What an amazing thing air conditioners are. I slept like a rock. It seems like others on the team did as well. As I woke up (to Don bumping his head on my bed), I realized that Harrison was already out of his bed, so I started reading the Bible, and he came in shortly after and told me that Germany beat Argentina in the World Cup. Apparently, Ashlyn woke up and went downstairs and watched it – it was played from 3-5 AM local time. Then, when she returned to the room, she alerted everyone there to the fact that Germany won.
Anyway, we started the day
with breakfast and then were getting ready for devotions when we were asked to
join the AMG staff devotions. So we
headed upstairs and Pastor Ray shared with us from 1 Cor 12 and 13. He challenged us that all we do needs to be
done in love – because without love, everything we do is nothing. At the end of his devotional, he asked if
anyone else had anything to say, and Mrs Layda talked about how the people from
the World Cup played their best for their country. How badly they wanted to win the “gold” for
the pride of their country. Then she
said, “I just want to have some gold to give to God”. Both the devotional and her challenge were
helpful and encouraging.
After devotions, Jing gave
us an orientation to the ministry of AMG and what an encouragement that
was. The team enjoyed hearing about the
purpose and programs of AMG. They asked
a lot of good questions, and I think they got a solid understanding of what to
expect for the remainder of the week.
After lunch, we took some
time to rest, do laundry, and then go on home visits. We visited about 12 homes and encouraged and
prayed with many of the people in the homes.
It was like walking through a maze as we made our way through the small
winding passageways between the buildings.
The first home we went to held three families with about 10 people total
in 3 rooms. The floor creaked as
Harrison walked across it, and the ladder to the upstairs (where the three
rooms were) was dangerous and treacherous.
The people at each home were
hospitable and very welcoming. They
shared with us their stories and we asked questions about them, their families,
their children, etc. Tith and Ana walked
with us and helped us communicate with those who had limited English
ability. Our group of 10 slowly grew as
we moved from house to house – picking up stray children along the way.
By the time we returned to
the church/AMG corporate, we had about 30 or so kids following us and trying to
play with us. So we spent the next hour
or so playing games, having fun, sharing the pictures on the wall (with the
projector God provided from Easton Baptist Church) and just love the kids as
Jesus would have if He were here in the flesh.
By 6:30, it was time to say goodbye to the kids and head inside for
dinner. Kendra said that one of the boys
said, “please come back, pretty please...” and kept “begging” us to
return. Tith told us yesterday that
never has a team come and played with the kids like this team has. She thanked us a number of times for showing
love to the kids by playing with them.
What an encouragement that was to me that what we were doing was being
well received by the kids, the local people, and the church as well. I reminded Tith that we are here for the
purpose of showing Christ love to the kids, and that if Christ were here, He
would probably spend time playing with the kids as well.
After dinner we sat and
talked about the day – it was a great day.
However, we found out that our flight has been cancelled for tomorrow
because of the incoming typhoon. We are
“stuck” here for another day. That’s
okay, because it is in God’s plan, and so we will be going to ESHTEC tomorrow
to see the school (and child care center) where the kids go to get trained for
business. This should be an excellent
visit.
Well,
it’s almost 10:00, and I am fully exhausted. I am still trying to recuperate
from the long days of travel, so hopefully a good night’s rest again tonight
will help. Maybe that is why God
cancelled our early morning flight tomorrow – who knows??
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