Thursday
We got to the church and finished painting and cleaning up. The Church looked so much better with a fresh coat of paint on it. Bro Jay showed a couple of us what the plan was for the building team that is coming later this month. The main purpose is to add a two story building right outside of the main sanctuary where the men will have their class. Currently they meet outside under the oning that they have, which means it is very cold in the winter and very hot in the summer. If it rains really hard you pretty much have to wait it out and hope that you will be able to finish the class, because the oning is metal and it gets extremely loud. So the plan will be to finish that structure and hopefully put a drop ceiling in the sanctuary which will help with the heat in the summer and the noise that the rain creates in the winter. It was very exciting to see that God is blessing the ministry here in Brazil. When we were all done and everything was cleaned up we headed back to our houses to clean up and try and get the paint off of ourselves. Later that night after we were all cleaned up, we headed over to Bro Jays house to have dinner and play some games with their family. We had a great time of fun, food, and fellowship. We had a great time hanging out with everyone and getting to know everyone better. When we finally realized what time it was we all headed back to our houses so we could get a good nights rest before our final day at the orphanage.
Friday
We started our day, kinda early, by going to the orphange to work with the kids again. We realized that the purpose of our visit was to relieve the regulars in the work that they normally do, and I think each member of the team received a huge blessing by being there. Thursday night we went to the store to get supplies for the kids. The team wanted to help in some way and so we were able to take care of the food for the orphanage. It was an awesome experience to walk up to the daycare/orphanage carrying the food and get swarmed by the kids, they surrounded us and wanted to hug and play with us. This reaction melted our hearts and was a very different reaction than we had gotten the fist day that we were there. We played with them for quite a while, we took them to a large yard across the street to play different games, teach them new ones, and have a headstand contest. So we played and wore our selves out, but the kids were still going strong. We made our way back to the house and got the opportunity to help with an English lesson. We went through the alphabet with them and different words that were written on the card, it was a lot of fun to watch them all try and guess. They are getting really good at reading and speaking English, especially for what little time they have worked with them. When the bigger kids had to leave for school and the little ones laid down for their naps, we helped clean the house again to get it ready for the next day and headed out. They took up by "shopping" (the mall) to see if we could find some souvenir items and then we were able to just relax a bit. That night they took us to try a traditional Brazilian steakhouse and it was delicious, we were all so full. Tomorrow is youth day/night and we will be teaching them how to play American flag football.
Saturday
We didn't have anything scheduled for the morning so we were all able to sleep in a little bit and then met at the new mall for lunch. We ate and had a little time to look around before we had to go meet the youth group for youth day. We brought smores stuff so the youth could try them for the first time. We started off the afternoon with some music and then headed down a couple blocks to the beach so we could play flag football. We divided up into 2 teams and the game began. It was really fun and funny to watch as most of them have never played before. It was a really fun time and the youth really enjoyed it. When we were all done and everyone was worn out we headed back to the house and had some more music and dinner. The Brazilians sing so loud it is really neat to just sit there, listen, and enjoy that time together. Bro Gary brought a devotional for the youth and we had 51 people there that night. When the devotional was done we announced that we had brought the items to make smores and they were all excited as some of them had never heard of it before. They had built a fire "pit" while we were down on the beach and it was really tall. It was really funny and I know we have pictures of it that we will have to post on facebook later. The teens all loved them and they all wanted seconds :) later that night the youth was planning on heading to a soccer field, that a member of their church owns and allows them to play for free. It had started raining but that didn't stop them, they played and the guys from our group played too. By the time they were done, they were all completely soaked. It was a lot of fun being able to teach them a game and then being able to play their sport with them. It was a great day and a lot of fun hanging out and getting to know the kids in the youth group better. They have a great group of kids and it's exciting to see them be so faithful and excited for God. It's really sad that our trip is coming to an end quickly, it seems like we just got here and in a few days we will be leaving. We have been very blessed to be here and we just pray that we have been an encouagement to the Ross's and the church here in Caraguatatuba. Tomorrow is church and we are excited because there will be some baptisms, and our team gets to be a part of it.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Brazil continued...
On Monday the Ross family took us to Paraty (pronounced para-chi) The pronunciations are very different and hard to get used to here :) Today we were able to adjustand become familiar with some of Brazil's history and culture. We tried new foods and were able to tour the town which is so beautiful and full of history. It takes a while to travel to this town so we left somewhat early that morning, ate, spent time there, and then headed back to have dinner at the Ross's house. We were all feeling more like ourselves today, we were caught up on sleep and feeling a lot better. After getting to do a little sight seeing and learning we are all excited and ready to head to the orphanage tomorrow, we can't wait to see all the little kids.
