People Get Ready...there's a Bus a coming!

The time is quickly approaching for our high school mission trip to New Orleans, LA.  I am so excited about the opportunities God will be presenting to us.

We leave Saturday (July 13th) between 6-6:30AM.  Please keep us in prayer as we travel.  We have chartered a bus and will be stopping in Birmingham, AL for the night.

I encourage you to follow the blog through out the week.  We will be posting about what God is doing in and through us.  Thank you so much for your encouragement and prayers!

Pressing On,

Dale

I thought that RN stood for “Real Nurse!

So Ashley wins the blog title for today. I think it’s pretty self-explanatory. I will take some time later to share some of the “honorable mention” quotes later.

So today we are home. We had a long, long travel day yesterday and after nearly of 14 hours of travel we landed in Dayton. We had a fairly long check in process in Port au Prince, but without any issue we made it. We landed early in Newark…which was a great thing because our connection time was going to be very short. We hustled to customs/immigration a little worried about the time. There have been many times that the line to get back into the States has been close to 2 hours long. And we had about that much time to make the connection. We arrived in that area to see that it was empty! Lots of prayers were answered. We blew through that, took that train to a different terminal, and went through security all with time to spare. When we arrived at the gate we were told that the flight was delayed. God answered our prayers that we would make it. We didn’t ask that it would be late. But we are grateful! Our flight that was to leave for Dayton was originally scheduled to leave at 8:29PM…we took off after 10PM. We arrived in Dayton around 11:30PM and were greeted by A LOT of loving friends and family. It was a beautiful sight!

So back to Haiti. There are a few days to make up. Soooo here goes.

TUESDAY

Monday after debrief I was going over the message I was preaching on Tuesday evening and the Lord moved me to do something else. I’ll get there in a few paragraphs.

The group left Tuesday morning at 7:30AM. Having one day under the belt, things moved a little smoother. We had just under 200 kids on day one and more and more kids came each day. There were kids not registered trying to sneak in. We weren’t trying to keep anyone away, but we had to have an order to what we were doing. I would venture to say that each day for the rest of the week we had well over 200 kids. The 5-6 yrs old group had about 70 kids. It was crazy…but awesome!

In the afternoon, we held the purity study with a group of students and the remaining part of our team went out on a prayer walk and others spent time hanging out and playing with village kids. Our time with the students in the purity team was really good. We were a few short during this time. Many of the teens were off taking a government test on Tuesday and Wednesday. But the time was great.

Around 5PM the sound system arrived for our evening worship service. Stephen had some guys in the area build a stage off the front of the clinic. That was a huge blessing. The stage overlooked the field that the recreation team was using. When the sound was ready to go we began blasting some Christian rap music. Music is huge in this community. And we found out that the large majority of the population loves rap. It may not be everyone’s style, but we were there for them. And if they liked it, we played it! One of the things that Stephen had mentioned is that these people like the “bad” kind of rap. In the last several years the Lord has used some great men of God to create some great music. The lyrics are Biblically centered and the music has a great beat. The music drew the people in.

Once the people came we were ready to go. There were about 300-400 people in the area. Some sat right in front. Others toward the sides and back. And then there were others who stayed out in the street and near their homes. A friend of Stephen’s named Maestro led a few songs as we kicked off. After he led, I went up to preach. This would be the first time that I have preached using an interpreter. As I said earlier, the Lord moved me to change the direction I was going to go. He led me to preach on the woman at the well. There is one well in this village. And I believe that people in this community could relate to what took place there, especially the woman. Woman are not looked at in a great way in this area. And I pray God used that story and the message to press on hearts that night.

We wrapped up the evening and loaded up on the bus. We headed to the hotel and had dinner. We ended with a share time of the day. It was awesome to hear how God was moving and using our students during the day.

I will add Wednesday through Friday soon!
 
Dale

The tan I thought I had is washing off!

Today’s blog title comes from Hannah, and it’s one that has been repeated over and over.

With all of the work that we are doing in the village, things are a little dusty and dirty. Let me rephrase that. Things ARE really dusty and dirty! So every day we return to the hotel and get cleaned up and ready for dinner. On one occasion a day or so ago, the girls in Hannah’s room were able to capture this quote. Obviously, the dirt that accumulates on the skin during the day resembles a nice tan. Upon taking a shower, one is merely dirty. After serving today, my tan washed off too.

Yesterday (Sunday) was a great day. We were able to attend 2 different services. The first service was a Haitian service. Although we could not understand what was being sung or said, it was a tremendous blessing. There was so much dancing…what? Dancing?!?! Yes dancing! As King David said, “I will become even more undignified than this!” I was in that boat. I let my inner-Haitian come out. My dancing was for the Lord and no one else! One of our translators, Jonas, said, “I worship God with all of my heart, soul, mind, strength, and especially my body!” There is quite a release when doing so. It reminded me of our time in Malawi last summer. God did allow one of the musicians to sing a song in English for us. It was, “This is the Air I Breathe.” It was great to sing with him and our team.

We had to leave service early in order to get to the missionary church. We were in the Haitian church for over an hour and a half and they hadn’t even got to the message. And nobody was worried about time. They were blessed to be in the house of the Lord. Such an amazing testimony and a lesson we all could learn.

At the missionary church, the music was led by Stephen and Autumn. They did some very familiar worship music. They included some of our team members to read Scripture and pray. The sermon was led by a missionary here. He focused on our hearts and how we handle circumstances in our lives.

We returned to Stephen and Autumn’s home to eat lunch. This was the first time the team had been there. God has provided them a great space. All of us were able to spread out and relax a bit. We return to the hotel for some free time. Sunday was our free day. Some went fishing in the Caribbean, other snorkeled, some swam in the pool, and others just rested and grabbed a nap…I was in that group.

We had dinner and spent a small amount of time debriefing about our day.

Today (Monday) was a long, but awesome day! Today we began doing VBS in the fishing village. We left the hotel about 7:30AM and arrived at the village shortly after. We set up our areas and started to receive the children into the school yard. The rec team headed to the open space next to the school and began to play with some of the kids. It was cool to watch those who made a connection on Friday pick up where they left off. At about 9:15AM we had most of the kids in their first station. We had a total of around 180 kids (5yrs-12yrs). We broke them up by ages. We had four different stations…Bible story, music, crafts, and recreation. Each group had no less than 40 kids. VBS lasted until around 12:45PM. Once we ended we served all of the kids, translators, and mission team rice and beans.

Once lunch was over we released the kids out of the school yard. The afternoon looked different than the morning. We are doing a four day session of walking teens and young adults through God’s standard of purity. Sexual immorality runs rampant in Haiti…much like many places in the world. So we are having the opportunity to pour into these students. While many of us teach and share, the remaining team members were playing with kids and prayer walking. This lasted for about 3 hours. There were so many questions about God, Jesus, Heaven and Hell, and even the tribulation following our time with them. Tomorrow we do this all again! Praise God!

Tomorrow we also have the first of our 2 revival/worship services. We are expecting hundreds of people. One of the locals will be having a Christian concert and worship music. Some from our team will share their testimonies. And I have the opportunity of preaching. Please pray that the Holy Spirit falls on the village and that many will come to know Him!

