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!).