Tuesday was a work day in which we went to the orphanage to work with the children (currently a day care as they are trying to complete the finishing paper work and get the ok to start the orphanage). As we got there Bro Jay took us on a tour of the facility. Later on in the day we got the opportunity to go through the salvation bead bracelets with them and share The Gospel with each child there. 10 kids were there that day. We took the kids to the park and played games with them. Bro Gary, Bro Justin and I played soccer or as they call it here, futbol. Needless to say the kids wore us out, and they were playing barefoot as we played with shoes. There was also a monkey bars/slidearea at the park so Allison, Madison, Robyn, and Jenna all stayed over there to play with the kids and make sure they didn't hurt themselves. Playing with the kids at the park was a lot of fun, getting to see them laugh and have a good time was very encouraging. We were told that when some of the kids came and couldn't read or write in their language, and just in a short time of working with them, they are starting to read and write. Of the 10 kids there are 2 sets of twins and the younger twins(1 year olds), when they came, had absolutely no strength in their legs. They were so neglected and by being in the day care/orphanage they have grown so much. While we were there they started crawling across the floor. We were cheering them on as they crawled and sat up, it was so exciting. While there we were able to help with reading, the salvation bracelets, playing at the park, lunch, clean up, showers, and cleaning the orphanage to prepare it for the next day. We got them all ready for school, they go from 1pm-5pm each day, and laid the kids that don't go to school yet down for naps. We will come back again Friday to help some more and we can't wait. These kids are precious and in the short time we were there I know some of us got really attached. When we were done cleaning and getting the place ready for the next day we went back to our houses to take showers and relax a bit before the in-house bible study that evening. A lady from church asked Bro Jay if we would come to her house and have a bible study so she could invite her neighbors and friends, as traveling to church isn't an option for some. This lady isn't a member yet, but wants to become one! I was asked to preach/give the devotional and I was very excited. We arrived and they had it all set up so we sang some songs and then Bro Jay introduced me and also translated for me. It was a great time getting to share what The Lord had laid on my heart. We fellow shipped for a while afterwards and had some snacks the lady had prepared, more Brazilian food!! Today was really full and busy, I think we all are looking forward to our beds tonight. Tomorrow we will be painting the whole outside of the church building, the gate, and the smaller building next to the sanctuary.
Wednesday we headed down to the church to prep and start painting. The weather here in Caraguatatuba is very humid so the paint usually only lasts about 2 years. We all jumped in and started cleaning, prepping, and scrapping the old paint getting it ready for the new coat. We each had a job to do and everyone worked really hard, as it was freezing outside. The weather in Caraguatatuba had changed dramatically since we read the weather report and packed. A cold front came in and none of the team brought warm clothes to paint in, so I think we all might have a new pair of painting pants :) we started painting and noticed the paint color was quite a bit lighter than the old paint and it was supposed to be the same, but we liked it so Bro Jay said to keep going. We finished the smaller building and did the lower wall of the sanctuary building and ran out of the creamy color of paint. While Bro Jay ran to get more we started with the burgundy color for the trim and lettering. When Bro Jay returned with the paint, the paint store had some how got the original color right again and when we took it back and said we wanted the lighter color, they didn't know what they did wrong in the first place so we were stuck with the original color... the question became do we start all over?? Or do we just paint the sanctuary building the original color? Since the Ross's really liked the lighter color we left the small building and just repainted the sanctuary building. It was getting late and we had to get ready for church services so we decided to stop and finished tomorrow. We all ate lunch and headed back to our "homes" and showered and got ready for church. We headed down to church and tonight Bro Gary was asked to preach. We had a great time at church getting to know the people better and spending time after services fellowshipping together. The people here are so loving and welcoming and I think everyone is getting used to the greeting which is always a kiss on the cheek. We had a great productive day today, the church building is looking so much cleaner and nicer and services were really good, Bro Gary did a great job as Bro Jay translated for him. After services we headed back to Bro Jay & Sis Peggy's house to have some dessert that Sis Peggy made. We all headed back to our homes to get some rest so we could be ready bright and early to finish painting the church!
