Sunday, February 20, 2011

Work, Play and Worship

These last few days have been full of lots of activity.  We finished off working on the school property Saturday by moving loads and loads of sand and rocks to be used for the final beams and floor.  There is still some work to be done on the building but the tough part is finished.  The workers in Shandia are all set to make some significant progress next week.  We are all excited to see the school open by summer or sooner!  Saturday afternoon we were able to visit Jim Elliot's home.  A gentleman who lived in Shandia during Elliot's day gave us a tour and shared stories of his life with us.  What a great experience.  From there we headed to the beach to prepare a bonfire, swim in the river, and play with some of the community children.  That evening we were able to have a bonfire down by the river with the youth group.  We sang worship songs in English, Spanish and Quichua.  Finally we treated the youth to s'mores.  They had never had  s'mores and absolutely LOVED them.  We couldn't get those marshmallows toasted fast enough!  Sunday we all attended church together.  Again, we worshiped in Spanish and Quichua.  Alisa and Tim shared their testimonies and Pastor Dan preached.  What a joy to go to church and hear singing and preaching in 3 languages!  A few of us led Sunday school with the kiddos.  After church services part of our team took the kids out for some play time together.  Gina and I (Rachel) had an amazing opportunity to interview two older members of the community who lived in Shandia when Jim Elliot was there.  They shared about how they came to know Christ as a result of God working through Elliot and several other missionaries.  One woman, Carmela, shared through tears about the day the community learned of Jim Elliot's death.  She also wept over the youth of her community and her deep desire to have them walk closely with Jesus. It was a beautiful time and I am so thankful for the experience.  

The girls moving sand and rocks.  Even little Lucy got a work out!

Brianna playing soccer with the kids at the beach

Ronal, one of the kids in the community, came down to the beach with us to make sand castles

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