Moving Forward in the Village of Chanco

As a result of us doing some follow-up visits last Saturday in the village of Chanco we got an invitation to return and do a children's Bible study.  We were pretty excited and made plans to do it on Thursday of this week (better plan it quick before they change their minds, ha). 

I spent some time this week studying and preparing and all I lacked was a good nights sleep so I'd have a fresh mind to teach.  Well, thanks to my boys, that did not happen.  Ben was up at 4:30 and Cruz was up at 5:15 that morning.  ugh!  I was soo tired by the time we actually arrived in the village that I could not hardly think straight in English much less teach a Bible lesson in Spanish.  Some days are just hard, but you learn to shake it off and move on.  (and pray, a lot)

this is what getting up before the sun looks like once you hit the rocky mountain roads

The lady of the house, Teresa, served us coffee and sweet bread when we arrived.  We let the kids play a bit before we got started.  We sang a few Bible songs and then I taught a story.  My lesson was on "Jesus Loves the Little Children".  I made this game below for the kids to do after our story time.  It was a visual reminder that Jesus loves children and the best place to be is close to Him. 

my "Pin the Children at the Feet of Jesus" game

We blindfolded them and they took turns putting a child on the poster.  They loved it!

poor Cruz, ha

Afterwards I gave them each a coloring sheet of Jesus loving on the children and a scripture that went with our story.  They had the best time coloring, laughing, and comparing each others pages.  We just sat back and smiled.

my boys coloring in the village of Chanco

proud of their work

We had a really fun morning and in spite of being tired I think it went very well.  The best part was before we left they asked us to come back and teach again.  Yahoo!!!  We'll be traveling next week for Thanksgiving so we made plans to return the first week of December.  I'm already excited about it!  Would you look at the faces of these precious children and pray specifically for them?  Pray also for us as we begin to share Christ with them. 

God is working and we are extremely grateful for the way He is giving us opportunities to share the Gospel here in Eastern Guatemala.  Your prayers are a big part of that.  Thank you for praying for us!