Vacation Bible School: Day #3

     It is hard to believe that we are already over half way done with VBS! 3 days down and 2 to go! It feels like we just started and it is already over! Today we had the most kids that we have had this entire week, which was another answer to prayer. We are praying that even more will come tomorrow.
     Today’s story was about Gideon and his victory with only 300 soldiers. We had a special visitor tonight that sang a special. His name was “Lazy Bones.” He did an excellent job! I just want to take a second to thank all of you who donated money and toys in order to give out prizes to the kids. Today a bunch of kids said verses and were recipients of all sorts of awesome toys from the United States! Check out the pictures below and be sure to check back tomorrow to hear about another exciting day of VBS!

Vacation Bible School: Take 2

     Action! That is what today was! We had another great VBS today! It is so much fun to be with all of the kids. It makes me feel like a little kid all over again. Today was about getting rid of your extra baggage. It is hard to run in a race when you have a huge suitcase or bags full of junk. To illustrate this Mrs. Duarte used one of my huge suitcases I brought down here to Brazil and showed how hard it is to walk with the extra weight let alone run!

     The Bible story was about Lot and the destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah. I was amazed yet again today as the kids sat their captivated as Mrs. Duarte told the story. We had 68 kids today not including little kids or adults! God has been good and is blessing our VBS. Check out the pictures below, and to see all the pictures click on the link to view the album they are in!

     Continue to pray for our VBS and my final days here in Brazil. On Saturday I will be taking off from Cuiaba at 12:15 in the afternoon and will arrive in Washington exactly 24 hours later and 12:15 PM on Sunday (If everything runs on time). I will definitely miss Brazil and hope that I will be able to come back one day, if not as a missionary, at least to help out the Duartes! God has been good, and we are all looking forward to His continued working this week!

Vacation Bible School: Day 1

     We had an awesome first day of VBS! There were a little over 60 kids in attendance (Not including adults just the kids). We had an awesome time singing fun songs (Several that are from Patch the Pirates CD Mt. Zion Marathon). Jeremy was in charge of leading the songs and I had the opportunity to play the piano. We also had puppets, worksheets/ coloring sheets, snacks, and most importantly a Bible story.

     It was amazing to me how quiet all of the kids were during the Bible story! We did not have one problem. They all sat captivated by the story of Jesus healing the blind man. At the end they all got a snack (The picture of it is below) It is sugar and egg white beat together and then it becomes hard. I personally did not like it, but the kids seemed to love it. All in all it was a good day. I am tired now and ready for some sleep, but am also excited about waking up in the morning and doing it all over again!

 

VBS Day 1 Pictures

Below is a link to the pictures I took today of the VBS! Enjoy!!

CLICK HERE FOR VBS PICTURES

On Your Marks, Get Set, GO!

     We are all geared up and ready to go for Vacation Bible School 2011 here in Cuiaba! Our theme for VBS is “Run The Race of Life” taken from Hebrews 12:1-2. This morning we worked on decorating the church with colored fabric, balloons, and lots of creativity!  Jeremy Lockhart, Omar Schrock and William Mendes went to the local schools last week and invited kids to come to the VBS. Around 200 kids said they were coming so we could be in for an interesting and fun week! I will take some pictures today before it starts and post them on Facebook. Even if you are not on Facebook I will post a link so you can still view the pictures. We are praying that lots of kids will come, but more importantly that they will come to know our Savior Jesus Christ and through the kids we will be able to reach their entire family! We are expecting God to do great things this week, and know that He will!

    Yesterday morning in Sunday School Mrs. Duarte went around the class and asked everybody to give their salvation testimony, however there were four kids who said that they were not saved. Mrs. Duarte addressed it for a couple moments then we went on with the class. After Sunday school was over all four kids came running up to Mrs. Duarte and said, “We need to get saved!” She was able to sit down and talk to them all and they were gloriously saved!

     Well, this is all I have time to write now. VBS begins at 3 PM so I have to start getting ready for that. I will write an update on how the first day went as well as lots of pictures I am sure! Thanks for praying!

