Day 5 - Half Way There

This is the mid-point in our trip and it is hard to believe that we have already been here five days.

Work continues on Carmen's house, the roof of the church building and the mural and the children's program:

The Children's program concluded today. Each child received a book bag filled with school supplies and other goodies. We realized this was very popular because kids kept coming by today asking for book bags! Krista chared the Gospel clearly with the children and we are praying for good fruit from this.

Carmen's house now has a new supporting wall and some new shleves in the kitchen area. Continue to pray for her foot and her diabetes -- we are very concerned since the doctor has not given her any medication for the infection. Cleaning is done each day, but this does not seem like enough to make a permanent difference.

The mural is almost complete and it seems to be the talk of the community. We have seen more and more visitors just coming by to see it. We also

bagan work on a new garbage drop area beside the mural. This is one of several cement block enclosures where trach can be taken for pickup. The ministry has built these throughout the community to try and keep trash and garbage out of the streets where it can cause health and sanitation problems.

The roof the church is complete and both guys came down safely -- covered in grey paint and very sun burned, but safe. I think we'll be using lots of aloe vera in the next few days.

Our ladies participated in the "Princess Club". This is a multi-week class for young girls that helps them understand who they are in Christ. The

culture here gives many girls the impression that they are not important and unworthy of being treated well. This causes them to often make decisions to allow men to use them for their own purposes. Knowing that they are valuable women in God's eyes helps to overcome these pressures. The first Princess Club was for younger girls (elementary age up to 11). The group going on now is more (age 12-19 or so). Some of these girls already have children or are expecting...but the idea is to stop this ongoing and often generational cycle.

Tonight several of the men went to a small group and Allan led the study time -- we are pretty sure he is inventing his own special version of Spanish to communicate...but it actually kind of works! HAHA!

Throughout the day, there have been "divine appointments" with people and we are thrilled with what we see God doing. At the same time we are reminded constantly of the battle that is going on for souls and the heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have an enemy who will do whatever it takes to keep the truth from being revealed...and so the battle continues.

Tomorrow is our day off to see some of this beautiful contry. We are traveling to a rain forest area a couple of hours away but still get back in time for an evening of teaching on spiritual gifts tomorrow night.