Thursday, April 23, 2015

NEBC - Guatemala Trip - Day 5



Today is our second full day of ministry at the camp, and we have a bunch of things planned for today.

We started the day the usual way – breakfast followed by devotions, today we talked about the life of Joseph.  We were challenged to see the difficulties of life through the lens of the sovereignty of God like Joseph did.  We talked about obedience, especially in the area of forgiveness, as Joseph modeled with his brothers in Genesis 50 after the death of his father. 

After devotions, Matt and Sam headed to the chapel like they did yesterday (interestingly enough, Matt talked with the kids about Joseph today), and the rest of the team went to work digging ditches and painting.  Well, except for Jenny and Leslie who took a shopping trip with Jose Luis to get supplies for chocolate chip cookies – yeah, they are making them for the kids tomorrow!  We worked all morning until it was time to swim.  Then we had a blast playing in the pool with the kids.

Today, I actually joined the kids in the pool, so I was throwing kids around, dunking a few, tossing a few into the pool…  you know, the normal activity of being in a pool.  I picked up Genesis (one of the girl counselors) and carried her to the edge of the pool.  I asked the kids, “si or no”, and they excitedly all answered, “SI”.  No, I didn’t throw her in, but I was thinking about it!!  I told the kids that I would throw the counselors in tomorrow… they thought that was hilarious.

After lunch, we took the kids outside and took some pictures, then we lined them all up.  The counselors and the team were standing on the balcony above where the kids were, and they tossed water balloons at the kids.  We had scheduled a balloon toss game, so that was the introduction – the kids loved it.  Then we played the balloon toss game. They loved it.  At the end of the game, we decided to let the kids have an all out balloon war – or at least that was what I thought we had decided.  Instead, there was a coup in the group, and while I was telling the kids what to do, Sam was telling them that when I counted to 3, everyone was supposed to throw the balloons at me.  I liked this group before this, but now, I am not so sure…  Seriously, the kids loved the opportunity to get me back for throwing them in the pool.  It was a blast.

The evening consisted of the “discovering your heart” time again, and the kids really responded to the lessons that were presented.  We were able to hug on them and encourage them.  The ladies actually broke into groups, and Lian said she talked with her group about what they did with their dolls when they were younger.  She said she really wasn’t sure what that was all about, but they had a great time talking.  Sometimes we don’t know exactly how we are going to connect with the kids, but if that opens the door – talking about dolls it is…

After dinner we made our way to the woods for a campfire.  The counselors presented the kids with songs and challenges to live a different life.  They asked them if they would be interested in receiving Christ, or committing their lives to Him, and many of the kids raised their hands and the counselors went around and prayed with the kids.  It was a wonderful and tangible time to see God work in the lives of the kids.

Our day closed with our evening wrap up.  Sam shared his testimony and his story of coming to AMG.  Phil shared ice cream. We really enjoyed that.  Amy was wrestling with the thought of leaving and wondering if her work here was fruitful.  Phil reminded her that her time here is critical for the ministry of AMG, and she needs to take home the things that she has seen here so that others might know what God is doing and so they can get involved as well.  The fact that now the team can pray more knowledgeably about the ministry of  AMG Guatemala, Camp Canaan and the Matochos center is critical for the success of each of these ministries.

Tomorrow is our last full day of camp, so the emotions will be running high.  We have a lot of interesting things planned for the kids, so I pray that we have the time and the energy to do all that we want to.  Which leads me to the fact that it is almost bedtime now…  good night.

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