This is Kenny Robin, my kid from the school. Kenny is very quiet, shy and reserved, but has a great smile and demeanor. He and I played tic-tac-toe for quite a while. :-)
- VBS in the school
- prayer walk and pictures
- Club Esperanza
- in the park again
Yesterday was a day of true connections. I feel like it may have been a turning point in our trip and we were all quite different after yesterday.
We went back to the Imagine ministries school for another VBS with the kids, but this time it was quite different. We couldn't find our skit papers or prop, we had already sung the songs about 4 or 5 times with them aleady and we were looking for other things to do with them as crafts or fun as well. Well, isnt that just about when God shows up? :-) I think so, and yes, He did. We decided to take a shot at doing the skit as more of an improv and from memory. It went better than we could have imagined and the Gospel was preached afterwards. Makenzie Baldwin even brought one of the kids to me to tell me that he had prayed the prayer at the end after the gospel message! He was so young and sweet - please pray that his heart grows in Christ through this ministry here!
One of the projects that Terry Brandon planned for us was to bring photos of many of the kids from last year, make multiple copies and give them out so that we have a copy, the kids have a copy and the school has a copy. This was a wonderful idea! These families have little no money and therefore have no real opportunity to get photos of themselves or their families. The kids LOVED seeing themselves and many of the families looked at their pictures quite intently when the children went home later.
Ater the pictures were passed out we spit all the kids up into gruops with some of our team and a translator. We then walked to the house of the kids (about 4 houses per team), introduced ourselves, dropped the kids off and prayed with each family. This was a huge stretching moment for many of the kids. Some of them had never really prayed in public, some hadn't worked with a translator before and some of the teams were even invited inside the houses of the families. It was a very personal and deep connection time with the groups. I have to brag because my son was one of the first kids to pray at a house. He had no example to follow and I'm not certain he had used a translator before, but he prayed with them he said it was 'really cool'. :-)
Coburn also took us to Club Esperanza. This is a full-fledged school (also under Open Hearts Ministries like Imagine Ministries) built for the local area in Managua where many people were dislocated when the government shut down the dump in town. It serves abotu 275 children in a school with a 2-meal-a-day feeding program through Orphan Network as well. Each child can be fed for a month for about $9 (check it out online!) This school and ministry is the absolute perfect example of something that was started as a ministry, trained to be run by Nicaraguans and now is fully in the hands of Godly Nicaraguans and is going strong. Pray for their ministry, their funding and daily strength!
Of course we went to the park again. :-) What is better than playing with the dis we know every day? Soccer, chalk drawing, see-saw, swings, or just hanging out in the shade. It's one of the best ways to get to know the kids more all the time.
So, it wasn't a hard labor day like the others, but it's mid-week and many of are starting to wear down a bit.Staying focused just to love any kid that comes by can be wearing. We appreciate and feel your prayers. Please continue to pray that:
- M'Cheyne fully heals (he is feeling about 50% better and can move a lot more now)
- We can keep moving, helping and loving even as we get tired
- We can find the "right" things to do each day and do them well
- That God would prepare all of our hearts for Ruby's House (our prayer day together on Friday)
Que Dios les bendiga con la vida abundante! Que Dios les dan oraciones fuertes para nuestro grupoy por sus familias. Y que la Palabra de Dios se queda adentro de tus corazones y mentes.
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