Tuesday was a work day in which we went to the orphanage to work with the children (currently a day care as they are trying to complete the finishing paper work and get the ok to start the orphanage). As we got there Bro Jay took us on a tour of the facility. Later on in the day we got the opportunity to go through the salvation bead bracelets with them and share The Gospel with each child there. 10 kids were there that day. We took the kids to the park and played games with them. Bro Gary, Bro Justin and I played soccer or as they call it here, futbol. Needless to say the kids wore us out, and they were playing barefoot as we played with shoes. There was also a monkey bars/slidearea at the park so Allison, Madison, Robyn, and Jenna all stayed over there to play with the kids and make sure they didn't hurt themselves. Playing with the kids at the park was a lot of fun, getting to see them laugh and have a good time was very encouraging. We were told that when some of the kids came and couldn't read or write in their language, and just in a short time of working with them, they are starting to read and write. Of the 10 kids there are 2 sets of twins and the younger twins(1 year olds), when they came, had absolutely no strength in their legs. They were so neglected and by being in the day care/orphanage they have grown so much. While we were there they started crawling across the floor. We were cheering them on as they crawled and sat up, it was so exciting. While there we were able to help with reading, the salvation bracelets, playing at the park, lunch, clean up, showers, and cleaning the orphanage to prepare it for the next day. We got them all ready for school, they go from 1pm-5pm each day, and laid the kids that don't go to school yet down for naps. We will come back again Friday to help some more and we can't wait. These kids are precious and in the short time we were there I know some of us got really attached. When we were done cleaning and getting the place ready for the next day we went back to our houses to take showers and relax a bit before the in-house bible study that evening. A lady from church asked Bro Jay if we would come to her house and have a bible study so she could invite her neighbors and friends, as traveling to church isn't an option for some. This lady isn't a member yet, but wants to become one! I was asked to preach/give the devotional and I was very excited. We arrived and they had it all set up so we sang some songs and then Bro Jay introduced me and also translated for me. It was a great time getting to share what The Lord had laid on my heart. We fellow shipped for a while afterwards and had some snacks the lady had prepared, more Brazilian food!! Today was really full and busy, I think we all are looking forward to our beds tonight. Tomorrow we will be painting the whole outside of the church building, the gate, and the smaller building next to the sanctuary.
Wednesday we headed down to the church to prep and start painting. The weather here in Caraguatatuba is very humid so the paint usually only lasts about 2 years. We all jumped in and started cleaning, prepping, and scrapping the old paint getting it ready for the new coat. We each had a job to do and everyone worked really hard, as it was freezing outside. The weather in Caraguatatuba had changed dramatically since we read the weather report and packed. A cold front came in and none of the team brought warm clothes to paint in, so I think we all might have a new pair of painting pants :) we started painting and noticed the paint color was quite a bit lighter than the old paint and it was supposed to be the same, but we liked it so Bro Jay said to keep going. We finished the smaller building and did the lower wall of the sanctuary building and ran out of the creamy color of paint. While Bro Jay ran to get more we started with the burgundy color for the trim and lettering. When Bro Jay returned with the paint, the paint store had some how got the original color right again and when we took it back and said we wanted the lighter color, they didn't know what they did wrong in the first place so we were stuck with the original color... the question became do we start all over?? Or do we just paint the sanctuary building the original color? Since the Ross's really liked the lighter color we left the small building and just repainted the sanctuary building. It was getting late and we had to get ready for church services so we decided to stop and finished tomorrow. We all ate lunch and headed back to our "homes" and showered and got ready for church. We headed down to church and tonight Bro Gary was asked to preach. We had a great time at church getting to know the people better and spending time after services fellowshipping together. The people here are so loving and welcoming and I think everyone is getting used to the greeting which is always a kiss on the cheek. We had a great productive day today, the church building is looking so much cleaner and nicer and services were really good, Bro Gary did a great job as Bro Jay translated for him. After services we headed back to Bro Jay & Sis Peggy's house to have some dessert that Sis Peggy made. We all headed back to our homes to get some rest so we could be ready bright and early to finish painting the church!
