Judgment House Prep

Vida Nueva is presenting Judgment House at the Miralvalle campus, February 4 to 7, and at the Lourdes campus, February 12-13.  Please check out the info on the Judgment House website (here) to get an overview of the project.  Our church writes its own script so that the the characters and scenes are based on the reality of life here in El Salvador. 

 The undertaking is a huge one, involving 100's of Vida Nueva members in various roles, construction, registration, actors, guides, security, child care, counseling and more.   

I picked up some black fabric at the church on Friday because they need some additional costumes for the demons who are in the "hell" scene.  Although they said there was a pattern, after I got home with the fabric, I realized the pattern was the one robe that they found.  The first step was to desconstruct enough of the robe to be able to use the pieces as patterns for the new robes.  Here are some pictures of my work and the final product (one of four), minus the hemming on the sleeves and bottom.

I told Stephen I  might not be able to sleep tonight!  I'll be glad when I'm finished.  Next year I think I'll request to help with the "heaven" scene.  

The performances start with dress rehearsal on Wednesday (night for church members to come) and then run through Sunday night.  Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we'll start at 6:00 p.m. and, if it's like years past, we'll finish after midnight.  Saturday and Sunday performances start at 4:00 and should end by 11:00 p.m.  Please pray for everyone involved--most of the people will be working all day.  Most importantly, please pray that the Holy Spirit will convict those who attend the drama and that we'll see many people come to know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. 

The Beauty That is El Salvador

I encourage you to watch this short, 3-minute video and see the beautiful country of El Salvador.  

CLICK

Let the Celebrating Begin

Vida Nueva, 25 Years--Celebrating God's Grace

As I have mentioned before, churches here in Central America celebrate their anniversary each year.  So, as you might expect, the 25th anniversary calls for a really big celebration!  Twenty-five years ago this month, a group of 18 people met at Pastor Julio's home to discuss the formation of a Baptist church.  So, we started the 25-year celebration yesterday with a Koinonia service.  The actual first service of the church was in June of 1991, so the "real" party will be this coming June.

Yesterday, there was special music and an excellent sermon from Pastor Steve's, but the highlight of the day was the ordination of David Aguilar and Cesar Monico as pastors of Vida Nueva.

What a privilege to be in a church that preaches the word, reaches the lost and celebrates Jesus!

Guatemala Wrap Up

Friday was our last campaign day in Guatemala.  We shared door-to-door in the Proyecto 410 neighborhood in the morning and returned in the afternoon for the family festival.  The park was awesome and many, many people attended the festival.

It was an awesome week with a total of 570 professions of faith!  Please pray for Pastors Nelson and Javier as they mobilize their teams for follow-up.

After the campaign the team from Faith Baptist took Pastor Nelson, Rosemarie, Camila and us to dinner at Kacao, a beautiful restaurant near our hotel.  It serves typical Guatemala soups, as well as other favorites.  We loved spending time with the team and the food was outstanding.

We followed the Salvadoran bus out of town on Saturday morning about 8:00 a.m.  About a half hour out of Guatemala City the bus stopped for a bathroom break.  We stopped to get gas and then went on our way.  Once again the trip was very easy, with no lines at the borders.  We pulled into our apartment building just after noon. 

Wednesday/Thursday in Guatemala

We had a "normal" day on Wednesday except for the metal detectors that were installed in the the entrance to the hotel.  Thursday was the inauguration of the new Guatemalan president and many dignataries were staying in the Weston (adjoins our hotel) and the Intercontinental Hotel (just down the street.)  Vice-President Biden was in town to attend the ceremony (we don't know where he stayed,) but security was tight.  We saw lots of black suburbans with dark windows and there were even two German Shepherds and their handlers staying on our floor.  Even with everything that was going on, we had no problems going out in the morning or in the evening.  

Wednesday evening several of the streets around the hotel were closed off and would remain closed until after the inauguration on Thursday.  We were programmed to go to the gringo market on Thursday, but with everything going on downtown, we felt like it would be best to "get out of town," so a trip to Antigua was in order.  Antigua was a new experience for almost everyone.  The bus dropped us off at the entrance to the town and we walked to the central park.  On the way, we saw one of the volcanos spewing ash--it was a beautiful picture.

After having about an hour to shop, everyone met at Pollo Campero where the gringos treated everyone to lunch.

We left Antigua about 3:00 p.m. and drove directly to Santa Katarina de Pinulta to set up the family festival.  

It was a great, but chilly evening.  The festival was well attended, the people were very receptive and there were many professions of faith.  Praise the Lord.  

Monday/Tuesday in Guatemala

Each morning starts with a devotion; Monday Pastor Javier shared with the group and I had the privilege to translate for him.  He spoke from Joshua 3:1-5 and shared the parallels in the children of Israel getting prepared to cross the Jordan and conquer the land to our spiritual battle this week.  

Because the schools are not yet in session, we've been going door-to-door in the mornings, returning to the hotel area for lunch and then leaving for the family festival at 3:30 p.m.  The team has been faithful to share wherever they are.  As of the end of the day on Tuesday there were just over 200 professions of faith.  

Here are some pictures from the first two days.

Sunday--Guatemala Campaign

Worshipping with the local church is always one of the highlights of any campaign and Sunday was no different.  We sang some praise/worship songs and then two hymns, "Great is Thy Faithfulness" and "How Great Thou Art."  Although both were in Spanish is easy for the team members to sing along in English.  Nelson preached in Spanish and then after each point did a brief translation in English.  He made it seem easy, but I know it had to be very tiring!  

Because children's camp was still going on, we didn't seem as many familiar faces as normal.  Most of them were counselors/teachers at the camp which didn't end until Sunday afternoon.

Stephen and I did a quick orientation after the service to welcome teams from all three churches, Faith Baptist, NC; Bay Life Church, FL and Calvary's Cross Baptist, NC.  

It was a short afternoon, but we were on board the vans and bus by 4:00 p.m.  Translators for the week are assigned the first night that the whole team is present.  Once everyone was matched up they began the process of sharing Jesus door-to-door in the neighborhood. Salvadorans, who don't translate, set up the inflatable, sound system and the rest of the equipment.

Stephen and I both made some new friends, but best of all, there were 40+ professions of faith.