Day 6 - Thursday

What a long, and bittersweet day!
We talked to the kids about the Ten Commandments today. In crafts, they made hanging door thing-a-ma-jiggers (It's 12:30 a.m. Please forgive me I am a little tired - I can't remember the word.) with stickers. It was truly a day to enjoy the kids.

Kid's Place - We had 190 kids. After we fed the children lunch, we washed the feet of our missionaries, pastors, and other workers who had helped us this week. It was very moving, a way of saying thank you for letting us work alongside of them for the week.

At Anthenor's VBS, some members of our team - Kevin Peet, Amy McConnell, Teri Decker, Joe Sansanelli, Elizabeth and Landry Burdine - went out into the favela with Pastor Anthenor, Emanuell, and Wilson to talk to the people. Amy was able to lead several children to Christ, but many of the adults decided they weren't ready.

Landry was also able to talk to our bus driver, Sergio. He is a devout Catholic and read the verse, John 3:16, for the very first time.

Tonight, the men stayed at Favela da Linha for the Men's Night, while the women headed back to Coque Favela and Kid's Place for the Mother's Dinner.

Favela da Linha -
Anthenor invited around forty men; they swam and ate barbeque, which included beef, chicken and chicken hearts...yep! Chicken hearts. They are not too bad; they don't taste anything like chicken. The men were split into small groups. It started off slow, but pretty soon the men from the favela were asking some pretty deep, yet blunt questions, questions that would've taken a small group in the United States at least six weeks to feel comfortable enough to ask. Kevin Peet shared his testimony and he found one of the men in his small group carried a similar background. Many seeds were planted tonight.

Back at Coque, Amy McConnell gave her testimony to more than seventy women. Two American women sat with a translator and a group of ten to eleven women from the favela. All of these women had children who attended VBS this past week. At the end of the night, the women from the favela were given a bag of food that will last a family of four at least a month or more.

Linda Ryffel shared Christ with a woman who had recently been let out of prison! Amy was able to minister to a woman who shared the same heartache and brokenness as she experienced in her marriage. Terry Decker was also able to pray with a woman about her son as he is experiencing health problems. God has been so faithful! We also saw Maria Jose, the woman who Joseph S. shared the gospel with on the plane. It has been a good day!

"Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him." 2 Corinthians 2:14

We go to the fishing village tomorrow. Please pray for a fresh burst of energy and continued good health. May we all abound in His fragrance. We love you all and we will see you soon!