LifePark Mt Pleasant, SC June 2016 Team

Last week we hosted another team from one of our partner churches, LifePark Church in Mount Pleasant, SC.  There were thirteen on the team and six of those were youth.  We loved having the high school students here with us.  They brought a lot of energy and fun to the team.  They came well prepared and each took turns sharing their testimony, Bible stories, scriptures, and praying.  It blessed our hearts to see them serving the Lord with such passion.

They arrived on Sunday evening and we greeted them at the hotel next door.  After getting checked in they all headed over to our house for supper.  Afterwards we had our first nightly team devotion time in our living room.

team photo on Sunday evening

enjoying supper at our house on Sunday evening

On Monday morning we began a one day leadership training conference at a Baptist church in Chiquimula.  Chad, the Senior Pastor, and Noah, an Associate Pastor, led the training.  Both of these men did a great job teaching and the day went really well.

Chad and Noah

Noah teaching at the training conference in Chiquimula

On Tuesday and Wednesday we were in the villages of Lagunetas and Tarshaja teaching Bible stories, visiting, and playing games with the children.  We had two great days in these villages.  The crowds were much larger than we anticipated and we are still praising the Lord for the hundreds that heard the gospel several times during the two days. 

our team in Lagunetas going over the plan for the morning

some of the children in Lagunetas

Kayley and Hope with some of the children in Lagunetas

a video of Pablo leading the children in a song

This is Lisa sharing the story of Jonah. A team member would share the story orally and then retell it having the children act it out.  It was so fun to watch the kids play the different parts.  They really enjoyed it!

This little boy was playing Jonah

Cruz and Cayla- one of his buddies for the week

After the story time the team would play games with the children that went along with the story. 

game time in Lagunetas

picnic lunch break on Tuesday

some of the team arriving in the village of Tarshaja

hiking in Tarshaja

We met in this home for the story time.  Within just a few minutes of us arriving the people started showing up.  Before long it was standing room only with well over a hundred people gathered outside listening in.  We were blown away by the turnout!  Chandler (one of the youth) did an excellent job of teaching the story in spite of so many watching and listening to her. 

Afterwards we walked outside to the cornfield to play games with the children.

the village of Tarshaja

playing games with the children in Tarshaja

game time in Tarshaja

Pablo singing a song with the children in Tarshaja

hiking in Tarshaja

On Thursday we began the morning by making some visits in Jocotan.  We then traveled to the village of La Libertad to encourage a family there. 

arriving in La Libertad

hiking in La Libertad

Kayley sharing scripture with a family in La Libertad

praying for a family in La Libertad

making a visit in the village of La Libertad

Kayley, Britt, and Noah

We had a picnic lunch by the river.  We do peanut butter & jelly or turkey and cheese sandwiches.  We also serve chips, cookies, and canned drinks. 

The boys enjoyed passing the time by shooting rocks into the river with their sling shots.

After eating we headed up the mountain making our way towards our afternoon Bible study in Muyurco.  Along the way we made a stop by the new piece of land that was recently purchased by the Bible study group in Nearar.  Several from the study met us at the site and we had a time of prayer over the land.   How exciting to know that one day the church will be moved to this new site.  It is going to give us a much greater opportunity to reach out and grow. 

our team at the new land in Nearar

We made a stop in Porto Suelo and then traveled on to Muyurco.  Here are Ben, Britt, and Chandler hiking to our afternoon Bible study.

hiking in Muyurco

some of our team getting ready for Bible study in Muyurco

Miguel and some of the children in Muyurco

Hillary (the missions leader at LifePark)

praise and worship in Muyurco

Ben (the team leader) taught the Bible study to the adults.  The youth taught the children.

Hillary and Ben in Muyurco

My boys love "Miss Hillawee"

Morton playing with some of the children in Muyurco

my boys with Morton and Britt

I am so thankful for the way these two loved on my boys that week!  They had both just graduated high school two days before leaving for the trip.  They could have been a hundred other places but it greatly blesses our hearts to know that they were here serving the Lord.  I think that speaks volumes of them.

one last team photo before the team headed off to the airport to fly back home

We had an amazing week.  They worked hard and accomplished a lot.  It has been a few days now and we are still missing them.  We form such a sweet bond with our teams and it is always sad to see them go.  They come down and share their lives with the locals but they also share a lot of their lives with us.  They love on us and encourage us in so many ways.  We know that many of them will be back and we'll look forward to the day that we can serve with them again.