot of fun with this, and we had a fun time trying to explain to them what to do!
After craft time, we lined the kids up to feed them pb&j's, fruit snacks, and powdered milk. For some of these kids, this was there one meal of the day.
After we fed the kids, we walked outside to find these two reading out of the Gospel story booklets that we had passed out to them. This is one of my favorite pictures of the whole trip.
Then we spent some fun time outside playing with (and getting tickled by) the kids...
Trying to ride the horses...
And taking fun pictures with the kiddos on this really awesome tree.
After San Martin, we rode down the rode to Las Delicious (my favorite place to say)! We went through the same program of songs, skit and crafts.
Then, we had fun playing with babies...
Birdies...
And puppies!
Then some of us went down to a river that was on Mrs. Jan's dad's old property, but we left pretty quickly once we saw a guy with a machete just a little ways downstream...
Once back at the compound, there was a church service in the sanctuary. Afterwards, John, Mcauley, and I had the great pleasure of being able to sit down with Oscar and Ella Marina, the couple that runs the rice and beans ministry that our youth group supports. We learned that this past year, there were several students that came to school just because they were getting fed. Many of these students learned how to read and write because of coming to school for food. It was such a blessing to be able to meet them and be able to see how the Lord has been using our funds to enable them to nourish these students, physically, mentally, and spiritually.
After meeting with Oscar and Ella Marena, I was able to meet Evalyn, one of the students that the Honduras mission had sponsored to go to college. She had just graduated from the University with a business management degree and was looking for work. She was incredibly sweet and you could clearly see how much Mrs. Jan was proud of her.
Collin did the devotion that night out of 2 Corinthians 8:1-9:
"Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God.So we urged Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also complete this grace in you as well. But as you abound in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us—see that you abound in this grace also. I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich."
Such an appropriate reminder of our purpose while we were there. After the devo time, I continued reading in 2 Corinthians and was blown away by God's timing of this Scripture in my life.
This is 2 Corinthians:10-15:
1 year ago was when God first gave me opportunity to begin exploring the possibility of a trip to Costa Rica to work with LightForce International. 1 year ago was when I was hearing Melissa, Frank, Andrew, and Mcauley share about their trip to Honduras and how life-changing it was, not knowing that I would be in their shoes this December. I also see in this passage where Paul speaks on our abundance supplying others lack, while at the same time allowing their abundance to supply our lack. It was very easy for us to walk into any situation in Honduras comparing our abundance to their lack. However this comparison goes no farther than physical commodities. Each church we stepped into was filled with so much joy. I realized that there are so many times when my "joy" is diminished based on circumstances. Their abundance of joy overflowed onto us throughout our interactions, supplying our lack. And praise the Lord, that He blessed us with an abundance of material things so that we could go in His name to supply their lack.
This was our first VBS day! We started off the day by going to the village of San Martin. It was about an hour drive there and it was considerably cold since I was riding in the back of the truck. Me and Bo actually were able to find a nice comfy recliner-like set up. Sam, Collin, and John G. were not so lucky.
We did however see some really awesome scenery on the way, along with a huge cattle drive.
Once at San Martin, we started our VBS by following Alexa in doing the motions to some Spanish VBS songs that she had learned.
Then, Karla translated as I read the story of Daniel and the Lion's Den as Torre, Sam, Andrew, John G, John O, Bo, and Collin acted out a skit that we put together. John O and Bo were the lions, and they clearly enjoyed it!
After the songs and skit, we made a crafts with the kids. We were making lion faces out of coffee filters, construction paper, and pipe cleaners. When they were finished with the lions, we gave them coloring sheets to do. The kids had a lot of fun with this, and we had a fun time trying to explain to them what to do!
After craft time, we lined the kids up to feed them pb&j's, fruit snacks, and powdered milk. For some of these kids, this was there one meal of the day.
After we fed the kids, we walked outside to find these two reading out of the Gospel story booklets that we had passed out to them. This is one of my favorite pictures of the whole trip.
Then we spent some fun time outside playing with (and getting tickled by) the kids...
Trying to ride the horses...
And taking fun pictures with the kiddos on this really awesome tree.
After San Martin, we rode down the rode to Las Delicious (my favorite place to say)! We went through the same program of songs, skit and crafts.
Then, we had fun playing with babies...
Birdies...
And puppies!
Then some of us went down to a river that was on Mrs. Jan's dad's old property, but we left pretty quickly once we saw a guy with a machete just a little ways downstream...
Once back at the compound, there was a church service in the sanctuary. Afterwards, John, Mcauley, and I had the great pleasure of being able to sit down with Oscar and Ella Marina, the couple that runs the rice and beans ministry that our youth group supports. We learned that this past year, there were several students that came to school just because they were getting fed. Many of these students learned how to read and write because of coming to school for food. It was such a blessing to be able to meet them and be able to see how the Lord has been using our funds to enable them to nourish these students, physically, mentally, and spiritually.
After meeting with Oscar and Ella Marena, I was able to meet Evalyn, one of the students that the Honduras mission had sponsored to go to college. She had just graduated from the University with a business management degree and was looking for work. She was incredibly sweet and you could clearly see how much Mrs. Jan was proud of her.
Collin did the devotion that night out of 2 Corinthians 8:1-9:
"Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God.So we urged Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also complete this grace in you as well. But as you abound in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us—see that you abound in this grace also. I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich."
Such an appropriate reminder of our purpose while we were there. After the devo time, I continued reading in 2 Corinthians and was blown away by God's timing of this Scripture in my life.
This is 2 Corinthians:10-15:
"And in this I give advice: It is to your advantage not only to be doing what you began and were desiring to do a year ago; but now you also must complete the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion out of what you have.For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have.
For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened;but by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may supply their lack, that their abundance also may supply your lack—that there may be equality. As it is written, “He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack.”
1 year ago was when God first gave me opportunity to begin exploring the possibility of a trip to Costa Rica to work with LightForce International. 1 year ago was when I was hearing Melissa, Frank, Andrew, and Mcauley share about their trip to Honduras and how life-changing it was, not knowing that I would be in their shoes this December. I also see in this passage where Paul speaks on our abundance supplying others lack, while at the same time allowing their abundance to supply our lack. It was very easy for us to walk into any situation in Honduras comparing our abundance to their lack. However this comparison goes no farther than physical commodities. Each church we stepped into was filled with so much joy. I realized that there are so many times when my "joy" is diminished based on circumstances. Their abundance of joy overflowed onto us throughout our interactions, supplying our lack. And praise the Lord, that He blessed us with an abundance of material things so that we could go in His name to supply their lack.
I love this :)
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