October 13, 2012

2012 Global Impact Celebration (GIC)
First Baptist Church, Rogers AR

Day 4

Another early morning, but good!

9am was the Children’s event for some of the missionaries. It was a hoot. This was for kids grades 1-5. There weren’t too many kids there, but we had a grand time. There was a rally time all together. PJ, the children’s Pastor, had the kids line up in 2 lines and they cheered us on like a football team as our names were called and we ran between the rows of kids to the stage. The kids were very attentive and we had lots of fun.

Then we went to our assigned rooms for the breakout sessions. I taught the kids the ‘sapo’ song. It’s a fun song with motions that the kids in Nica sing about a frog. I used some hand-drawn pictures for prompts and wrote the Spanish words for those items (Mr frog, Mrs frog, river, green, friend, Jesus) on the board. We all did the song a few times, getting fast and faster. It was fun. Then I had copied some pages with all the icons and Spanish words on them for the kids to take home as coloring sheets. We had 4 rotations of kids. Some asked some great questions. One boy asked about toys and games that the Nica kids play with. I explained that they mostly play with sticks, rocks, play tag and climb trees. He then commented “imagine a world without electronics!!” It was funny. The kids were great.

We ended the kid’s event with another rally. They called all the missionaries up on the stage. Then we played a game called “will it float?”. There was a video that showed various items and we had to guess if they would float in a pool or not. The kids got to coach us on the answers. If the answer was yes, we were to stand on the left side of the stage. If the answer was no, we stood on the right side. It was crazy. One item was a sealed bag of pancake mix. It floated. The next was a big bag of dog food. It floated. The last was a giant jar of pickles. It sank. I got 2 of three right. It really was fun. We all left feeling good from laughing.

Next was the Women’s luncheon. I had worn a colorful skirt and bright top with a necklace and bracelet made form painted coconut shells for the kid’s event. I went ahead and wore it to the luncheon. Everyone loved it. They asked if I wore it in Nica. I told them that mostly I wear capris and tank tops in Nica. Haha

The Women’s luncheon was lovely. We had taco salad and I really enjoyed it. A trio sang a beautiful song. Lisa (Pastor’s wife) interviewed Esther (from India) and it was a very moving talk. Esther sang a beautiful country gospel song and we couldn’t believe it was her voice. She sounded COUNTRY! It was sweet.

I then changed into jeans and went to run a couple more errands and then visted Nana Ruth for a little bit. It was heavenly to lay on her sofa and chat!

Then it was back to the church for a potluck dinner with a couple of classes. I only knew a few people in the group so it was nice to meet new people. We had a nice discussion. They all gathered around me and prayed for me. One lady prayed Romans 10:15 (how beautiful are the feet that bring the Good News). Afterward, I told her that I have that scripture reference tattooed on my ankle. We thought that was special. It made a special bond for us.

I got back to Cathy’s house before her group was finished, so I sat in and listened to the Hurley’s talk about their work with For All Mankind Ministry in Dubai and India. It was raining hard, but slowed down before everyone had to leave. We found out later that there was a F1 tornado hit on the other side of town that evening. I was glad to have gotten back to Cathy’s instead of driving through it.

I was ready for bed and couldn’t believe that there was just one more day of the conference left. I also couldn’t believe that I would be leaving for Nica within a few days. I was all out of whack on my timing. God had allowed me to be so peaceful that I was afraid that I was forgetting something! Haha

Another peaceful night. God is gracious!