Well, I’m off to dinner. After dinner we will spend some time talking about our day. I’m sure many will be ready to sleep. Pray for rest. Pray for those not feeling the best, that God would give them strength (nothing major, so don’t worry). Pray that there would be continued unity among our team (it has been awesome thus far), and pray for a great day tomorrow. God is so good and we are so grateful to be serving here in Haiti.

Pressing On,

Dale

What Village?

So one of the things about our mission trips is that students…and adults say things that everyone tends to find funny. Yesterday was no exception. And every night of our trip we have a debrief time where we get together and share about what God has done throughout the day. I ask questions like, “what was your highlight?” “What was the hardest part?” “How did you see God work?” “How was your faith tested?” “What did God teach you?” “Who did you appreciate today?” and the final one, “Did anyone say anything quote-worthy today?”

I tend to use the “quote of the day” as blog titles. It is an inside joke that I can share with our family and friends. I have already heard some myself today. Well today’s quote comes from one of our students named Amy. Last night, as we were beginning our time together, I asked how their day in the village was. Amy turned to some of the other students and asked, “What village?” Now we were only in one today…and Amy was with us. It did make the top “quote of the day.”

So this morning we awoke, spent time with God, and then headed to New Vision Ministry. This is the mission/orphanage that Stephen and Autumn serve. We arrived shortly after 9AM. We were able to intro all of the kids in the orphanage to our team and Autumn shared a little of their stories of how they arrived at the orphanage. When Christa and I came in November, we were able to spend a lot of time with these kids. They are precious and many of their stories will break your heart. In some cases these kids were left at the mission because their parents did not want them or could not take care of them. Some kids had parents who died and others were just neglected or abandoned. 2+ years ago God gripped my heart towards my response to orphans. I knew that I had been adopted into His family as a result of Him saving me. But I never really thought that I could love a child the way I love Tyler and Taylor. But at a conference in Atlanta in October of 2009, God spoke directly to my heart and told me that I was to bring a child (or children) into my family by way of adoption. He told me that He has created a child just for our family. This was something that He revealed to Christa several years ago, but I wanted nothing to do with it then. Last November, God revealed to us that we would be adopting from Haiti. And perhaps it will be from the orphanage in which we have served in today.

One thing that is difficult is not knowing which child has been created for our family. Christa and I have felt a connection with a few kids in the orphanage and we have been praying hard for God to move. Our US home study is nearly complete and once we have approval it will move to the Haitian side of things. That is where things will be more difficult and we have no idea how long the process will take.  Christa and I will be creating another blog soon to keep you up-to-date on the process.

So back to our work there today. The mission houses 12 children. The youngest is almost 3 and the oldest is 18. All of these kids had so much attention today. Being that there is 35 of us, we were able to pour so much into these precious kids. They are full of energy and play hard. The girls love to be pampered. Painting nails and doing hair was fun to watch…even some of our guys left with braids. The boys in the orphanage play, and play, and play. They wore us out. We were able to share Jesus and pour so much love into these children that God created.

We arrived back at the hotel a few moments ago. All of our VBS teams (Teaching, Music, Crafts, and Rec) are all working with their translators preparing for Monday. We want to be sure that the translators understand what we are planning to do and be confident to communicate God’s Word. Once they are all finished we will have some down time. They will be able to hang out and get ready for dinner.

Tomorrow we get to go to 2 different church services. The early service is the Haitian Church and the second on is the American missionary church. I am so excited to worship with our Haitian brothers and sisters.

Please continue to pray! We need it. Today was incredibly hot. We have had a few students and adults become light headed. I thank God that we have 3 nurses on our team. God truly has blessed us. Everyone is seems to be feeling better now. Just pray that we are able to push through and that God would protect each one of us. Also pray for our time tomorrow as we do church a little differently than we are used too. And begin to pray for Monday-Thursday…those are the day we go back into the village to do VBS, train teens in God’s standard of purity, and have 2 worship gatherings for the entire village. I have the great opportunity to preach at both of those gatherings. May the Name of Jesus be lifted high and that He would draw people to Himself!

We love you all!

Pressing On,

Dale

Sak Pase’ (What’s up?)

Wow! What a day. God is absolutely amazing…but many of you reading this already know that. First off, we were all able to get a really good night’s rest leading up to today. We were all moving around by about 7AM. We were able to eat a little and get ready for our day.

I want to share this with you as we begin this blog. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. And the village we are in is an incredibly poor village. Those who fish are looked down upon in this society. It is a trade/skill that is not respected. That being said, we are working with “the least of these.”

At 8AM, we prayed over our day, loaded the bus, and headed to the fishing village. We spent the first part of our time there praying. We prayed over the Fish House (a house where Stephen and Autumn lead Bible studies and base much of their ministry out of). We prayed that it would be a lighthouse…a place of hope. We prayed for our translators Wesner, Franz, Colas, Naygo, Jonas, Baz, Simeon, Paul, and Kevins. We ask that as you pray for us, you pray for them. Pray that the message that we have been given to share would translate to the children, teens and adults in a mighty way.

We walked to the school and prayed over it and the Headmaster, Carrenard. We broke up into VBS teams and spent time praying over the space that each would use this next week. We then sent the students, adults and translators out to talk with people in the village, share the Gospel, and pray over their needs, both physical and spiritual.

Once we walked through the village, we had some lunch and played with kids in the village. There were a ton of kids! It was exciting to see such joy. I was reminded of the passage in Luke 18 when Jesus scolded the disciples and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” The children were coming from everywhere and were soaking in the love and attention of our team. It was awesome to watch!

After about 6 hours of praying, sharing, and playing we walked back to the Fish House. We were able to spend time with many of the ladies that Stephen and Autumn pour into. These women are relatively new believers. They have incredible struggles and are learning what it means to follow Jesus. I met most of these women when Christa and I came to Haiti in November of 2011. There is a change taking place in them. They are growing. It is awesome to see Matthew 28:19-20 being acted out. Stephen and Autumn are making disciples. Not just leaving these women to figure out this life on their own. We celebrated with them today. Many of our team members shared their story of how Christ has changed them and how He is working in their lives. And then many of them told stories of how God saved them and how they are learning to live like He desires. In November, these women would not share with Christa or I because of nerves. Today they professed Jesus boldly with nearly 50 people in their presence. Great things are happening!

We arrived back at the hotel around 3:15PM. As I am writing and working on some other things, our 4 VBS teams are continuing to prepare for what will take place Monday through Thursday. Seeing many of the faces they will see on Monday has given them a fire to be sure to be ready. They do not want to miss opportunities to share Christ the best they can.

In a little while we will get ready for dinner and then have our team share time. I’m sure that many stories will be told and that Jesus will be honored and glorified. I will be sure to update after hearing testimonies tonight.

Tomorrow we spend the day at the orphanage. It is the mission that Stephen and Autumn serve. It is the orphanage where Christa and I are praying about adopting through.

We love being in Haiti. We are excited for this opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus. We covet your prayers and ask that you continue to lift us up so that Jesus may be praised!



