Team Indiana and VBS

Hi everyone we had a great day today! A very long day once again. One of the team members, Jamie is going to write a post now. Here is what he has to say:

To say it was an amazing day serving alongside the Wood Family would be an understatment.  The privilege to meet about 50 kids in a nearby village today and some of their families was truly humbling.  We started about mid-morning and finished tonight about 9:00 PM.  However, we did have a three hour break inbetween activities.  From games to puppet shows, to music to just hanging out, it was a memorable time for our team.  I'm confident the time today was fruitful for the kingdom. 

For me I was excited to see the joy the kids expressed as we interacted with them and played games.  The hospitality the adults showed us was above and beyond the call of duty.  One instance was a make-shift bench they made us to sit on and view the puppet show.  One older gentlemen noticed the seat was wet so he proceeded to take newspaper and cover our seats.  Just one example of hospitality.

I can honestly say the week has been personally refreshing and encouraging.  The Wood's are serving with distinction and it is a pleasure to be called their friend and co-laborer.

I look forward to the next couple days.  It is sure to be memorable.

Jamie Woodyard

As Jamie mentioned it was an amazing day and if I wasn't sooo tired you might get to see some pictures. However, you will just have to wait until tomorrow. It is now almost 11 and I am pooped! I will post more tomorrow!
Love you all! Missy

This team is AWESOME!!!

Our team from Indiana arrived on Monday and we were so happy to see them! 2 of them came last year and 2 of them are spouses of the men who came on their team last year and one of them is completely new!

Our community service project today was to clean the river where the women wash their clothes. It was filled with trash and will filled 20 bag loads of trash in 3 hours.  We all worked hard and were blessed by the end result! 

This was a woman who we saw as we were leaving, she was curious as to what we were doing, but stopped looking as soon as she saw us looking at her.

This was after our hard work.

Resting.

This is Jeff, he came ready to work, he will leave a changed man. He has made an huge impact on all those he has met. 

This is Pam and I almost knee deep in the water cleaning all the junk out. It was fun!

Here is a really neat story!! This woman pictured on the right was in the street when we were trying to find our way to the river. Greg got out to ask her for directions and she openly shared with him that her 23 year old husband had just died. He was on a tractor and it turned over on him and killed him. She was heart broken and said he was a good man and a good father. We stopped right then on the way to the river and prayed with her. She told us we could park at her home. We met the family who were there grieving and her 4 year old son. We offered to buy him some of the things he would need to start pre-school. She was very happy! So on the way back to our truck after we were done with our job, we helped clean up her yard as well (when someone dies it is customary to mourn for 9 days after they die and tomorrow completes the 9th day) b/c there was a lot of trash from the company they had. She hugged us and invited us back anytime. I think we have a new friend in our village. All b/c this team came and we went to clean up a river. He always has a plan!!

This little kids were playing beside the home where they were mourning. 

Rachael hard at work

The dirty team.

This little fella was just hangin out in a tree and wanted his picture taken.

These women were crossing the river and Jeff got this picture of them, isn't it great?

Here is Pam with Maria, the widow with her son.

Jeff eating tamales at our Bible study tonight. 

Jerod was enjoying his tamales too!

Alex was busy playing with his friends.

As was Annie.

How precious are they? Tonight they asked for prayer b/c she can't hear and he can't see. Please pray for them.

Pam and I enjoyed getting to know this sweet lady better. She was so happy we were all there. I think we encouraged a lot of people today. We have VBS in a small village in the morning and then again tomorrow night. I will do my best to post some pics earlier in the day, but we are running a mile a minute. It is 1:15 am and I am just now getting this done. ;o) Pray my eyes will open in the morning! We are having a great time and are just loving this team more than they will ever know! What a blessing!! Pray they all stay healthy!!