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Published: August 18th 2007
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Have you ever known that you were about to do something that you knew you couldn't do, but something inside you gave you this absolutely incredible peace and you knew, without a doubt, that everything would turn out beautifully? That's how I felt the few days before leaving for La Joya. For the last several weeks I had been preparing and planning, and to be honest, WORRYING about my ministry "responsibilities" for our trip to the clinic in La Joya. It was a huge burden on me and I just had no idea how it would all turn out. I knew this is what God wanted me to do, but it was way over my Spanish abilities and cultural experiences. During the week before we left though, God gave me this unimaginable PEACE! I still felt as though I was standing on the edge of a cliff, but rather than hanging on for dear life, afraid I was going to die, I opened my eyes to take in the amazing view and fully trusted the invisible hand that held me.
So after all the planning and preparing and proofreading, I was overwhelmed with excitement to see all that God was
going to do in and through me during the mission team.
The first two days at the clinic were pretty slow...not that many people showed up, so there really weren't any kids waiting around (except for the neighbor kids...but that's a different entry). The third day though was BUSY. So I laid a sheet in the shade, hung up some balloons on the nearby tree (it's amazing how quickly balloons attract attention!) and began telling the story of Daniel en el Foso de los Leones to those closest to me. Within minutes there was a crowd of kids and adults listening to the story. I also taught the verse Hebreos 13:5-6, shared the gospel truths using the Wordless Book, and then handed out coloring pages of Daniel for the kids (and "big" kids) to color. We spent the rest of the morning playing catch, jump rope, Frisbee, duck-duck-goose, and looking through other picture books I had. Great fun and lots of smiles! 😊
Another ministry was two mornings of teacher training for local Sunday School teachers. This was a big (gulp!) stretch for me...but I had SO MUCH FUN with the ladies that came! There were 4 ladies
The Tree
During each of the evening services I gave a short gospel message to the children using colored paper and creating a "tree that appears out of nowhere!" (as one pastor described it). Everyone in the church loved it! the first morning and we covered the Biblical basis for teaching children, objectives for each class/lesson, presenting dynamic Bible lessons, and sharing the gospel message. Two of the ladies returned the next morning and we covered Memory Verses, Songs, and Review Games. They also got to make some visuals to use in their own Sunday School classes. The ladies were so eager and open to learn new methods and use the ideas with the children in their churches. After practicing several different types of review games together one of the ladies said, "Some kids don't want to come to Sunday School, and I can see now that part of the fault is mine. I'm the one that can make it boring or fun and exciting." PRAISE GOD!! This has really inspired me to gain more Spanish so I can do more teacher trainings both in Copan and again in La Joya when we return next year. Equipping teachers will have exponential results!
A final ministry I had the absolute JOY of being a part of was presenting a short children's message in the 3 local churches that the team visited in the middle of our trip. I shared the gospel message with colored construction paper, but as I was telling the "story" I rolled the papers together, forming a tube, then at the end I cut them and created a "growing tree". Oh it was GREAT!! Every person in the church was paying attention and the kids LOVED IT! And I had so much fun doing it. 😊
One of the best parts of it all though, was knowing that I really couldn't do any of this. I mean, the language barrier, the cultural differences, being with people and in a place I didn't know...it was all "too much for me". And that's the great thing about it. What did I do in La Joya? Nothing. But let me tell you about EVERYTHING that my GOD did!!
Ya know the story of David and Goliath? That's what this was. This was a God-sized project, a God-sent assignment, and it was overwhelmingly bigger than me. But I remembered all the "lions" and "bears" of the past (oh there are SO MANY!) and God gave the victory over every single one, and I knew he'd do the same with this "Goliath". No defeat. No shame. Just pure praise of the Almighty God...nuestro Dios todopoderoso!
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