Our first week of VBS is finished! We would definitely deem it a success, thanks to God and His grace. We had a great time working with the Peruvians here. We´ve learned lots of new songs and a memory verse in Spanish (which we´d love to sing to you whenever we get home). Every morning, we´d prepare for our skits, stories and crafts, and then perform for our Peruvians friends so they can join in when the kids came. We had an average of about 40 kids come everyday. The story for the first day was David and Goliath, and the second was Jonah and the Big Fish (complete with a balloon fish for craft time!). The third day was the Wordless Book. The fourth and final day was a review of the Wordless Book and the Great Commission. The Gospel was clearly presented and the seeds are definitely planted.
Yesterday was Lakin´s birthday. The day started off in typical Peruvian birthday fashion…a raw egg smashed over her head! Lakin loved it, of course, and has plenty of pictures to prove it. The cooks made a special birthday cake that fed all 25 of the people at the campamento. We went to a church service that night where we performed the drime "In the Light" and Lakin gave her testimony. Before Lakin could begin though, the entire church sang her¨"Happy Birthday" for…I kid you not…about 7 minutes while the entire church came up to greet her and give her a birthday hug. The service continued and during the worship time the pastor surprised us by asking us to give a music special. After a moment´s deliberation, Ben, Sophia, Ryan and Chris got up and sang "Oh How He Loves Us." The service continued with singing for another hour. Something seemed a bit fishy to me, however, and sure enough, I found out they were stalling for time while someone ran out and bought yet another birthday cake for Lakin! We finally made our way home later that night.
Earlier that afternoon, we were told that we were preaching the sermon the next day for the Sunday service. We were a bit surprised. Chris prepared a sermon on how nothing can seperate us from God´s love and that we cannot lose our salvation if we sin. It is a common occurrance to find a pastor that preaches that one can lose his salvation after sinning here in Nauta. In fact, the pastor at the church we attended on Saturday preached that very doctrine. Chris did very well even with his short notice. Ryan, Ben, Chloe and Megan all performed the drime again this morning.
Next week will be interesting as we are splitting our group in two to go to two different locations for VBS. Our Peruvian friends will be also splitting in two groups to join each of our teams. This will definitely improve our teamwork as we will be a bit shorthanded.
God has been teaching us so much about His grace and how it covers so many of our mistakes and shortcomings. He´s also been teaching us that He is glorified in our weaknesses. We praise Him for this everyday.
Prayer Requests;
For our team to rest and recuperate on our day off tomorrow (going swimming!)
For our team to focus completely on the task at hand.
For continued health and safety.
For the Peruvians to catch the vision for a children´s program in the areas of need.
For our teamwork with each other and the Peruvians as we will be stretched this week at VBS.
For our preparations for the Jungle and the VBS there.
For the spiritual growth of each our team members; Shosh, Megan, Chloe, Ashley, Sophia, Lakin, Ben and Ryan.
We are so glad to know that our families and friends are covering us in prayer back home. More updates to come soon).
For His Glory,
Team Peru (but written by Lindsay)