Pressing On,

Dale

Lots, Lots, LOTS Going On!


I know that it has been WAY too long since I last blogged. My life in the last several weeks has been so incredibly busy. But I wanted to take some time and bring you up to speed on what has been going on…and what’s to come.

Over the last month we have seen some really cool things take place at IMPACT. About a month ago was our Morphis weekend. The theme was “Rooted” and Justin Hanneken did an amazing job bringing the Word and the guys of Fever Fever led us to worship our Great God. The weekend was one of the best weekend retreats I’ve been a part of. There were many challenges issued throughout the weekend and we are asking the Lord to continue to move. If you were a part of Morphis…THANK YOU! Whether you were a student who took part in the weekend, a parent who allowed your student to come, an adult who came and served with us, you opened your home, or you spent time praying. THANK YOU.

We have also been getting prepared for our trip to Haiti. In a month and a week, 25 high school students and 10 adults will be serving alongside of FBCV missionaries, Stephen and Autumn Byxbe. We will be leading a 4 day VBS for children ages 5-12 in a local fishing village. We will also be working with Haitian teens and teaching them about how God has called us to be holy and to honor Him with our purity. We will lead 2 revival/worship services in the village. We will also be spending time with children in the orphanage that the Byxbe’s serve in. There is still so much to do as we prepare for this mission. Please continue to pray for us!

On a not-so-side note, there is a great opportunity for you to encourage those on the team. You can write an encouragement note/card to members of the team. Turn in your cards with the team members name on the envelope at the Haiti Missions table in the foyer no later than Sunday, June 24. There are 35 team members and we will be having “mail call” each of the 9 days we are in Haiti. If you have any questions please contact Christa Puckett 937-424-7675/ythwife@yahoo.com. Christa has led the charge in this endeavor for many of our trips and it is amazing to watch students faces light up when they get that special word of encouragement and to know someone is praying for them.

Yesterday was an exciting day as well. We had the opportunity to honor our high school seniors. They are a great group of young adults and I am excited to see how God will be using them in their next stage of life.

There are also some things I want you to be aware of.

This Sunday (May 27) is the last day to get your student registered for our Youth Summer camp at Seneca Lake. The deposit is $50 and the total cost is $160. Camp is July 16-20.

Last summer we gave our middle school students a chance to go on mission too. The dates and registration for MX78 (Mission Experience for 7th/8th Graders) will released in the next week. Be on the lookout for more information.

We are looking to re-schedule a summer picnic that was scheduled for June 2nd. We want to ensure that we can have it at a time that doesn’t conflict with grad parties or weddings. So once we get a date, we will let you know.

For Wednesday nights…Wednesday, May 30th will be our last Wednesday night Bible study until the fall. With everything we have going on during the summer, we are unable to be consistent on Wednesday nights. We may look to schedule Bible studies now and again during the summer. Once we have some dates in place we will let you know.

Keep praying for our ministry.

Pressing On,

Dale

It’s Monday!

Today has been an interesting day. It’s like our weather is a little bi-polar and can’t figure out what it wants to do. This weekend was beautiful and today starts off rainy and gloomy. However, the rain and clouds cannot foil my excitement from the last week and a half! God is so good!

 

I first just want to share about Morphis 2012. Morphis is a discipleship weekend for the IMPACT Student Ministries right here at FBCV. It is a weekend packed full of worship and Bible study. Yesterday opened our first day of registration for Morphis. Our theme this year is “ROOTED.” In Isaiah 61, the prophet is sharing what God has called him to do. He is doing all of these things so that God’s people will be "oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that HE may be glorified." That is what this weekend is about…preparing students to be oaks of righteousness, bringing glory to God.

 

The cost for Morphis is $40. Our speaker this year is Justin Hanneken, who is an incredible friend, and brother who desires to see students raised up and fulfilling the Will of God. Our worship will be led by the band Fever Fever. The lead singer for the band was in my first youth group a long time ago. They have a passion for music, ministry and missions. I believe that it will be an awesome weekend!  You can see our promo/teaser here - http://vimeo.com/37994941

 

You can get registered in the Hangar, in the main foyer, or by seeing me.

 

I also have some needs when it comes to the following areas: Offering to be a host home for a group of 6-8 students and 1 adult leader (we provide most of the food for them and can help with transporting them to and from your home), transportation throughout the weekend, and food prep. Please let me know if you are willing to help!

  

So what else has me pumped? Well in the last week I was able to take 30 students and adults to a conference called “Dare2Share.” It was incredible! During the weekend the folks from D2S were able to pour into us and share with us some great techniques for sharing the Gospel. They used the acronym GOSPEL in such a cool way. They shortened it so that students could grasp it.

 

GOD. OUR. SINS. PAYING. EVERYONE. LIFE.

 

• GOD created us to be with Him.
• OUR sins separate us from God.
• SINS cannot be removed by good deeds.
• PAYING the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again.
• EVERYONE who trusts in Him and Him alone will have eternal life.
• LIFE with Jesus starts now and lasts forever!

 

They gave time for students to text and call friends with this Good News! Many of them were incredibly nervous, but they were able to start some cool conversations with friends. Keep praying that God continues to use them as they share with their friends.

 

Our Sunday night message series has continued in the Fruit of the Spirit. Last night I talked through Goodness. I’m hoping that the audio will be up today or tomorrow at the latest. I’ll send a link once it is.

 

Here are some of the main points from last night’s message.

 

1. Goodness is doing the right thing for the right reason.

 

2. Jesus is our example of Goodness

 

• He was tempted to be selfish, to compromise, and to win popularity, but He ultimately chose goodness because He knew the Will of the Father.

 

3. Ways to Display Goodness

• By being FORGIVING
• By living a life of PURITY
• By being GRACIOUS
• By showing GENEROUSITY

 

Take time to listen and have conversations with your students about what they’ve learned!

 

Thanks for your prayers! I am so thankful that the Lord has called us here to serve. If there is anything that Christa and I can do, or ways to pray, please let us know!

 

Pressing On,

 

Dale

 

A Really Good Week

So I’m excited about some of the things that took place this week. One of the things we do to begin our Tuesday morning staff meetings is share our “wins” from the last week. I had a few to share. So I want to share with you today.

Our Sunday morning went really well. I was a little concerned with how the Sunday School lesson would go. Remember that 2 weeks ago I talked about how the Bible was put together – the canonization of Scripture. I knew that it would be a little on the lecture side (which I try to steer from), but it’s so important for us as Christians to know how we got the Bible.

Well this week I talked about how we can know the Bible is reliable. Not only do we need to know how we got the Bible, but we also need to know that the Bible is reliable. Faith is definitely part of that, but we also have some incredibly valid facts to draw from. We have 3 ways to know that the Word is truth. We have Fulfilled Prophesy, Archeological Support, and Historical Evidence. All 3 provide ways that we as Christians can defend our faith (Apologetics). I will create a copy of what I talked about so that you can have it too. I really think it’s so important.

My win from that is hearing the excitement many of students had toward the lesson. Some were really struggling with how to know for sure that the Bible is reliable. God answered them! Huge win!

