Badminton/Campus Outreach/Mahatthai Service/VBS

The team from Wisconsin has split up into two teams. One for Campus ministries and one for Mercy ministries. I started the afternoon with the campus ministry. We went and played badminton with the students. Then Julie, Jane, and I went around and built relationships with the students on campus. While we were building relationships, I we invited them to our English Fair this friday. One group, had a guitar and some bongos. So, they played some songs for us. It seemed like we had good responses from the students and many seemed eager to come to the fair. After we were on campus. We went to Mahatthai and saw the service work that the team did so far. As shown in the pictures above, they re-painted the "Sala" (our place in Mahatthai), sprayed for termites (which we are so grateful for because there are eating away at the "sala" that in a few years there would be nothing left of it if they did not spray), and painted the rest of the inside (making it kid friendly). Also, the men, worked hard at a family's home. They cleared out the piles of garbage in a corner area, leveled the dirt, and started on making a roof to add to the house. Today they finished this project (I look forward to going over there and seeing it). Then I joined in the VBS. The team had the children in four groups that rotated. Each group learned about God's love for them. God created, God loves, God forgives, and God saves where the groups. They each were told a story. On the paper plates, they drew creation...including themselves. On another they made butterflies-showing how God transforms lives. At another station they had crowns with stickers-showing them that God is King and he values them so much! And the fourth station they made binoculars that are to remind them to look to God in all circumstances (and to look to the Bible for His answers). I loved watching the children draw and write so creatively on their crafts. IT was also neat to hear them repeat what they learned in the other groups. Dave said, one child said "I am created in God's image" and it was encouraging to hear them take and remember what they were told even as they were rotating. So, together we can pray that what these children learned about the Lord, sticks in their brains and in their hearts.

Today the teams were busy at work again with many service projects and another VBS in Mahatthai 1. I spent the day in preparation mode for the rest of the week. Today, I soaked in John 15:1-17 and thought of a craft for Joy Kids on Saturday. I have half of the craft prepared and will have to finish the second half these next two days. I also spent time on my teaching English Testimony...which I will be giving tomorrow. So please pray that God's work is revealed in this testimony. I also prepared for my English Class tonight. Then I taught my English Class. IT was a good, productive day!

Tomorrow I will give my testimony, prepare for my class and work on the crafts. We will also be going on campus to hand out fliers for Friday's English Fair and invite people to come to our coffee house this evening. I will not be in attendance at the coffee house because I teach a class at the same time. Then on Thursday, we will be at Mahatthai working on Service Projects for the afternoon and then having the English Fair Friday Evening. So, please pray for the people to desire to come to the coffee house and English Fair. Pray for relationships to be built too. Also pray for the service project. That we will stay hydrated in the heat and be a light to all of the residence in Mahatthai as we serve them with love. I will post in a couple days! God Bless You and thank you for being a prayer warrior for the team. WE can feel your prayers!

Block Party

Today started out as a normal Sunday. We had Sunday School (which I missed because I was talking to my Dad on Skype for Father's Day. Happy Father's Day to all you Father's. I pray you know what an impact you have as a father =) ). Then we had Church and a church luncheon. After the Church Luncheon, the team from Wisconsin gave a presentation. They have been raising support to come out here for the past two years. So we heard about their different fundraisers. One was each person who raised a certain amount of money had to jump into Lake Michigan. Basically, people paid to see them jump in. Looking at the pictures, it had to be freezing. The people were standing on snow with shorts and tank tops on. The onlookers were in beanies, winter coats, and blankets. As I was watching the pictures and hearing the story, there was a fan blowing right above me. With this combination, my body was literally shivering (weird huh? =) ). A highlight of their presentation was a fifteen year old's testimony of God and family. She was a foster child and she was adopted by her parents. I cried in her testimony...my heart is so passionate about advocating for the children in the foster care system and the influence that Christians can have in these children's lives. Her adoption testimony was very powerful. The afternoon was spent preparing for the Block Party. We invited our neighbors over for free food and many games/crafts/face painting for the children. The goal of the evening was to be able to get to know our neighbors and break down any fears of us as a church/christians. We want to build relationships with them all! To give you a little insight, I have some pics above that show some preparation work, kids playing games, and people shots.

Today was a delight, and I met a few more of our neighbors! Tomorrow we will be doing a service project in Mahatthai 3 and then a VBS =) The Lord answered our prayers for meeting new people and breaking down barriers. Thank you Jesus! Now lets pray for safety with the service project; that we will be a light to the men, women, and children at Mahatthai; and that the children leave VBS with a deeper understanding of who Jesus is (and hopefully on a personal/relational basis they may come to know Jesus!).

Day Camp for Children at Mahatthai 3

Praise the LORD! Today was perfect. No injuries...Safe Travels....excellent bonding moments....and smoothness...Thank you Jesus for being our protector and provider. I love you Lord.

Today we had our Saturday morning prayer time at 9:00am. By 10:00am we were at the field playing games with the children again (It was the same set up but with different games). They played some soccer and Frisbee. We had banana relays, a close pin tag game, water baloon shooting, Duck Duck Squirt (with water guns) and a stacking cups/plates game. My team had the most children (we were the awesome elephants with fun team spirit!)so we lost most of the relay games. However, when it came to the close pin tag game...we kicked some monkey, tiger, and fish booty! Our team had 73 close pins at the end and the others had 20-30 in the end. Can you tell?...I am so proud of my elephants. =)

We ate lunch at the field before heading over to the water park. The children had a blast. I ended up with four girls who insisted on swimming laps in the lazy river for two hours. One would say, "eek song rob" meaning two more laps. Then when we finished one lap she would up it to four! So, we just kept going till the last half hour. I could not believe swimming laps for three hours could be that exciting when there were slides and water play areas all around. But, it made these girls happy...so it was the perfect way to spend my three hours at this water park too. As I looked around I saw the children attach themselves to each of the students and staff that are here from Wisconsin. Watching them bond (even with the language barrier)was amazing. I keep watching and thanking the Lord for this team being here. I Thank Him for the new opportunities of ways to spend time with these children. There are a group of children/teens that we hardly ever see anymore that were there today. They are re-bonding with us through these fun activities and we can praise the Lord for the newly opened doors! (sorry I did not get any pictures at the water park because I was swimming those laps the entire time ;-) So just imagine this part of the day in your head!)

After the water park we came back to the office and fed the children dinner. Then we took the Wisconsin team around our neighborhood night market to buy souvenirs for their family members. It was a day in the sun and a day of smiling faces. A perfect day to remember.

Tomorrow we are going to have a normal day of Sunday Activities...until it is time to get ready for the Neighborhood block party. This party is to set up opportunities for us to get to know our neighbors and break down any walls or barriers that they may have up. So, first please pray that from the coffee house and such that others come to church tomorrow and worship with us. And then second pray for the block party. Pray for there to be a excellent turnout, all walls to come down, and relationships to blossom. God Bless you!