Monday in Bogota

We had devotions with Pastor David this morning.  He always has amazing insight to share from God's Word.  Today he talked about Jesus' very first miracle--turning water into wine.  He shared that every time we share the gospel with others we are like the servants who filled the pots with water.  When they have heard and accepted the good news, then Jesus turns the "water" of their life into new wine.  

Because today was a national holiday, we spent both the morning and the afternoon sharing with people in Parque Simon Bolivar.  

Bogota Campaign, Part 3

Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning we went downtown Bogato to share along the "Septima," or 7th Avenue.  The street is closed to traffic for at least a mile, so there are pedestrians everywhere.  There is cross traffic to watch out for and people on bicycles, but otherwise it is wide open to walk and share the gospel.  We ran into several people who spoke English--one pair was Jehovah Witness and the other pair was Mormons!  

There is a little bit of everything on this street, including two beatiful Catholic cathedrals, typical fast food places, souvenir markets, bookstores, street musicians and dancers, people with carts selling everything from bread to Colombia soccer jerseys to ice cream treats.  There are also many people who will stop to talk and listen to the gospel.  There were 25-30 professions of faith each morning.

Monday Campaign

Monday was our first day to share a lesson at a school.  We were able to make five different teams and reach five classrooms of students. We arrived early so each group had time to pray before the class. 

 The teams presented the lesson on sexual purity so we were in grades six through 9.

In the afternoon we drove north to Aguilares to work with Pastor Manuel.  We set up the inflatable, sound system and movie in an open field.  

It was a great day with a total of 125 professions of faith between the school and the festival.  

First El Salvador Campaign of 2016

It's been a crazy week and I'm so far behind on blogging about our first El Salvador campaign of the year.  Don Laity arrived Friday before the campaign started and stayed at our apartment.  Two other team members flew in on Saturday afternoon so there were a total of 3 gringos for the first family festival in Lourdes.

The drama group from the church in Lourdes was all decked out in various superhero/movie characters costumes and the little kids loved it.

We shared in the Jacarandas neighborhood and the people were very responsive.  Don preached after the drama.  There were 20+ professions of faith.

The team of five from Rock Harbor Church in Bakersfield, California, arrived Saturday evening, so the team was complete on Sunday morning for church.  Instead of walking to church we drove and Don and I left after the first service.  I was supposed to have time to make lunch and have it ready when Stephen got home from the second service.  However, Don and I walked in the house and found out we didn't have water, so we scratched our dinner plans and, instead, we ate at our favorite Chinese place, Restaurante 168.

Sunday night the family festival was in an Apopa neighborhood called "the Alamo."  

The drama group from Lourdes drove to Apopa to help with the campaign!  Even though there are only 8 gringos here this week, the youth and adults from our church also went door-to-door to share.  Here you see Mario praying with a new believer.  Praise the Lord for Christians (wherever they're from) who are faithful to share the good news.

Sunday in St. Louis

We had the great privilege to share our El Salvador ministry with First Baptist Ferguson (a St. Louis suburb) on Sunday.  All of the adult Sunday School classes met together and we talked about Vida Nueva, Good News in Action, Metro America 0-20 and invited all of them to come on a mission trip.  It was fun telling them about the work and encouraging them to step out and trust God in a new way during 2016.

During our time in the service, Stephen sang "Poderoso" in Spanish, we both briefly shared with them and then we showed the "Call to Prayer" video.  

After a fantastic lunch at a local restaurant, we watched a little football at the hotel.  Then, returned to church to meet with persons who wanted to hear more about the mission trip to Guatemala in August.  At 7:00 p.m. we went to Parker Road Baptist Church and caught up with a small group after the service.  Members of this church have come to El Salvador for trips, but haven't been down in many years.  We're hoping that they will join with the Ferguson group and come in August.

We finished the evening off with Mexican food (awesome chips, salsa and white cheese dip) and great fellowship.  

It was such a blessing to get to know the people of the church and we're looking forward to serving with them in August.