Sunday night was great as well. We continued the series on the Fruit of the Spirit. This week we focused on Peace. Please take some time to listen to what your students are hearing - http://www.fbcvandalia.net/media.php?pageID=44

This Sunday night we will be looking at Patience.

On Tuesday morning I had the great opportunity to go to Bethel HS and lead the morning devotion for a group of students. There were about 15 in attendance. The focus that morning was on “Where is God in Your Life?” I asked them if God was the main priority in their lives. Many people say that God is number 1, my family is 2, my church is 3, my job is 4…etc. But ultimately when we live that way we tend to put everything in its own box. And sure we may spend time with God, but He is soon forgotten. Instead, God must be in everything and every area of our lives. So instead of God AND my family, job, school…make it God IN my family, job, school. Spending time there was a great encouragement to me. I got a chance to meet some new students and give them encouragement too. It was a great morning.

I want to continue to encourage you to ask your students questions about what they are learning. I am beginning to do that with Tyler and it’s important to talk a little deeper about what’s going on.

Just a reminder that this Sunday morning is “United We Worship” at Butler HS Student Activity Center starting at 10AM. I am really excited about worshipping together under one roof at one time. Come prepared to worship our great God together! (We will not have any Sunday morning Small Groups/Bible Study for Students or Adults. However, Sunday night is on as usual) It’s also WOW Sunday. The offering we take up on Sunday will go to help those going on mission this year. Ask the Lord to reveal to you what you are to bring this Sunday!

We also need a little more help with transporting and setting up staging for this weekend. If you are available please show up in the main building/sanctuary at 1PM on Saturday. The load up will begin and then the setup will happen about 3PM in the SAC. I hope you can help!

Thanks again for your prayers! Continue to pray for all of leaders in our ministry! And remember that the Hangar is open on Sunday and Wednesday nights for you to come and pray!
Pressing On,

Dale

How are we today?

“Today has been a pretty good day so far! Thanks for asking.” I know that the day is still pretty young, but it’s already been good. I’ve felt love from my family, have spent time in the Word, and had a pretty in depth conversation with a student about how I interpret a portion of Scripture out of the book of Hebrews…good start!


So let me bring you up to speed over the last week or so…

Three Sunday’s ago, Pastor David preached in our IMPACT service. He did a great job challenging students to step it up and be an example for the Lord. His message was uploaded to our server so that it could be posted for you all to hear… Unfortunately, it’s now nowhere to be found. :/ If we do stumble upon it, we will let you know and upload it for you to listen to.

Two Sunday’s ago was Super Bowl Sunday. During the morning Bible study, we watched a sermon from Francis Chan called, “The Biggest Lie in Your Life” If you have a chance, please watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5ILptT_CRo.  He talks about the fact that there are Christians who think they are something they’re not. He refers to Revelation 3:1. “I know your works. You have this reputation for being alive, but you are dead.” Tough words from Jesus to the church of Sardis…but equally challenging to us as well. How many of us have this reputation for being alive, but on the inside we are spiritually dead? We may have the ability to make others think we are better than what we are. We can put on a good show when we are at church, in small group, even hanging out with church people, but on the inside there is nothing in us that looks like Christ. He asked the question, “Are you more concerned with your reputation than with your character?” “Are you more concerned with stuff or with Christ?” In Philippians 3, Paul says that he wants nothing more than to become like Christ. Nothing else matters. He counted everything else as a loss. It is a challenge every one of us needs. To be asked those difficult questions…and to respond honestly. So what are you pursuing? Stuff or Christ.

That night we had a focused time of prayer. We had a number of students who were attending Super Bowl gatherings, so I did not want to jump right back into the Fruit of the Spirit series and have many of our students miss. The time of prayer was awesome. We had students and adults pray and we had a great time worshipping our Great God!

This past Sunday was a great Sunday as well. In the morning Bible study we looked at how we got the Bible. I was able to ask some questions about the Bible and then go into a direction of how the books were chosen…a little history in the canonization of Scripture. It was fun. Did you know that the Bible was written over a period of 1500-2000 years by roughly 40 writers? It’s important for us to know the history of the Word. If we are going to defend our faith in Christ, we must know how the Book was put together. I also provided a handout of authors, themes, and dates of each book. We still have some of those handouts available, or if you would like, I can email it to you. Just let me know. This coming week are going to look at how we know the Bible is true.

Sunday night we jumped back into the Fruit series. We look at the Fruit of Joy. We had a great time of worship and then teaching. I was able to share that Joy is different than happiness. Many times we confuse the two.

Here is my intro the message…the audio should be up today.

The Greek word for 'joy' is chara. Chara comes from the word charis. And charis is the Greek word for 'grace.' This is important to note, for chara (joy) is produced by the charis (grace) of God. This means 'joy' is not a human-based happiness that comes and goes but, rather, true 'joy' is divine in its origin. You see happiness comes and goes based on feelings. But joy is a Spirit-given expression that flourishes best in hard times. Paul talks about this in 1 Thessalonians 1:6. You see, the Thessalonians were under great stress due to persecution; but in the midst of it all, they continued to experience great joy. The Greek strongly implies that their supernatural joy was due to the Holy Spirit working in them. Paul even called it the "joy of the Holy Ghost".

You see, joy stands even in the times of trials and difficulty. Why? Because Joy comes from God’s grace. He provides us with the ability to be joyful in those hard moments. Happiness goes away. It’s based on our feelings. I can be joyful without being happy.

Take time this week to listen to the rest of the message.

It’s been a good couple of weeks. I’m excited about where we are and where the Lord is taking us. Keep praying for the leadership in our ministry. We are seeking to do what the Lord is calling us too, and we ask that you continue to lift us up!

Here are a couple of things to be aware of…

• This Friday night we are having a Board Game Night in the church fellowship hall. The time will be 6:30-9:30PM. Students and leaders are to bring their favorite table/board game, as well as a snack to share and something to drink. There is no other cost. Let them come and hang out with us.

• Sunday is the deadline to register and pay for Dare 2 Share. D2S is a conference that trains students to share the Gospel. The cost is $45 + 3 meals. The conference is March 2-3 at Hara Arena. We will be sleeping at the church on that Friday night. Once they are registered they will need to fill out a waiver and I will be providing a list of what to bring and not bring. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks for trusting us with your student!

Pressing On,

Dale

Where did this week go?

So title for this week says it all.  I'm wondering where this week went.  Well, I kind of know...but that doesn't make it any easier.

This week started off really busy and ended with me battling being sick. There were a few meetings on Monday, one at Butler HS that had some great results.  I am loving the partnership with them over the last year and am excited for what's to come.

The rest of the week...well that's another story.  I started to get sick on Tuesday...which I found out on Friday that I have bronchitis.  It's not been fun.  However, it's one of the main reasons for the delay in this blog post.

Last Sunday night was a great night of worship.  The students were singing praise to God with everything.  There was such passion in their voices.  I am continuing to pray that this is genuine heartfelt worship to our great God.  Please pray with me!