God is Good

                                                                                                           Today we have been out shopping for VBS and doing some other odds and ends. We got to go to the Cuiaba fish museum this morning and see all of the fish that are native to the Cuiaba river! It is amazing how many different kinds of fish there are just in one river! God’s creation sure is awe inspiring!

It is amazing to see how God chooses to use us in His service! It is awesome and yet humbling to realize that God DOES NOT need us, but has chosen to use us in His perfect plan! It has been exciting the last several weeks to see how God has been working in the church! As you may recall from a post a week ago I told you about a lady named Fatima who accepted the Lord as her Savior after a Sunday evening service, and it is obvious the Lord has been working in her life! Two weeks ago she asked to have the Saturday evening service at her house (The Duartes try to have the Sat. evening service in different peoples homes to try and make it more of a family time/ Bible Study). The following pictures were all taken the night we held the service at her house!

                                                                                                            It is also very exciting to see the concern she has for her family. She has been praying for her husband to come to know the Lord ever since she got saved! She did not just stop there but asked Pastor Duarte to come by the house and visit him! The first time Pastor Duarte and I went over he could barely sit up and was obviously drunk. He has had a chronic drinking problem for years which has caused his liver to start shutting down. It was not the best visit, but we were able to read some verses to him and pray with him. Last Saturday we went by again, and I thought we were talking to a completely different person! He was sober, and stood outside and talked to us about the Bible and promised that he would come to church! Needless to say Mr. Duarte and I were excited to see how the Lord was working in his life!

     This past Sunday evening Fatima, her daughter, her grandson, and HER HUSBAND, were all in church! Praise the Lord! This was the second week in a row that her daughter has been to church! At the end of the service Fatima’s husband made a profession of faith! God still is answering prayers!

     I thing that I have come to greatly admire about the Duartes is not only their concern to see people saved, but also keeping with the people through a thorough discipleship program. I believe that many churches and people fall short in the area of discipleship. Many people see thousand of people saved in a year, but those people never shadow the door of a church and never truly grow in the Lord. Some people would argue as to the genuiness of such conversions, but I believe that is between them and God. It can be said however, it is our duty not only to win souls but to teach and train them to go out and win others! How much more productive it is if we can train others to help in the cause of Christ! Just a thought not a message. Fatima has begun her comprehensive discipleship with Mrs. Duarte, and Mr. Duarte will be following up very soon to start the discipleship program with her husband!

     Please continue to pray for VBS coming up on Monday! We now have the banners ready to go up and posters have been put up all over Pedra! Exciting to see what God is going to do this coming week!

An Awesome Friday!

Today was a great day! I want to start this post on a light note with my random picture of the day! As you drive around Cuiaba you will likely find tons of places where they will wash your car (Inside and out). Many of them try to come up with unique names while others just go with a safe name like “car wash” (Very creative huh?) Today, however, we passed by a car wash called “Bob Esponja” (Sponge Bob for you English speakers). They had a picture of him up there and everything. When I saw it I just had to laugh.
     All right moving right along. . . This morning I had the opportunity to see how a Brazilian medical office works. IT is very different than the USA but at the end of the day they can do the same things as any other doctor. The doctors office is not there only to treat your ailments, but also to help teach you patience! If you ask anybody from Brazil though, nothing gets done fast. Everything takes time, so plan ahead!
     We finished the day off by going to my favorite feira (Market) a couple Bairrous over. We ate Churros, Pastels, and even drank a coke! Yummy! This is another great place to go out and see the Brazilian culture at its finest. There are many vendors that come to sell their fresh veggies or fish that they caught that morning. There are also many ladies there who make jewelry, rugs, towels etc.
     VBS is less than a week away!! We are all getting excited! Posters are being put up around Pedra, children are being invited, and preparations are being finalized! The t-shirts should be done early next week, and the big banners to go across the road should be done on Monday! It is going to be an awesome week, and a great way to end my internship here in Cuiaba! With the Lord’s help we are praying that many children will come and hear the Gospel, and as a result of them coming we will be able to get their parents into church! We appreciate your continued prayers!