Three Ring Circus!

Well, Shamon mentioned that today was like a festival... I was thinking it was more like a three ring circus! By this afternoon, when things had settled down enough for me to breathe, I looked up and saw that there was Novene, Tori, and me on the volleyball court, Shamon behind me with the younger boys playing soccer on a concrete slab, Debbie on one side bumping the volleyball with a group of girls, Kelsey on the other side jumping rope with some girls, Taylor was sitting with a large group of girls and chatting with them (Taylor is like a rock star-- the girls came at lunch looking for her), not to mention both Wardel´s and Andy´s groups of soccer players. WHEW!

We certainly weren´t expecting 400 kids, but what a blessing it was! We´re still scrambling around, trying to be prepared for the same amount (or more!) kids tomorrow. I was able to share God´s love with the volleyball girls, Julia talked with the preschoolers and younger girls and presented the Salvation plan, and Novene did a great job with the ladies. Those are just the ones I heard... there´s no telling how much more was shared, both in groups and individually. Praise God!

Since Shamon snitched on Sean, I´ll have to tell on him...
As lunch, some ladies came in and starting talking to us and taking pictures. One of them rubbed Shamon´s stomach and said that he must be rich because his belly is so big. Then, they had both Shamon and Wardel on each side of them, rubbing on their bald heads! We certainly look like we´re a three ring circus that´s come to town!

We have been having the best time, and laughing non-stop. We hope to have many of you join us on our next trip, but we´re thankful that you are keeping tabs on us and praying. The work has been tiring, but GOOD! I´m looking forward to seeing what tomorrow brings.

Gripped by Grace,
Yolanda

What a Day!

Well, to echo most of the other posts for today, what a day it was. I had six year olds today and was playing soccer with them pretty much all day. We would sit down in the middle of the concrete field that we were playing on and talk a little about God during breaks. They were great kids. They loved to play soccer with us adults. This community was very warm to us today. They really showed us a lot of love and seemed to really want us there. With so many people in this large open area playing soccer, volleyball, and so many other activities, it was more like a festival all day. I feel completely poored out at this point. Not sure how I am going to find the ability to do it again tomorrow.

We pretty much got Sean married off today. There was this cute little 14 year old girl that was really hung up on him. I think he was ready to kill us, but it sure was fun joking with him about it. By the end of the day, I had her walking up to him and calling him honey. Sorry Sean....

Shamon

Salvation Message

Today was a very interesting day at Ciudad de Dios. As we were getting ready to play volley ball, we realized that it would be impossible because of the number of girls who wanted to play. We formed 2 teams of girls (6-7 years old) and played ball with them. We took the girls to VBS because we had too many. Tera and Julia had them engaged in stories and coloring. Julia was also teaching them songs and English 101.
At 5pm, I was blessed with the opportunity to present the Salvation message to the adults. I felt pretty confident until I saw the numbers of women growing in the room. Julia translated the message very well. We asked questions and they answered with knowledge. Majority of the women prayed and received Jesus Christ as their Savior. At the end, Doris request for us to pray for her. Doris had a stroke 2 years ago and is paralyzed on her left side. Daniel prayed for her. It was very neat to see all members of the group layed their hands on her. I believe that Doris was blessed by our presence. God is good.
It was truly a pleasure for me to be at Ciudado de Dios. The community showed us love. Some of us got cooked meal from the school teachers. One of the ladies expressed that her daughter and her were happy that I visited them. They enjoyed my interacting with the children and as a result, she wanted to give me a present (necklace and earrings). This was awesome.
I am very happy that I am apart the Peru Missions Team.

God Bless!!!!
Novene

Ciudad de Dios- 6-26-08

Over 419 kids today. wow!!!!!!
What a blessing. But... we had not brought enough of anything. Ohohoh!!!!!
Well, we sang, we did some ABCs, shapes & numbers until Juan made more copies of our Creation booklet. Finally, we were able to do our Bible lesson, some more songs and all went well. We had 24 3-5 years old and 9 under 2, then about 40 more showed up with Yolanda and Novene, so you can imagine how much more we had to improvise. It was a challenge that turned into a blessing after all. By the afternoon we joined the volleyball teams , jumped rope with a group of the younger girls and ate a tone of dirt during the wole activity. The wind was very strong. But we had a ball! Andy borrowed someone"s motorcicle and showed of his skills.
The time spent with the adults went very well. The ladies were all very receptive. Praise God!
They were all ready to receive Christ as their personal savior. Novene did a great job sharing her testimony and the Plan of Salvation. Undoubtly, a day of many blessings.
Please pray for our final tournament as only God knows what will we encounter tomorrow.
See ya! In Christ's precious name,
Juia