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Brazil 2013
Day 1
We arrived safely here in Brazil on Friday, August 9. Delayed flights, long layovers, and security checks but we made it through. We were greeted in the airport by Bro Jay & Bro Justin. Bro Josebaldo (that's probably not spelled right) was also there with the van to transport the luggage. We loaded the vans and cars and headed for Caraguatatuba, which is where we will be spending our time here in Brazil. It was a beautiful drive down into town and we were all very excited & ready to stretch our legs and for showers! We went out to dinner for some Brazilian pizza that night and it was delicious!! Since the team couldn't get hotel rooms due to the hotel being booked up, we all get to stay in the homes of the mission team here. We get to stay with Bro Justin & Sis Jenna, Sis Robyn & Sis Madison get to stay with Bro Chiago & Sis Heather, and Bro Gary & Sis Pam get to stay with Bro Jay & Sis Peggy. I think this being the first night, we will all sleep really well, we are all really tired. Tomorrow will be a day of getting some rest and acclamating to the time difference and then a BBQ in the afternoon where we will meet some of the church members. We are all really excited to get going and see all the different avenues of ministry going on here. This trip is going to be a lot of fun, a lot of work, and a lot of fellowship!
Day 2
We were allowed to sleep in a bit in order to try and adjust to the time change. Then we spent the day at a member of the churches house with a BBQ and good fellowship, we all got to try some Brazilian food too, it was all really yummy.. Then later that night the church had their youth night at the church, we were able to sit in and be a part of it. It was a lot of fun with singing, games, and a devotional given by Bro Justin. After services that night they took us to try these Brazilian deep fried sandwich things called pastels.Even though the beginning to this day was "relaxing" we were all very tired due to the time change so again we were all ready for bed. Tomorrow is church and we are all excited to be a part of services here.
Day 3
The teams first church service with the Ross family. Today, here in Brazil is Father's Day. Church services here in Brazil are a little different than in the states. Morning services start out with the youth singing as well as congregational singing, and then they break off for Sunday School. For SundaySchool the men and women separate. It was very interesting and fun to divide up and be able to have all the girls together and all the guys together... and the girls got to stay inside, the guys had to go outside and it was freezing cold and windy! It was a great service as that concludes the morning church service, then they meet back at night for church services again where it is a "normal american" service with Bro Jay preaching the Father's Day message. We had a great time in services here in Brazil today and lunch was also really good, they took us to a local restaurant where we were able to try many new foods of which chicken hearts was included... it didn't taste bad, just a little chewy. That concluded our Sunday here in Brazil, this trip has been pretty neat so far and we are looking forward to what we have planned in the upcoming week. Some things we will be doing include, visiting and getting to spend time with the children at the orphange, painting at the church, in home services, youth nights, teaching the youth how to play flag football and make smores, and various other things. It seems like our time here is flying by too quickly. Excited and ready for tomorrow...
We arrived safely here in Brazil on Friday, August 9. Delayed flights, long layovers, and security checks but we made it through. We were greeted in the airport by Bro Jay & Bro Justin. Bro Josebaldo (that's probably not spelled right) was also there with the van to transport the luggage. We loaded the vans and cars and headed for Caraguatatuba, which is where we will be spending our time here in Brazil. It was a beautiful drive down into town and we were all very excited & ready to stretch our legs and for showers! We went out to dinner for some Brazilian pizza that night and it was delicious!! Since the team couldn't get hotel rooms due to the hotel being booked up, we all get to stay in the homes of the mission team here. We get to stay with Bro Justin & Sis Jenna, Sis Robyn & Sis Madison get to stay with Bro Chiago & Sis Heather, and Bro Gary & Sis Pam get to stay with Bro Jay & Sis Peggy. I think this being the first night, we will all sleep really well, we are all really tired. Tomorrow will be a day of getting some rest and acclamating to the time difference and then a BBQ in the afternoon where we will meet some of the church members. We are all really excited to get going and see all the different avenues of ministry going on here. This trip is going to be a lot of fun, a lot of work, and a lot of fellowship!
Day 2
We were allowed to sleep in a bit in order to try and adjust to the time change. Then we spent the day at a member of the churches house with a BBQ and good fellowship, we all got to try some Brazilian food too, it was all really yummy.. Then later that night the church had their youth night at the church, we were able to sit in and be a part of it. It was a lot of fun with singing, games, and a devotional given by Bro Justin. After services that night they took us to try these Brazilian deep fried sandwich things called pastels.Even though the beginning to this day was "relaxing" we were all very tired due to the time change so again we were all ready for bed. Tomorrow is church and we are all excited to be a part of services here.