The message Sunday night was brought from Pastor David.  He challenged our students to be an example to others in the way they speak, live, love, faith and in purity,  His challenge came from 1 Timothy 4:12.  It was great for our students to hear from our pastor.  We have a number of students who are coming on Sunday and Wednesday evenings, but not Sunday mornings.  I have strongly encouraged them to do so, so it was good to give them the chance to hear from David and to know that they have an important role in our church as a whole.  It was a great night and the message will be up soon.  I encourage you as parents to listen so you know how your student was challenged.  It'll also give you some talking points with your student.

This Sunday night will be a night of prayer.  I am not going to be jumping right back into the Fruits of the Spirit series.  I will restart that on 2/12.  I know that this week is the Super Bowl and that some of you are having small group gatherings and you are having your student stay with you.  I know that some students are gathering together too.  I really do not want them to miss out on our series and due to my illness as well, my prep time has been limited this week.  As I prayed through some things...talked with Christa and Zac, I made the decision to have a night of prayer.  We have a lot to pray about...and I'm excited to see where the Lord takes it.

Following our service, we will have the tv's in the cafe, college room and maybe another area with the big game on.  So if you and your student will be around, we can watch the game together.

Just as a reminder...the worship room will be open from 5:25-6PM on Sunday evening if you would like to come and pray.  It is open to all parents...or anyone who feels led to pray for our students and leaders.

Pressing On,
Dale

Monday Morning Scoop...and Hey! It's Monday!

So yesterday was another great day! We had a really good Bible study in the morning. We were able to talk about surrender sin. One of the phrases that Francis Chan talked about really stood out to many of our students. He it is:


“There are certain things God just says, “Look, I hate this, I don’t want you to do this, and as My created beings, as My creation, I know what is best for you and I want you away from this stuff. Get away from it because it’s going to destroy you.”

That’s a tough thing…but so true. God hates sin! And He knows what is best for us and what will destroy us. His desire for our lives is to be wrapped up in the things that please Him…and sin doesn’t do that. This session has really fit into where we have gone message-wise over the last few weeks. I was really glad with how the students picked apart Scripture and how they were able to tie it into where they are. If your student was in our time of Bible study yesterday morning, I encourage you to talk about sin, and how it gives birth to death.

Here are the passages we unpacked yesterday morning. They each had a key question to answer with it. And even if your student wasn’t in our class yesterday, I would encourage you to take some time and look at these passages and talk with them about it.

James 1:13-15 – How does sin give birth to death?

Psalms 1:1-2 – Why is it important to avoid hanging out with mockers, etc?

Romans 7:18-25 – How does Jesus rescue us from this cycle?

Ephesians 2:1-10; 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 – How are we defined in verse 3 and 10?

Another awesome thing happened in the life of one of our newer students. A young man came and talked with me at the end of the 11:15AM service and shared with me his need for Jesus. He has been coming for a few weeks and the Lord has been working on him. Yesterday he stepped into LIFE! Pray for him and our ministry as we work to disciple this young man.

Last night was a great night too! The time of music worship was incredible. It just seems like over the last few weeks the Spirit has been moving. Students were singing out so loud last night. They were so engaged and excited to be there.

I was able to begin a new series on the Fruits of the Spirit. Last week I talked about real versus fake fruit and really felt like the Lord wanted me to break down the fruit. So last night I was able to talk about how the Holy Spirit produces the fruit in our lives, but it’s our job to obey and show the fruit to others. Then we jumped into LOVE. It was really cool to watch God at work. The majority of the students were really engaged in the message. I was able to challenge them to love like Jesus. To show AGAPE love. That unconditional, self-sacrificing love that God has shown to us. Jesus tells us in Matthew that we are to love God with our heart, soul and mind and to love our neighbors as ourselves. This is how the world will know that we are HIS DISCIPLES.

I’m excited about the next several weeks. I want to encourage you to talk to your students about what the Lord said to them. How did he speak? And how did they respond?

Look at the fruit in your students this week. Give them encouragement when you see the fruit being shown…and encourage them to look for the fruit in your life.

The message should be online by tomorrow. I’ll pass along the link once it is.

Oh, and if you were a parent that was unable to make the meeting yesterday, I’ll send out some info about what we talked about later today or tomorrow. Christa and I are praying for you and your families. We love you!

Pressing On,

Dale

Monday Morning Scoop (on Wednesday)

Hey there!

I want to give you the Monday morning (or Wednesday afternoon) scoop. This week has been crazy. So many meetings and physical therapy for me has me a little behind. I want to be able to provide you with an update every Monday with the things going on in the IMPACT Student Ministries. It’s a way for you to know what is being taught to your students. ( I will also be putting together something for how our Wednesday nights go.  As our leaders report back to me, I'll toss some things out there.  You can read what we are doing on Wednesday nights at the bottom of this post.)

Sunday was Awesome! There is no other way to put it. In fact, it may have been the best response time since I’ve been Student Pastor at FBCV. God moved in an amazing way.

In our Bible study Sunday morning we began dealing with the topic of “Surrender.” Specifically: surrendering stuff. The study is broken down like this: 20 minute DVD with student testimonies and a mini-message from Francis Chan (author or Crazy Love and Forgotten God). If you’ve not heard of him or read his books, check him out…he is legit! After the video, we talked about how sometimes “things” in life get in the way of our relationship with God. It may be material possessions or wants. It may be relationships. It might be our extracurricular activities. Students were able to break up into groups of 5 or 6 and dig into the Word for answers regarding putting our trust in material things rather than God. Here are the passages we dug into: Matthew 6:19-21, 24-34; 1 Timothy 6:6-10, 17-19; Proverbs 30:7-9; Hebrews 13:5; Philippians 4:12-13.

It was there that I issued a challenge. I challenged them to the “Ten Word Challenge.” It’s a challenge to sum up the message of a passage, verse, or devotional (anything in there quiet time) in ten words (or less) over social media (Facebook or Twitter). I’ve seen so many of them posting theirs in the last 3 days. It is so awesome!!! I know for some it’s difficult to memorize scripture. This is a way that they can connect a verse or passage with ten words…so they remember the main point of it. Capturing the promise of God or the content is so important for us. We are more likely to remember what the Lord is teaching us through the passage when we break it down in this way. I am proud of so many of them!

On Sunday night the Lord continued to move. I had texted some youth pastor friends asking them to pray for our time together. God answered! (Unfortunately the digital recorder did not record any of the service. We will do our best to remedy that in the future)

Our time of musical worship was amazing! Chris and the band led us to the Throne and the students responded. They were singing out so loud and free. My heart melted at the sound of their voices…I can only imagine how the Lord felt.

As I took the stage to preach, I began with what I believe the Lord has been laying on my heart over the last month. I feel like the Lord has led me to the word “GROW” for 2012. In everything we do we should be seeking to grow closer to our Lord. However, in order to do that we need to identify the “shackles” in our lives that keeps us from growing. I told the story of how elephants are trained. When an elephant is young they shackle its leg and chain it to a sturdy tree. The young elephant is to small and is not strong enough to uproot the tree or break the chain. When they are older and full grown, the trainer is able to chain them to a stick in the ground and the elephant will not pull it loose. Mainly because the elephant believes that it is unable to uproot the stick or break free.

