Day of Jonah

  VBS

Dan getting into the Jonah story.

This morning started off at VBS. Bob and Dan taught the story of Jonah with a lot of creativity. VBS started as we led, with a lot of help from our wonderful interpreters, some songs with lots of actions.  The lesson time really kept the kids attention and was very enjoyable.  After the story, the kids colored some pictures of Jonah and the whale.  

Some of them put a lot of time and effort into their pictures.  After coloring we went outside to play a couple games and then back inside for some more songs.

Kids paying close attention as Bob and Dan teach.

We have noticed an improvement in the kids behavior over the last 2 years and this year in particular they were very well behaved and a lot of fun to lead and play with.  All of them were so orderly in sharing the crayons and coloring their pictures.  The influence of the church and the FH staff is producing noticeable results in this community.  Not the least of which is seen in the lives of the children. 

Anna Rosa coloring a picture of Jonah and the Whale

Pray that they will continue to grow in character, and a knowledge of God.  This community is being transformed and you are a part of it!

Since I'm(Greg) writing I'll share a bit more about one of my families sponsored children.  Anna Rosa has been a very soft spoken and shy girl from the first time we met 2 years ago.  She was sitting alone by the fence outside her house as she baby sat her little 2 year old sister who was asleep.  During the home visit this year she was alone once again with Juan Martires, her 11 year old brother, and her 4 year old sister.  Here mom works in the city and leaves early in the morning and returns about 5.  Today she came to VBS with here sister and brother.  Even though she is so shy that she doesn't  want to interact we pray we can be a positive influence on her and her family.  There are so many kids with similar stories here.  the great new is that things are improving and we look forward to continuing transformation in this community.

Visiting Amo

The Amo Program in action.

Each week 100 kids gather in groups of 25 to be trained in Biblical principles.  Normally a FH full-time staff person leads the training, however this week local college student, singer(see below), community leader, and aspiring high school teacher  Rochell was filling in.  The kids really love the learning they are receiving and payed close attention even when we stopped by and created a bit of a distraction.  Funds for sponsored children are used to make this happen.  They hope to have every child in Sierra Prieta attend the 1 year program over the next 7 years.

Evangelism visits turned leadership training

Looking into the Scriptures during leadership training.

This afternoon we had planned some home visits to the final sponsored children and to invite people to the evening service.  However we had some delays and before we could begin some folks from a church in a nearby community showed up to accompany us on some evangelistic home visits.  As we didn't think that 20 of us showing up on someone's doorstep to share the Gospel would be very effective we decided to put together an impromptu leadership training.  With a few folks in attandance from the previous training, Greg led the group through a look at some leadership principles we can find in the book of Acts.  There were some great questions which led to some good discussions.  Though not what the group expected the time together seemed to be well recieved.  Tomorrow after the baseball game and before the farewell service we will complete the visits to sponsored children.

Evening Service

Greg Preaching

The evening service was a great opportunity to share that God's plan to bring salvation will not be denied even by our disobedience, but he is most glorified when we respond with obedience.  The service started off with some traditional singing and then we were treated to a couple special music numbers by Rachell(see video below image is poor voice is great).  Greg shared the sermon and it was well received by those in attendance.  We praise God for the opportunity to continue to share the truth about his grace and love this week!

Thanksgiving celebration

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.  One of the benefits of this trip is that our thankfulness quotient goes up.  We were once again provided with a great meal, rice with beans, beef in gravy, green salad, pasta salad with tuna and fresh fruit.  After the evening service we stopped for some Dominican ice cream.  It was a nice treat.  We also were treated to a basket of a complete Thanksgiving meal, including turkey jerky, yogurt covered cranberries, loaded baked potato Pringles, pumpkin pie Pringles and much more.  Thank You Ladies.  We love you and appreciate the care that went into that.

Contents of our Thanksgiving basket

Our delicious Thanksgiving Day meal

Tomorrow

Tomorrow will be our last day in the community.  We will be playing baseball in the morning and then making the final visits to sponsored children.  The afternoon will be a farewell service with the community and then in the evening we'll take a run at the movie again.  So far all the new equipment has tested fine. Keep these people and God's work here in your prayers.


Love to our Families.  We look forward to seeing you all soon!