What a beautiful day! The sun was out all day long! It didn’t start raining until about 7pm tonight. It was dry and lovely!
I was awakened at 6:15am when someone was honking and knocking on the small gate. It was someone from the church that was going to have a Youth service here. They were wanting to drop off some equipment. Alberto’s little house is in the back part of the property and he couldn’t hear them. I went to the gate and told them to wait just a minute and that I needed to get Alberto, who has the key. They said ok, so I guess my Spanish was good enough to communicate! I called Alberto on his cell phone and woke him up. He came right away. I went back to bed for a little bit. I got up about 8am and got dressed for the day and had some cereal.
The group was getting things ready for the Youth event, along with the hosting church. They had some musical equipment set up and brought a lot of chairs. There ended up being 112 youth here today. Praise God! What a beautiful sight to see all those young faces in the rows of chairs waiting to hear about God.
The event started out with some talking, including some testimony time. They had asked all the youth to write questions about Christianity on pieces of paper that were collected and given to the Pastor and mission group. After about an hour and a half, the group of youth were allowed some free time and many chose to swim. They don’t use bathing suits here, they just jump in the pool in their clothes. They were having a wonderful time. The Spanish Christian music was blaring, people were talking and laughing and swimming and playing soccer and sitting around the property in groups chatting and it was awesome. I had my window and door open as usual, and it was like being outside with them. I didn’t want to intrude, but I did enjoy listening to the speakers and loved the music. While the kids had their free time, the Pastor had one of the vendors who ride bikes with little fridge boxes on the front and sell ice cream come into the property and give the kids all treats. He had to leave and get more ice cream for everyone. It was a great treat. I even got to have one! It was quite festive.
I was doing a couple loads of laundry, so I had to walk along the soccer game a couple of times to get to the building where the washer and dryer are located, but the soccer players didn’t seem to mind me interrupting. When in my room, I was cutting out pieces of fabric to make 15 tote bags for the ladies at the Las Quimeras Women’s Bible study. That took a few hours. I chose to use one of the patterns for bags that I had brought from the states and just tweek it a little bit. I finally figured out what I wanted to do. The outside of the bag is flowered fabric that I had brought. The pockets, straps and lining is from a king size sheet. I think they will be pretty nice for the ladies. I finished one as a test and made some more adjustments to the plan and think I have a prototype.
Carlos (Alberto’s son who we buy our Bibles from) brought over 15 Bibles in large print that I ordered for the ladies. I’m so excited! They are blue and the covers look like canvas, but are some kind of washable material, which will be easier to keep clean. They snap shut, which will be nice to keep the edges of the pages nice. They are in large print, which is a big hit with everyone here! So far, I’ve raised enough money to pay for half of the shipment for this group. I know God will encourage others to help out. It’s just $20 per women to furnish their materials for the study.
Anyway, while folding and putting away my clean laundry, I was listening to the youth service and they were praying and asking anyone who wanted to to come forward. I sit down in my rocker inside my door/window and prayed for those making decisions. What a privilege to be close enough to hear what was going on and to cover it in prayer. There were 20 youth who accepted Christ as Savior and 10 who had already done that in the past, but had gotten away from their walk with God and they rededicated their lives to the Lord. How wonderful!! It was an awesome afternoon!
I had some tuna and veggie sticks for lunch. I also was blessed with a taste of the roasted pork that the church provided for the kids. It was good, but I wasn’t sure exactly what parts of the pig I was eating. I tried not to think about it.
Most everyone left about 3:30pm. Some of the church leaders stayed around and chatted with the mission team for a while. I was busy sewing and didn’t notice that it was getting dark (around 6pm). I closed up my window and left my door open for just a little longer. Alberto’s grandsons (Carlos’ sons) came by my room to visit. I gave them some cookies. Their mother came to shoo them away, but I told her that I had been introduced to them when they came to visit Alberto a few weeks ago. She and I chatted a little bit, in Spanish, and we did pretty well! Everyone is so gracious to help me out. My ability to speak is getting better everyday. I’m thanking God for that!!
I called Deanna this evening. She said that people are always asking if she has heard from me. I wish she had email and facebook, so that she could keep up with my posts. Maybe I should have someone print them off for her. I’ll have to remember to ask someone. Anyway, it was good to talk with her. She said that Jet is doing well. She is doggie sitting for the 2 puppies of Bryon’s and Jet likes to play a little, then he’s ready to rest and they keep playing. She said that Jet gives her these funny looks. I miss that fluffy guy. I miss talking with Deanna, too. She’s keeping busy and enjoying herself. That’s good.
I finally closed up my room about 7pm and had a little break from sewing to enjoy a snack pack pudding. Then I sewed just a little bit more and decided that I needed to get my day on paper (or computer), so I’ll be ready for bed soon. We’re going back to Rose of Sharon CC church tomorrow, as Mike has been asked to speak. The church has recently elected new leaders (including the 5 women’s ministry leaders) and God is doing wonderful things with that congregation. It’s just down the road a bit and service starts at 10:30ish, so I don’t have to be ready to leave until about 10:20. It will be a nice calm morning. I’m looking forward to it!
This is my 4th weekend here already. Time is going by so quickly. Things are getting busier and I know that time will whiz by even faster from now on. I’m so glad to get to spend my time doing things I love. I am very blessed.
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