Day 3
The teams first church service with the Ross family. Today, here in Brazil is Father's Day. Church services here in Brazil are a little different than in the states. Morning services start out with the youth singing as well as congregational singing, and then they break off for Sunday School. For SundaySchool the men and women separate. It was very interesting and fun to divide up and be able to have all the girls together and all the guys together... and the girls got to stay inside, the guys had to go outside and it was freezing cold and windy! It was a great service as that concludes the morning church service, then they meet back at night for church services again where it is a "normal american" service with Bro Jay preaching the Father's Day message. We had a great time in services here in Brazil today and lunch was also really good, they took us to a local restaurant where we were able to try many new foods of which chicken hearts was included... it didn't taste bad, just a little chewy. That concluded our Sunday here in Brazil, this trip has been pretty neat so far and we are looking forward to what we have planned in the upcoming week. Some things we will be doing include, visiting and getting to spend time with the children at the orphange, painting at the church, in home services, youth nights, teaching the youth how to play flag football and make smores, and various other things. It seems like our time here is flying by too quickly. Excited and ready for tomorrow...
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Tuesday through Friday
Sorry its been a while since the blog has been updated. This trip to Anaheim, CA was an awesome trip. We were so busy that we really didn't have time to update the blog so we will give you an overview of what went on...
Tuesday morning we all got up bright and early and headed down to the church to finish decorating and clean everything up and get it all ready for the children on Wednesday. We worked down there for a long time making sure everything looked just perfect, and it did! Everything turned out amazing and everything the LaHabra church donated was put to good use. We stopped for lunch and then back to work it was. We painted backdrops, taped numerous posters to walls, set up classrooms, and decorated and cleaned the entire entryway. The church was ready for the children and at that point we stopped for dinner (the ladies here at the church really know how to cook... we never went hungry on this trip, and we were so thankful to the ladies for that). After dinner we got everything together and headed to the park to set up a pop up tent, do some free face painting, would of had free popcorn if we could of found and electrical plug, and passed out fliers. At first people came around, mainly because they wanted to know why the tent was there, and our team had made some signs to let the people know and soon children of all ages were lined up to get their faces painted. It was awesome to see the lines of kids(and parents) waiting. While they were waiting some of the other team members were able to take that chance, hand them a flier and if God opened the door talk to them about Christ. We had one little girl Veronica, her mom brought her over to see what all was going on and she sat back and waited for her daughter to finish. One of the team members that went to the park that evening took the opportunity to ask if she had received the flier for VBS yet, she hadn't, and sat down and got to know a little about her. Come to find out she wasn't saved and after further discussion came to know Christ that night! PRAISE GOD!!! What an awesome thing to experience right there in the park in Anaheim, CA God brought this lady right where she needed to be and also brought our team right where we needed to be. We were so excited about this we couldn't hardly contain ourselves that night during devotional/testimony time. We had a great time talking about the day and discussing what tomorrow would bring. We all were extremely tired and soon after our devo/testimony time we headed to bed, ready for what Wednesday would hold.
Wednesday we woke up bright and early as we were excited to be having a free car wash in the church parking lot. We really wanted the people around the church to realize that there is a church in the community and they are there to serve. We didn't know quite how it would work out but it was great we posted signs, had people out on the street holding signs, and ended up having a few cars to wash. We had some people stop by just to see why we were having a free car wash, it didn't make sense to them... probably because we had a sign that said, "no donations accepted!" We had that sign because we truly didn't want any donations and when people asked why not it was the perfect opportunity to explain to them that just as we can do absolutely nothing for our salvation, they can do absolutely nothing for that car wash. Bro Rudy was able to have some really good conversations with people about Christ while they were waiting for their cars to be washed. It was so exciting and awesome to be able to serve the community of Anaheim in that way. We finished the car wash, had lunch all together, and headed back to the Rodriguez's home for a little rest before opening night. We headed down to the church to eat dinner all together and had some good prayer time before VBS started. We weren't sure how much of a response we would get from the community as the church there hadn't had a VBS in a long time. We truly believe God saw the efforts of the Anaheim church before we arrived and the efforts of the team to put on this VBS and God blessed on that first night of VBS!! We had 6 children from the community attend the first night of VBS which brought our total number of children for night #1 to 12! It was so exciting to see the members of the Anaheim church get emotional about the kids there, they really loved hearing the laughter and excitement in each child as we moved from singing, to lessons, to crafts, to games, and then back to our closing ceremony. We had a great time the first night of VBS and even though we were all so exhausted when we got back to Bro Rudy's and Sis Christine's we had our team time with devos/testimonies. Some of our team members were sick with colds and others were catching colds but even through all of that our team worked so hard. Every time something needed to be done they did it, without arguing, and really helped with the success of the VBS. This team really stepped up and got everything that needed to be done, done. We are so proud and excited to see how the next two nights of VBS are going to go. To God be the glory.
