Report from April Children's Events
/ANSWERED PRAYERS FOR THE APRIL TRIP
Thank all of you who supported us in prayer as we served the children of the Region 9 in the Savannah close to Brazil. It was so evident that we had an enormous amount of prayer cover. We are still basking in the amazing work the Lord did.
Our team verse was so special as we were able to pour into the next generation and exalt our Father.
“We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders He has done.”
Psalm 78:4b
I will give the wonderful results and then tell you some of the specifics:
We interacted with approximately 260 children. We are not exactly sure because there are a lot of moving parts on crowded pews and young children moving around. We had the absolute blessing of washing each child’s feet and while talking to them, 80 children prayed to receive Christ. We gave all their names to the pastors or Sunday School teachers so they can continue teaching them to grow in their faith. We also had 7 adults accept Christ. Five of them responded when Jai preached at their Sunday morning service and a set of parents who brought their children to the event stayed after and talked with Jai and accepted Jesus.
The children were exceptionally well behaved and attentive!!!! We got lots of hugs and the biggest smiles we have ever seen.
Blair did a wonderful job of serving on her first mission trip. She led the fun games. There were jump ropes, hula hoops and “Sharks and minnows”. She also showed some who were interested how to do some gymnastics tricks. She also helped with measuring feet and handing out flip flops to the children who then got in line to come have their feet washed. During the washing is when we had a chance to talk to each child individually and offer answers to their questions. That is when the 80 children individually prayed with our team to receive Jesus.
Here is the way the events unfolded. First we tied a salvation bracelet on each child and adult who came. Then we were introduced and greeted warmly. We sang three fun songs that have lots of motions. Next I taught the Bible story. We tied beards on “Jesus and his disciples”. Next Louie had Jesus heal a child who pretended to be blind and one who pretended to be lame. Then Jesus and the disciples got into the pretend boat and Jesus went to sleep. The violent storm came and the disciples rocked and swayed to the waves and some children behind the boat threw popper packing material that had been shredded to be rain. Then came the pie tins that sounded like thunder when the cue was given for children to beat them to make the noise. It was very effective when Jesus stood and held up His had and calmed the storm and the thunder and let the disciples know they didn’t have to be afraid. Our application was that even though Jesus was with them in the boat, they still had a huge storm. They could still trust Jesus to take care of them. In our lives, even though we have Jesus, we will have storms and problems but we can trust Jesus to be there with us and get us through whatever comes along.
Next I explained the plan of Salvation in a simple way using the colors of the beads on the bracelets. Then we washed each child’s feet and had our conversations. We never try to push a child to make a decision. Only the Holy Spirit can draw them. When we finished the foot washing, we went out for games. Each of the events were so wonderful.
It was an adventure for all of us to use outdoor bath facilities under the stars and sleep on the blow up mattresses on the floor of the open air church and community center.
Now….two highlight stories.
1- When I told the children where our Bible story was found in the Scripture, one little boy about 10 years old grabbed the Bible off the pew and said he wanted to look it up and follow along. I found that so very encouraging!!!
2-At one village, the water for the washing bowls had to be hauled from a distance. There was not enough water for the last bowl so I decided to hang back and not wash that time. The singing and Bible story were finished and in walked a 7 year old boy brought by his older brother and sister. I spoke to him briefly about what we had learned and then he got in line to be measured for his flip flops and foot washing. I went over to his older siblings who had settled on a bench to wait for him. As I talked to them about the Gospel, his brother said he had made a decision for Christ. His sister listened carefully and decided she wanted to pray and accept Jesus into her life and be forgiven of her sins. As the brother listened to the conversation and prayer, he looked at me and said he actually had not understood before and that he would like to pray too. SO, both older siblings accepted Christ and will be at that church to continue to learn and grow. I am praising God that we didn’t have enough water for the last bowl so I was available to spend time with the older siblings. Watching God take care of every detail is so very humbling.
Our American team and Guyanese team had a wonderful time working together, each person doing what needed to be done. Lots of love and memories were generated.
Our air travel was great and no germs caused any illness. We were blessed beyond our expectations. Again, thank you for praying. We are grateful to you, our ministry friends.