Last VBS

Hi friends, I will be short b/c someone hinted to me recently that no one really likes to read blogs. They just like pictures. So... here are the pictures from our last VBS of the summer. It was tough but we feel that all of them were worth the time we put into them. Hope you all had a great summer!

Greg and Pastor Isai, whom we work closely with; his church helped us with all of the VBS.

The view on the way to the last village we visited.

We stopped on the way for a picnic and to pray for this community. They are very closed and do not like it when Christians enter into their village and share. 

The youth, minus Alex, he was taking the picture.

Me and my honey.

Annie and her friends.

Jerod clowin' around.

Alex being himself.

We were visited by some sheep and their Shepards. 

John 10

Some kids didn't get to go to VBS.

This is Shirel, (Isai's daughter) she loved the sheep and was waving good-bye to them.

Annie was ready to be a clown.

Their favorite game, tug-o-war.

This is Manuel, he is the reason we were able to get into this village and have this VBS. 

There were a lot of kids who came, but this man sat and watched and listened to everything as well.

Little mamas.

Shirel and I have quite the connection, which is rare b/c most kids this age are afraid of me. 

They had a water race game, that they all loved.

Shoes are something we have found are one of the main needs for kids here. They have clothes on their backs, but their shoes are hardly covering some of their feet. Look closely and you will see all the holes.

This is the little boy that belongs to the shoes above. He never smiled. 

This is Salvador, he comes to our Bible study we have each week. In this village it is NOT acceptable to attend a group like this, he risks a lot of criticism for coming. 

The clowns acted out the story of Saul's conversion.

We had a coloring contest using a picture of Paul. 

There were lots of smiles and lots of laughs.

We were so moved after we left by just how dark this village was; that we had another time of prayer for all of them in the same spot as we stopped that morning.

This is the same Shepard with his sheep, we had been gone all day and on our way home we saw he and his son tending their sheep. It was a beautiful illustration to us! John 10! 

Love you all! Missy

A First for Me!

This is Danny helping a little girl during our 6th VBS.

Annie and her friends coloring.

I talked about Liz in my last post. Her daddy died from diabetes on Monday. They buried him on Tuesday and this was taken on Thursday. She loved playing with Rachael. She spent everyday with us this week and although you could tell she was a little sad, she worked through it. Strong little girl!

This was a first for me. The girl in the purple is named Alma. (Soul) Her cousin who is sitting beside her brought her to VBS. She asked us if we could tell her about Jesus. We sat her down and started to ask her what she knew about Jesus. She said, "Nothing." We found out she didn't know what sin was, had never heard of Adam and Eve, had never heard of the birth of Jesus or any other story in the Bible. My heart was so heavy for her and I decided right then I couldn't let her leave until we shared with her. SO....

I began with the creation story and told her stories that went from Adam and Eve to Mary and Joseph to     many stories of Jesus and His power, healing and ultimately His death. However, I didn't stop there, I went on and shared that He wasn't dead He was alive in Heaven and  had power to save her and that He died so that she could be forgiven of her sins and have eternal life in Heaven. She said she wanted to follow this man who died for her sins. She said she wanted to give Him complete control of her life. For me, it was a definite GOD moment. I don't know how you can live here and not know about the birth of Jesus, but she does and didn't. That spurs me on to share with more who may not have heard either. Please pray for her as she starts her journey with God. 

The next day I underlined lots of verses in her new Bible that would encourage her and help her on her journey.

Jamie and Danny helping the kids with their craft.

This was how they looked when they were almost done.

Here they are when they were all done. They were key holders with a  group picture in the middle. They were proud!

Annie with her sweet friends.

Pam and I have gotten very close over the past years. I thank God for her!

Thank You Truitt family for our goodies!! 

Pam washing dishes. 

Pam with our favorite Grandma here. She and her husband founded the church. She is pictured below praising Jesus.

Balloon toss with sheets. They love this game.

The balloon landed on Alex's head and they loved that too!

This lady is my favorite older lady here in Mexico. She lost her husband about 2-3 months ago and I posted about that. She had pure peace then and as you can see, she is praising Jesus now! I think she is close to 80 and she was doing all the hand motions, singing and dancing! It was quite the sight to see!

Learning to praise!

Learning the songs.

This is Cynthia, she was one of the clowns on the last day and the kids loved watching their act!

Me and my honey!

Jerod was wearing down. He was taking a short nap.

Typical life for most young girls, caring for their younger siblings. 

Typical shoes for some here.

Box of shoes sent to us by our friend from Kingston Ave BC.  Thank You Robin Hart!!

Group photo of 6th VBS, there were about 95!

 Jamie and Greg sharing some laughs at one of our storying groups.

Greg sharing a story.

Jamie was taking this picture and I was at a funeral. This is the rest of the gang on the roof of our friend's home. 

Me and Pam at a lake near here. 

Our awesome team from Kingston Ave BC, Pam, Rachael, Danny, and Jamie. Thank you all for sacrificing your time and money to come and see us and serve the people here. We love you!