It’s those shackles in life that keep us from growing. We have believed the lie that we are not able to be set free from the bondage of the junk in our lives. As long as we believe that lie we will continue to be held down and ultimately not be able to grow.

I shared with them a number of passages about our sin. One in particular was Romans 6:1-2, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer.” We must not believe the lie. We must allow the Lord to break us out of bondage and live in Him. This is true freedom. This is how we grow.

During our time of response I encouraged students to ask the Lord to reveal to them their shackles. I had some paper and pens on the edge of the stage and called on them to identify their shackles and to write them down. I told them that these would be a matter of prayer for Christa and me. Out of the nearly 90 students in the room, 52 wrote down their shackles. God is good. It’s the acknowledgement of our struggles that help us grow. I encouraged them to share them with you. For many it’s tough. They feel like if I have to tell family it admits failure.

I want to encourage you as their parents to ask them about this. I want to encourage you to be able to express to them some areas that you struggle with…perhaps your own shackles. How much healing and growth can be had when we share openly the issues that we struggle with. Join us in acknowledging our struggles so that 2012 will be a year of growth!

I love serving as your Student Pastor and am praying for you as you lead your families!



Pressing On,

Dale

Oh, and tonight we are back to all of our Wednesday night discipleship.  There are a variety of classes that your student has the option of choosing.  There is of course True North and Awana serving.  However, there are also some other classes too.  Our high school girls are going through the book of Colossians.  They are using a book by Shelly Shellenbarger.  Our middle school girls are going through a book entitled, "Becoming a Young Woman of God."  Our high school guys are going through a study called "Fuel,"  it is a class that deals with some issues that students are dealing with and how to go to Scripture to answer the tough questions.  And our middle school guys are going through the "Becoming a Young Man of God."  The optional class is led by Chris Early, Christa and myself.  We are doing a study on the book of Hebrews.  It is a study that I have put together using some various resources.  It requires a little bit of homework (mainly journaling) and being sure to read a chapter a week. 

Well there you have it.

Finally rested...now bring on Africa

So it's been a few days since our arrival back into the States and I can finally say that I feel fairly rested up.  Sunday was a day.  We woke up and got all of our belongings ready to go.  We spent time with God and had our final meal...pancakes and bacon.  We were able to present Oscar and his team with a finacial gift for treating us so well while we at the center.

As we headed into our final time together, I stumbled upon a guitar and music folder and asked Timothy Kolker if he would play and help me lead worship with the group.  We made our way to our meeting room and spent about 30 minutes singing praise to our Lord.  It was so uplifting and a wonderful way to end our time in Nicaragua. 

Our bus arrived and we loaded and headed to the airport.  We were able to get throught ticketing and security without any major hiccups (only 2 without a seat assignment for our first flight, but it was quickly remedied).  The flight was delayed a little which led to some concern about getting through customs and security in Atlanta and the probability of missing our connection from ATL to DAY.  However, God was in complete control and we arrived with plenty of time to grab some food and load again for the final flight home.

We got to Dayton and had an awesome group awaiting our arrival!  It was a great reunion.

We all thank you for your prayers and encouragement!  God did a great thing in Nicaragua.  We were able to be the hands and feet of Jesus and proclaim the Good News to those that the Lord entrusted to us.  I am so thankful for the opportunity to take your students to serve in the Name of Jesus.

--On a personal note...Monday Christa and I had a great time together traveling to Knoxville and back to get the kids (having my daughter jump into my arms never gets old).  Tuesday I made a trip to the doctor to have my rash (allergic reaction) looked at, got a shot, and then our malaria meds for Africa, went to staff meeting, and then took Tyler to football camp.  Whew!

Today, I woke up late and sat on the couch and watched the Reds game.  A much needed time to recoup from our trip.  I feel pretty good now.

Tonight we meet one final time with our Africa team before we leave on Aug 1st.  I am so excited about this trip.  #1: I've never been to Africa.  #2:  I'm not in charge! haha.

Please keep our team of 13 in prayer.  Ask God for safety and for people to come to Him as His Name is proclaimed!

Pressing On,
Dale

Saturday

Today we are working a little and playing a little. We are cleaning all of the tools we used this week, picking up trash around the center, and just taking care of some things that typically go by the wayside. The rain is falling a little, but honestly, it’s keeping the temperature fairly cool.


I’ve spent the last couple of hours updating you of our week. Some of our groups are now getting their things packed and heading to the pool for a quick swim.

We’ll have lunch shortly and then spent the afternoon preparing for a cookout with another team that will be coming in this afternoon. They are from Arcanium, Ohio. We get to hang out and then make sure everyone is ready to go tomorrow.

So this afternoon some of the students and adults played and just hung out, while the rest of them swam and then played soccer in the rain. It was a great relaxing afternoon.

The cookout is coming soon. So we are getting ready for that now.

I’m hoping this gets posted tonight for you all to get brought up to speed.

It has definitely been one of my favorite trips. God showed up and moved in us. We saw people come to know the Lord and enter into a relationship with Him. The people are asking when we are coming again. We hope soon.

I’m going to close things out for now. Thank you again for all you have done to encourage us here. We love you!

Pressing On,

Dale

Friday

Well here we are. We are beginning a day that tells us that we are at the end of our trip. I’m not sure that I’ve done a trip like this without drama, discipline, and complaints. It has to be because God is honoring the prayers of the righteous! Gloria a Dios! (Glory to God).


The crews got right to work after quiet times and breakfast. Paint! Cliff! Baseball! Break!

I took Timothy and Taylor Kolker to go visit 3 of the kids the Kolker family collectively sponsors here in Managua. They live within 10 minutes of the center, so it was a great opportunity for them to connect. We spent about a total of about 30 minutes them. It was neat to be able to share the experience with the guys. The 3 kids are precious. I am thankful that it worked out.

We returned and allowed Dave and Jenna Jackson to go and visit a family as well. Earlier in the week they had set up with Bruce the opportunity to purchase 2 chickens, beans and rice for a family in need. They got to go and deliver all of the items (including the live chickens) to the family. From what they shared, it was a great experience.

As our teams began to wrap up their projects, they began to prepare for our last VBS time. We ate lunch and then we were off again.

We arrived at the church with smiling faces and laughter greeting us. It is such a great feeling to have little ones hanging all over you. I can just envision the little children climbing all over Jesus. I know why He chastised the disciples for telling the kids to stop. Not only do you have an opportunity to show love to the kids, but they show it back. I’m sure Jesus loved it as much as we did!

The teaching and music team brainstormed how to make things work better. Rather than have 4 rotations, we did 3. The music and teaching teams formed an alliance and did their rotations together. First music, then the story. It seemed to go much better.

As we were nearing the end of our time, I noticed students beginning to latch on to certain kids. Kids that they had found a strong bond with. We all came together at the end and we presented gifts to all of the leaders of the church who came out to help and learn from us. Then there was an older lady from the church that had made each of us a bookmark. She had spent the night before making this gift for us. It was so sweet. The pastor recognized each of us by name and they all gave us physical and spiritual hugs.

They then brought out a snack for us. Ham sandwiches and tea. We were about to go to dinner at a nice restaurant, but did not want to be rude, so we ate them… well most did. It was a kind gesture of their gratitude for coming to share with them.