Thursday
Bro Rudy really wanted to go to the beach for a couple of hours to rest so we reluctantly (lol) went with him. Some of us got sunburnt because he kept us there for a little longer than I would have liked but the day was for him. We went back to the house to get cleaned up and rest before VBS. then we went to VBS and had a great vbs with return visitors from the community and we had some new visitors who had previously been in baptist work but had left a long time ago... very hopeful!! We were all really tired that night so most people were ready for bed after devo/testimony time. Thursday was great and we were all very excited about the new visitors, we can't wait for tomorrow!
Friday
Bro Rudy decided that he wanted us to do another one of the free car washes to help promote the church again. So we got set up and it started and it was really slow, and we were all tired from the long days before. Then as we got closer to lunch, the time we were going to stop, I went out to hold the sign and try to get people to come in, and all the sudden we went with three cars deep for like 45 minutes. I told everyone that I showed some leg (not really) to get people to come. So I stayed out there and let the team do the washing. Then, that night we had VBS with the closing and we had a special time where we presented the gospel through the salvation bracelets. Every child and adult received a bracelet and heard the gospel. That night went a little long but everyone had a great time spending extra time with the kids and adults from the community. I just have to say that the team has worked so hard doing everything this week, I am so proud of this team and the way we have come together to pray about everything we have done. God has been working here in Anaheim and its been awesome to be a part of it. We had our devotional time where we really grew closer together.
Saturday was the teams day off and then Sunday we had the closing ceremony for the VBS and bro Rudy preached the final message before we had lunch. We helped the church pack up and said our goodbyes and headed home. This trip was a different kind of mission trip but it was amazing to see God work. I'm so excited to see God work in the Anaheim church this coming year.
Tuesday morning we all got up bright and early and headed down to the church to finish decorating and clean everything up and get it all ready for the children on Wednesday. We worked down there for a long time making sure everything looked just perfect, and it did! Everything turned out amazing and everything the LaHabra church donated was put to good use. We stopped for lunch and then back to work it was. We painted backdrops, taped numerous posters to walls, set up classrooms, and decorated and cleaned the entire entryway. The church was ready for the children and at that point we stopped for dinner (the ladies here at the church really know how to cook... we never went hungry on this trip, and we were so thankful to the ladies for that). After dinner we got everything together and headed to the park to set up a pop up tent, do some free face painting, would of had free popcorn if we could of found and electrical plug, and passed out fliers. At first people came around, mainly because they wanted to know why the tent was there, and our team had made some signs to let the people know and soon children of all ages were lined up to get their faces painted. It was awesome to see the lines of kids(and parents) waiting. While they were waiting some of the other team members were able to take that chance, hand them a flier and if God opened the door talk to them about Christ. We had one little girl Veronica, her mom brought her over to see what all was going on and she sat back and waited for her daughter to finish. One of the team members that went to the park that evening took the opportunity to ask if she had received the flier for VBS yet, she hadn't, and sat down and got to know a little about her. Come to find out she wasn't saved and after further discussion came to know Christ that night! PRAISE GOD!!! What an awesome thing to experience right there in the park in Anaheim, CA God brought this lady right where she needed to be and also brought our team right where we needed to be. We were so excited about this we couldn't hardly contain ourselves that night during devotional/testimony time. We had a great time talking about the day and discussing what tomorrow would bring. We all were extremely tired and soon after our devo/testimony time we headed to bed, ready for what Wednesday would hold.
