Church, Bibles & a Big Celebration!
Friday, April 11, 2014
This day began with a strong sense of anticipation. The outdoor church service will happen today. Moriah’s devotion of Ephesians 1:2-4 prepared us for the day.
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.
When we arrived in the village, the number of people gathered on the grass was the largest I have ever seen. About 300 people or more were waiting for the service to begin. The services consisted of singing, prayer, several pastor messages and Bible readings, and thank you speeches. Nearing the 3 hour point of the service (in the hot sunshine) the team presented the cross banners and the Bibles. We felt the holy hand of God as the pastors of each church came forward to receive their banner. The crowd pushed forward just to get a look at the banners. The Bibles were presented at four stations. Hugs, thank yous, tears, and joyful smiles blessed that time. Of the 182 Bibles to be handed out, only 13 families were not present to receive theirs. Damian will present the remaining Bibles next week.
Pastor Mario’s family prepared a delicious lunch for the team of a type of tamale. There were no left overs on our plates!
The dolls from the Las Hermanos girls were presented to a few of the children that attend the Mother-Children weekly play school.
The day ended with the leadership of the village again thanking Chapel Hill for the sponsorship. The team had missed our opportunity to sing the Spanish songs we had practiced so we took this moment to sing to the leaders. We closed in a circle prayer with messages of thanksgiving and praise spoken in English, Spanish, and Quiche languages. Handshakes and hugs and goodbyes finished our day.
The fog rolled down the mountain as a closing farewell to Villa Hortencia 1 for this season of time. We are all trusting that there will be more trips to VH-1 to love on these dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
Bendiciones!
Barb