We left church to go to place called La Finca. It was the place we were supposed to go on Sunday. It actually really nice to go last night. The evening was cool and beautiful. We ate out on the covered balcony and enjoyed our time together. There was a lot of laughter, a lot of eating, and all in all a great way to end an awesome day.

We arrived at the center and went straight to debrief. There were some very sad faces in the room. We have some students who feel called by God to go on mission and many of them were asking whether Nicaragua was the place. Others were talking about wanting to come back next year to serve. I love to see God move in the hearts of students. It is one of the things that brings me great joy.

I am so thankful for your prayers and contributions to get us here. Your sacrifice to give means that some of these students may surrender to full-time Christian ministry/missions. It also means that there are children here who may have heard the good news of Jesus for the very first time. God bless you for sending us to Nicaragua.

Pressing On,

Dale

Thursday

It was back to work beginning Thursday morning. After breakfast and our time with God, we broke up into our 3 teams once again. Painting team, cliff crew, and the newly titled baseball field crew (AKA – road crew). There are 2 baseball fields at the center. Our field crew had to work on the pitcher’s mound to add more dirt and then take care of the overgrown grass around home plate and each of the bases.


Once again the complaint department was closed…mainly because students are keeping their focus on the Lord and not circumstances or surroundings. The morning flew by. We broke for showers and lunch and then off to a new site for VBS. It was Iglesia Bautista – Cana de Galalia. (Canaan of Galilee Baptist Church). This is the mother church of the church plant we served at on Monday and Tuesday. It’s also the church that we worshipped at on Sunday.

Although it was bigger than the home we were in on Monday and Tuesday, it was much more difficult to do all of our groups at the same time. It was loud and hot. Very thin walls and ones that didn’t go to the ceiling created chaos at times. The teaching team struggled because they were right next to the craft team and the rec team, and the music team was just over the wall, so they couldn’t be too loud. It was a great day with about 50 kids, but flexibility became incredibly necessary!

As we were packing up, the rain began to fall. This time it was a monsoon. Combine the traffic nightmare that Managua has with the monsoon, our travel home was crazy. Water was flooding the streets. Large puddles seemed to become small ponds in a matter of minutes. People were walking everywhere. They were darting in and out of traffic like the game “Frogger.” Many of the motorcycles and some cars drive without tail lights. I’m not sure driving would be fun. I am so thankful for great bus drivers and for Bruce, who gets around without seeming stressed.

Everyone was pretty worn out at the end of the evening. After dinner we jumped right into our share time. It never fails…tonight we went for well over an hour just sharing about what happened at VBS. Incredible stories of God moving!

Tomorrow is our last VBS day. Many of the students are dreading it.

Pressing On,

Dale

Wednesday

Today is our free day. That doesn’t mean we got to sleep in. We were up and at it again fairly early. We ventured out from the center to go zip-lining. I had never been before, as was the case for many of our team members. We arrived at the base of a volcano to get suited up. Many were extremely nervous, while others were ready to go!


The place we went had a total of about 8-10 lines. It was so fun! I was a little nervous to begin with. I could hear the voice of Chris Farley saying, “Fat guy on a little wire!” on several occasions. The guides in broken English assured me that no one has ever been hurt there. I had to trust that they knew what they were doing. It was a lot like our trust in God. He is control of everything. We have to trust that He is going to be there every time we need Him. It may not always happen in our time, but His time is always perfect.

The zip-line was a blast. There were students and adults doing tricks (with the guides), like doing Super-Man and then there was a line that everyone could go upside down. Many did…although this guy did not. (Chris Farley was screaming at me).

We finished the last line on a high (or should I say low note). It was a looser line that the guides bounced us on. I’m sure that there will be some video floating around soon thanks to Bryon Black, so make sure you check it out.

We left the zip-line place and went to lunch. Where? Papa John’s of course! We got to sit in a private air conditioned room and enjoy some pizza.

After lunch we got to enjoy some shopping at one of the large open air markets. We were able to get some pretty neat things. There was a lot of negotiating going on to get better prices. The most popular items purchased. For the ladies it was probably jewelry. For the guys it had to be machetes.

As our shopping was coming to a close, the rain came again. We were able to get everyone loaded on the bus after some good ice cream treats and then back to center we go.

It may sound like a broken record, but we enjoyed dinner and our debrief time. Following our debrief time we let the students hang out and play cards and games for a while. Then it was off to bed with another full day ahead.

Pressing On,

Dale

Tuesday

So let me apologize a bit. This has been an incredibly busy week. I’m not apologizing for that, but what I am apologizing for is the lack of “blogging” that’s to come. Today is actually Saturday, July 16th. What does that mean? Well, if you have been reading the blog, you know that I’ve not updated for several days. We’ve been getting up about 7AM and are constantly on the go until 9-10PM at night. That does not leave a lot of time to blog. So my plan today while the students do some cleaning up around the center is to catch you up a bit on what has been happening this week. The days tend to run together a bit, so forgive me if all of my thoughts aren’t clear.


So Tuesday we got up and spent time doing our devotions and then went to breakfast. After breakfast, we broke up into our work teams again. Paint…check. Cliff crew…check. Road crew…check. The paint team started painting the outside of one of the large dorm buildings here at the center. They encounter a wide range of bugs, but they pressed through it. The cliff crew continued to move dirt…and they do it well! The road crew continued to fill in potholes. It seems like a never-ending task. All of the teams worked hard. The weather was hot, but not unbearable.

One of the things that have happened here at times is power outages. Not because of storms, but just random (and sometimes planned) outages. Tuesday we were told that the power was going to go down. There were some workers taking some type of pump out at the center, so they needed to shut the entire power off. When there is no power, there is no water. When there is no water, there are no showers. So as the crews finished up working, they got to jump in the pool to cool down. It wasn’t a shower, but it was nice!

We all got cleaned up (as best we could) and headed to lunch. After lunch we jumped on the bus and headed out to Iglesia Bautista II – Cana de Galalia. (Canaan of Galilee 2nd Baptist Church). Many of the kids were waiting for us to arrive. The students started mingling with the kids and I began to set up the laptop, projector, and sound system. Once that was ready to go I popped in a Veggie Tales dvd (in Spanish of course) and sat back and watched all eyes focus in on Bob and Larry and the gang. At 3PM we shut off the video and began our opening assembly time. We got everyone moving and singing and then broke into our 4 groups.

The weather was beautiful. The rec teamed moved into a yard across the road from the pastor’s home. It was nice to have them so close so that we could watch the kids enjoy the games they were playing. Again the place was packed. I don’t think I mentioned a number for Monday, but we had about 50-60 then and about the same if not a few more on Tuesday. As we began to pack up, the pastor was thanking us for coming so far to minister to them and the children. We were able to present them with a gift for allowing us to use their home. It was great to connect with a sister church so far from home. It was hard for many of our students to leave. Children they had connected with came and hugged and kissed them and didn’t want to let go. Our students were amazing. Pouring out so much love to children they had just met. Not wanting to put them down or let them go. But the weather started to turn and once again the rain (and tears) began to fall.