Wednesday we woke up bright and early as we were excited to be having a free car wash in the church parking lot. We really wanted the people around the church to realize that there is a church in the community and they are there to serve. We didn't know quite how it would work out but it was great we posted signs, had people out on the street holding signs, and ended up having a few cars to wash. We had some people stop by just to see why we were having a free car wash, it didn't make sense to them... probably because we had a sign that said, "no donations accepted!" We had that sign because we truly didn't want any donations and when people asked why not it was the perfect opportunity to explain to them that just as we can do absolutely nothing for our salvation, they can do absolutely nothing for that car wash. Bro Rudy was able to have some really good conversations with people about Christ while they were waiting for their cars to be washed. It was so exciting and awesome to be able to serve the community of Anaheim in that way. We finished the car wash, had lunch all together, and headed back to the Rodriguez's home for a little rest before opening night. We headed down to the church to eat dinner all together and had some good prayer time before VBS started. We weren't sure how much of a response we would get from the community as the church there hadn't had a VBS in a long time. We truly believe God saw the efforts of the Anaheim church before we arrived and the efforts of the team to put on this VBS and God blessed on that first night of VBS!! We had 6 children from the community attend the first night of VBS which brought our total number of children for night #1 to 12! It was so exciting to see the members of the Anaheim church get emotional about the kids there, they really loved hearing the laughter and excitement in each child as we moved from singing, to lessons, to crafts, to games, and then back to our closing ceremony. We had a great time the first night of VBS and even though we were all so exhausted when we got back to Bro Rudy's and Sis Christine's we had our team time with devos/testimonies. Some of our team members were sick with colds and others were catching colds but even through all of that our team worked so hard. Every time something needed to be done they did it, without arguing, and really helped with the success of the VBS. This team really stepped up and got everything that needed to be done, done. We are so proud and excited to see how the next two nights of VBS are going to go. To God be the glory.
Thursday
Bro Rudy really wanted to go to the beach for a couple of hours to rest so we reluctantly (lol) went with him. Some of us got sunburnt because he kept us there for a little longer than I would have liked but the day was for him. We went back to the house to get cleaned up and rest before VBS. then we went to VBS and had a great vbs with return visitors from the community and we had some new visitors who had previously been in baptist work but had left a long time ago... very hopeful!! We were all really tired that night so most people were ready for bed after devo/testimony time. Thursday was great and we were all very excited about the new visitors, we can't wait for tomorrow!
Friday
Bro Rudy decided that he wanted us to do another one of the free car washes to help promote the church again. So we got set up and it started and it was really slow, and we were all tired from the long days before. Then as we got closer to lunch, the time we were going to stop, I went out to hold the sign and try to get people to come in, and all the sudden we went with three cars deep for like 45 minutes. I told everyone that I showed some leg (not really) to get people to come. So I stayed out there and let the team do the washing. Then, that night we had VBS with the closing and we had a special time where we presented the gospel through the salvation bracelets. Every child and adult received a bracelet and heard the gospel. That night went a little long but everyone had a great time spending extra time with the kids and adults from the community. I just have to say that the team has worked so hard doing everything this week, I am so proud of this team and the way we have come together to pray about everything we have done. God has been working here in Anaheim and its been awesome to be a part of it. We had our devotional time where we really grew closer together.
Saturday was the teams day off and then Sunday we had the closing ceremony for the VBS and bro Rudy preached the final message before we had lunch. We helped the church pack up and said our goodbyes and headed home. This trip was a different kind of mission trip but it was amazing to see God work. I'm so excited to see God work in the Anaheim church this coming year.
Friday, July 19, 2013
Day 2 Prep Time
Day 2 with Mission team in Anaheim, CA "Blue Crew" as decided by the team went well. We spent the morning doing more set up and clean up for VBS. There was an incredible amount of set up work that had to be done because a lot of signs and posters were donated to the Anaheim church for this VBS, a total answer to prayer!! After we finished and did clean up work to get everything looking great some of the group went to a couple Goodwill stores looking for great deals. I on the other hand went back to Bro. Rudy's house to rest as I was a little bit under the weather. When the group returned we rested for a little bit and went to the park where we set up a pop-up tent, had free face painting, would of had popcorn if there would of been electricity, and focused on more promotion for the VBS. There just "happened" to be a lady there by the name of Liz who was at the park with her daughter, for just a little while, and ran into Bro Ron on his way in. She saw the tent and thought, "What is going on over there?" and she came over very curious as to what was going on. She saw the free face painting sign and brought her child over to have her face painted. She stood by curious as if she was searching for something. One of our members that came out to do the outreach asked her if she had received a flier for the VBS... she answer no, which led to a further discussion of her life where she was from and what brought her to the park. Little did she know that what she really came to the park for was because