A Toothpick Becomes a Pick Axe

This week has been different everyday! Let me take you on a day by day trip through my week...

Monday: Today we woke up early, and headed you to the townhomes. As we yawned, we walked through the village to one of the believers from the church's house. We were greeted with open arms, and were served a delicious breakfast of "en tomatadas." We sat and chatted with the brother and sister, and learned so much about the culture and life of this village. We were given so much great information that allows us to see the ways in which we will go about ministering here. After filling our stomachs to the brim, she showed us around the village, and introduced us to the other believers from the church. With each house, we were warmly greeted with big smiles. We were so re-energized this morning, and ready to take on whatever God has for us.

Tuesday: We got up and headed to the internet cafe. We began to plan a soccer tournament for next week, and had to come make flyers to pass out. Throughout the day, we got so much done for this. Coordinating with the lady in the village, we made a game plan for this event. We have brackets, games, snacks, prizes, and bible stories ready to share and use to meet this children and families of this village.

Wednesday. We headed out in the morning to pass out more flyers for the tournament. We started off the day with about 70 flyers, and within two hours, God had lead us to many encounters, and we were out of flyers. We were so excited, because the first week here we had to pass out flyers for a sports camp and did not have this same success. With all of our flyers gone, we sat down for lunch at a little "comedor" in our village. We have began a relationship with the woman that runs the comedor, and are welcomed there with open arms everytime we come. We ended the day at cell group with the believers. As we concentrated really hard to understand, the group went over the body of Christ. We talked about how we all have different tasks, we are all needed, we all have different capabilities, and that God has put us in this place for a specific time and purpose. We were so encouraged as we reflected on our team, and how God placed each one of us here with a specific purpose. We stayed in the village that night, and were given a family's home as they went and stayed in the store that they own there. We were overwhelmed at the generosity, and were in awe of their servants hearts.

Thursday: We woke up in the village, and headed out. Since we had passed out all the flyers we had the day before, we were looking for something to do. We stopped and talked to some people, and it was great to once again meet more individuals in this village. We headed back later, and ran errands to prepare for our soccer tournament.

Friday: This is typically our day off, but the evening was a little different. We went out to church in our shanty town village around 6. It was pouring rain once we got under the roof, and so there were only children there this week. We had so much fun loving on them and playing games. Around 7, the kids all put their chairs in rows, and it was time to start. I was asked to play guitar, which i had brought with me, and immediately got really nervous. I had prepared to play for the children, but suddenly playing in front of the few adults there, including the girl who plays on sunday mornings, made me have stage fright. However, once the pick hit the strings and the kids began to sing, it was just as comfortable as it could be. We sang about doing all that we do for the Lord, and being radically different because of His love....okay, well it was more like "Every move I make" and "Undignified." We shared the story of Moses as a baby in the river with them, and then did some activity pages. We sang some more songs like "Father Abraham" and another one about a frog(?) that the women of the church lead. We were so surprised at how well everything went, when it ended up being extremely different that we had planned on. The Lord truly knows all, and we must just follow the path He lays in front of us.

Thank you all for your prayers this week. I have truly felt them. Our village that was a huge brick wall that we were chipping away at witha toothpick, God has given us pick axes. It was a great week, and we are beginning to see that the ground is breaking for this village where none (foreign) have gone before. We have two weeks of village time left, and are excited to see what God has planned for them.

-Alex

Prayers:
- Wednesday's soccer tournament (kids to come, doors to be opened, and God's word to be heard)
- no regrets or missed opportunities this next two weeks