We made the long journey back to the center (about an hour and 15 minutes). We had dinner and then spent time debriefing again. I love the fact that these students love to share about their day. It is so cool to hear how God is working in their lives and how they are listening. I am excited for you as parents to sit down with them and go through their devotional books with them so they can share with you how God moved.

Our “quotes” are starting to diminish. I think that all of us are trying to be more aware of what we are saying so that we don’t become the one that gets quoted. It is a riot to be with these students and adults. They have been a blessing to me all week! Thank you so much for praying!

Pressing On,

Dale

“When Do Coconuts Start Growing Hair?”

Well here we are…four days into our trip and we are doing well.  The sun came up early – as always, and we headed out to spend time with God.  At 7:30AM, we came together for breakfast.  The menu – Huevos Rancheros, rice, fruit and toast.  Once again it was a feeding frenzy.  Oscar is keeping our team well fed.

Right after breakfast we jumped right into our workday.  We reassembled our teams and got to work.  Our paint team headed to 2 more small cabanas to paint (which they finished).  Our road repair team went and got some bottled water for us all and then proceeded to fill potholes.  And our “cliff crew” went back to creating a cliff.  Some of the cliff team planted about 40 hibiscus plants around the pool.  The weather was hot and humid, but again…no major complaining. 

Our quote today is from Amanda Blakley.  She had noticed all of the coconuts hanging from the trees and there was no fuzz/hair on the coconuts, but the ones later that we saw on the ground had fuzz/hair.  Once she noticed that she asked the question, “When do coconuts start growing hair?”  (the outside of the coconut is smooth, but once you bust it open it’s furry, like what you normally coconuts look like.) The question itself got everyone laughing and thus became a “quoteworthy” title for the day.

 We worked from about 8AM to 11:30AM, took showers had lunch (steak with chimicurri sauce, rice and beans, and tostones – fried plantains), and got ready to head out to VBS. 

Our VBS time was at Iglesia Bautista II – Cana de Galalia. (Canaan of Galilee 2^nd Baptist Church).  It is the church plant of the church we attended on Sunday.  We loaded the bus and spent about an hour on the road in route to our destination.  The traffic was still crazy and we left the city limits and what was busy roads and business we traded for lots of trees and wide open spaces.  We entered into a small rural community and pulled up in front of the church…which during the day is the pastor’s house.  (Hey David, maybe we need to just your home for an offsite location.)

We then unloaded the bus and went into the backyard.  They have an overhang that they use for worship time.  Many of the kids were already waiting for us.  We had a short opening assembly time and then broke up into our 4 teams.  All of the teams, except the recreation team, stayed at the home.  The rec team went to a local school yard to play.

Everything was moving smoothly and the kids were having fun.  Then came the torrential downpour.  Remember that word flexibility?  It came into play today.  Our teaching team had to move inside right next to the craft team.  Which in a normal setting may not be too bad, however, we were in a room about 12x18.  And there were about 40 in there…and the kids were making harmonics.  So that was a fun time.  The rec crew had to move into the school…and they still endured rain even inside the building.  They weren’t able to play all of the games planned but they had fun anyway.

All of the teams did such a great job with their groups.  The language barrier is tough for most and it is probably a lot harder than they thought it’d be.  Please pray that God does a great work and allows them to press through that difficulty.

We were supposed to leave the church at about 5:30PM, but because of the rain, we could not release the kids.  We were told to “stall” until the rain stopped.  It was really cool because we just assembled all of the kids back together and just used the time to sing songs.  I love their enthusiasm!  They sing with such passion and love to do the songs with motions.

The rain finally let up enough that we could send the kids home around 6:10PM.  We loaded up the bus and spent the next hour on the road to the center.  (It is about a 20 mile drive that takes about an hour).  The students used that time to tell stories of the day and to sing.  I used it to update the blog. :)

We arrived at the center about 7:15PM and promptly began to eat.  Tonight Oscar and crew made us steak fajitas with homemade corn tortillas, grilled onions, muy caliente (VERY HOT for you gringos) pico, and crema (much like sour cream).  The students filled themselves up and now we are about ready to have our share time, debrief, talk about tomorrow, shower and go to sleep. 

Thank you so much for your prayers!  We feel them.  God is moving in our hearts and we are loving our time in Nicaragua!

Pressing On,

Dale

"That Bus Isn’t Even Full Yet! Nobody’s Hanging Out the Back!” (Sunday)

Today we woke up.  Good thing, right?  We got up, had our quiet times and headed to breakfast.  Today’s menu…pancakes and bacon, and of course fruit!  Oscar is hooking us up!  Sometimes the food is so good it’s hard to believe this is a mission trip in a foreign country.  Most of us will be unhappy when we come back to the States.

After breakfast we went to church. It’s actually the church that we will be doing VBS at on Thursday and Friday of this week.  It was called Cana de Galilee.  It was entirely Spanish speaking.  They only have Sunday School on Sunday mornings.  (Sunday evenings are when they have “worship and preaching.”)  We arrived to smiling faces and friendly handshakes.  There was much excitement from the people…especially the kids.  They opened with few songs and then split up into SS “classes.”  There was a class for adults, for teens, 3 for kids, and a preschool class.  It was hot!  Like 100 degrees inside the church.  The roof was metal, so it felt even hotter.  Once again…no complaints.  Our team broke up and went to each class.  They had a great time.

After church we said our “goodbye’s for now” and headed to lunch.  Our plan was to go to a place called La Finca.  Last year on the pre-trip we had the wonderful opportunity to go there.  The steaks are the bests I’ve ever had. 

On our way to eat, we were dealing with some crazy traffic.  Cars were zooming in and out of lanes and honking as they go.  The public transportation here is interesting too.  Most all of the buses are transplant used buses from school districts in the States; some are still yellow and some are painted like they just came off the show, “Pimp My Ride.”  One of the buses we passed was completely full.  I said, “Wow look at that bus.  It is so full that people are standing in the aisle.”  Then that’s when the quote of the day came out.  Bruce and Laura’s son Peter shouted, “That bus isn’t even full yet!  Nobody’s hanging out the back!” Later on, we saw a bus that was full.  One hanging out the back and a few on the roof.

As we were approaching the restaurant we encountered a little problem.  One of the political parties in Nicaragua was having a “peaceful demonstration” in the rotunda right outside of the restaurant.  There was no way we were getting to La Finca.  So a great missionary word came into play…FLEXIBILITY!

We headed to a place called “Hippo’s” that just happened to be at the mall.  We had a fairly good meal…not La Finca and not Oscar’s, but it was pretty good.  Afterwards, we walked around the mall (Hope Shaffer almost got arrested from taking a picture of a BW3’s sign…I guess that’s illegal) and then took in some sites.

As the afternoon came to a close we headed back to the center.  The VBS teams met briefly and then they took in some pool time.  As they swam, I spent time writing and updating the blog (not a martyr), so that you all could get caught up with us.  Now it’s time for dinner…tonight chicken kabobs, rice, pico and tejadas (fried plantain chips).  The students look hungry.  So we’ll update more tomorrow.

Pressing On,

Dale