she was in search of a Savior. Praise the Lord she found Him!! She was saved that night at the park in the middle of all the craziness of the face painting, she accepted Christ as her Savior. We were all ecstatic!!! We all introduced ourselves to her and just had some sweet time getting to know a little about her. So if you all would please pray with us for Liz, her daughter Veronica, and her boyfriend Mark. This is such an exciting time to see God work like He did. We were all willing to go into the park and try and make connections with strangers for His honor and glory and He showed up and showed off. It truly was amazing to see that happen right in front of us, which should tell us all there are people out there searching and we need to find those people and share the Truth with them. It really is a life or death issue for them.When we were done at the park and everything was shutting down we headed back to the Rodriguez's home and ended the night with our Devo and reflection time. What a night of praises and thankfulness it was. We can't wait to see how God is going to work this week. We praise God for the Anaheim Church and their desire to have a VBS, inviting us down here, and allowing us to be apart of this awesome outreach and week. Please pray for the team as VBS starts tomorrow evening and we are planning a FREE car wash for the morning time where we will hopefully get people to come so we can share the FREE plan of salvation with them :)
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
MAC-Trips Anaheim, CA
We made it to Anaheim, CA Sunday... Monday at 2:30 AM after a long car ride. We had a great car ride filled with laughter, story telling, sleeping, and lots and lots of traffic. Our team, made up of mostly youth members from Clovis MBC bonded before we even arrived to our destination. When we finally arrived we were happily greeted by Bro Rudy and Sis Christine Rodriguez. There house is where we will be bunking for the next week! We quickly unloaded the car, found our sleeping spots, and hit the hay :) the next morning we all slowly woke up and got ready so we could be at the church by 10 AM to help set up and decorate for VBS. When we arrived at the church we had a great crew ready to get to work. People from all over came to help out, there was 6 from our MAC-Team, 5 from LaHabra, CA, and several church members from Anaheim. We painted several backdrops to be used in classes throughout the VBS, set up the chairs and tables in each classroom, and made rings and rings of tape to be used to hold all the posters and signs up on the walls. We all worked really hard and finished most of the work that day before dinner, everyone worked so hard and it was awesome. After dinner we headed to a couple nearby parks to pass out VBS invitations and talk with people about Jesus. We all had a great time getting to personally hand out the fliers and chat with people. When we finished, we all headed back to the Rodriguez's house to have our nightly devotional/testimony time. It was the first night and our team really came together and supported one another. We were all really tired from the long drive, short amount of sleep, and long day of work but it was so worth it. The church looks great and with a few final preparations tomorrow we will be ready for the children. We have several outreach ideas planned to help get the word out about the VBS in the community. Some of the planned ideas are free car washes, free face painting and popcorn in the park, and visiting all the local parks in the evenings to pass out more fliers and invite more kids and adults to VBS. We are excited to see how God is going to use us this week, we've had a great time so far and its only just begun! We will update tomorrow if we get a chance and let you know how day 2 of our mission trip is going... thanks & God bless!!
Monday, July 8, 2013
The Last Full Day!
7-7-2013
Today is our final full day here in Romania, we will be leaving tomorrow. We had church services outside because so many people came, praise The Lord, and a baby dedication during the service. Mid service we had to cram inside because it started raining on us. In Romanian culture, the Orthodox Church, they perform baby baptisms but because we believe baptism is reserved for those who have accepted The Lord as their Savior, here they dedicate their children for the service of The Lord. We had a small ceremony where they prayed over her, for her future, and for her parents. Bro Philip brought the message, and very clearly explained salvation and how we can do nothing for it, he did a great job. After services we spent some time hanging out, playing, and taking pictures with the kids that came from VBS. We headed back to our hotel to change clothes and pick up the pizza for lunch while Bro Dave took all the kids home. The kids have no way to get to church so Bro Dave and Bro Vasi will go pick them up and then take them back home after services. We spent the afternoon in fellowship and rest as we were all very tired, I know I needed a good nap, and I felt much better afterward. Some of the team members went for a walk into town to look around while I rested. At about 5:50 we made our way back to the Manary's and had an awesome time singing praises to our Lord for about 45 min. We the heard sis Manary's testimony and had a time of reflection on the trip. It was a special time of thank yous, tears, and laughter. Everyone got the opportunity to reflect on the trip and share how they felt about the trip. We ended the evening with encouragement to the team to stay on fire for The Lord when we get home and a warning on what to expect as well. God worked in an amazing way through this team and satan is going to try to discourage each one of us. If you are reading this please pray for each team member and if you can lift each one up in a special way. I can't believe our time of service in Romania is over, it came and went so quickly. We are all going to miss Romania so much, especially the Manary family, it has definitely left an impression on each one of our hearts. To seal team 7... good job gang!! I'm so proud and honored that I was able to co-labor with each one of you, you all are extremely special to me and Allie, and we look forward to serving with you again!! Until next time!!
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