Clubs Day 3

We had another great day of clubs. In the morning, the kids made lamb sock puppets as a craft to go along with the puppet show. As soon as they got outside, they started "grazing" on the grass! We had the opportunity to play soccer with the kids of Colinas after the evening club, and then Steve shared the gospel using the Ball of Many Colors.
Pray for the ongoing health of our team, as we still are fighting the flu, and for conversations between Eduardo, Pastor Avilez, and Conrad as they discuss the companerismo (partnership) between the BSU, Iglesia Jerusalen, and GBC.

Pictures:
1. Making sock puppets during Bible School
2. "Feeding" the sheep
3. Soccer at Colinas del Sur

2nd Day

Our second day of clubs saw 36 kids attending in the morning at the church and over 40 at Colinas in the evening. We had a couple of hiccups in the morning, but we were able to do our full schedule of puppets, skit, crafts, memory verse, games, and the wordless book. Debi was feeling much better, and other than minor stomach bugs, everyone on the team is pretty healthy now. We have really enjoyed working with the leadership of Iglesia Jerusalen. Adrianna, Karen, and Noah have been vital assets to our work. In our team meeting tonight, several mentioned that they felt like those three were really doing a lot of the real ministry - that we were definitely doing our part, but that we were helping them, not the other way around - which is our goal for sustainable, long-term ministry.
The evening clubs in Colinas del Sur were similar to yesterday with one addition: clowns! Conrad was talked into donning a clown costume and make-up and joined one of the other girls from the church as a clown to invite kids to the club. Steve had an opportunity to spend some time playing soccer with a couple of the older guys that were causing some disruptions during his teaching.

Pictures:
1. Children at Jerusalen watching the puppet show and skit.
2. Robin, Ana (BSU), and Mallory as Sammy, Rachel, and Simon.
3. Ben and Matt in the skit.
4. Clowning around in Colinas.

1st Day of Clubs

Our first day was a little different than we may have initially expected, but overall it went really well. Instead of teaching one club that would follow a similar format to the 5 Day Clubs that we are used to, we ended up working with teachers from the church and doing rotating stations with four groups of kids by age. Because of the rotation, most of the team are teaching their areas four times during the club instead of once.
Each of team members was able to gain experience at equipping others to serve alongside them in ministry, for example, Ben taught the mission story and worked with a translator and plans to grow into splitting the teaching with them later in the week; Mallory prepared another girl to teach the kids the Gold page of the Wordless Book, and Matt and Robin worked on incorporating some of the Mexican team into the puppet show and skits. Adriana, one of the children's teachers at Iglesia Jerusalen, was invaluable today. She organized the schedule, handled the rotation, and worked with the kids in between stations and after clubs to review what they learned.
In the evening we went to Collinas del Sur and led a club in the home of a family there. This family was reached through Pastor Roberto's radio ministry, and he has been working with them on starting a Bible study in their home. Their home is the center of the mission in Collinas that will, Lord-willing, develop into a church. We had about 40 kids split into three groups in the small home, but things went very smoothly and the kids seemed to respond very well. We look forward to another round beginning tomorrow morning.
Our biggest setback has been from illness. Ben got sick on the trip down, and Debi caught it and has been out of commission and resting today. Ben is doing quite a bit better; pray for full recovery quickly for Ben and Debi and that this does not get passed on to the rest of the team.

Pictures:
1. Steve teaching his memory verse in a club at Jerusalen.
2. Playing games in the street in Collinas del Sur outside the house where clubs are held.
3. Living room of the house in Collinas; lady in wheelchair allowed us to use her entire home.

Busy Weekend

We arrived at Iglesia Jerusalen Bautista Saturday morning, and after a good breakfast, met with Pastor Roberto Avilez and Eduardo, the BSU director, to discuss plans for the week. Later we had a few minutes to get settled into our host homes before visiting Collinas del Sur, the mission we will be working with, and coming back to the church for training for the next week of ministry. We were led in team-building activities in order to help us get accustomed to working together as Americans, members of the Jerusalen church, and students with the BSU. It signified the beginning of what we expect to be a great partnership this week.
Sunday we had the morning off because the pastor preaches at another church in the morning; services at Jerusalen are on Sunday evening. We had the opportunity to see the season opening game for the Monarcas, Morelia's soccer team. We also had the unfortunate "privilege" of enduring the USA vs. Mexico game later in the afternoon (but the locals were thrilled!). In the evening service, Debi, Ben, Robin, and Mallory were involved in special music and Conrad preached.
Today will be our first day of clubs; we will be hosting a Bible school partnered with the church leaders at Jerusalen in the mornings and then we will take the same Bible school to Collinas del Sur in the evenings. The church leaders want to split the kids into 5 groups, which has required us to be flexible and to depend on their help; this was one of our major goals for the trip, although we hadn't expected it to come about quite like it has. We are excited about the first day and appreciate your continued prayer.

Pictures:
1. Team building activity with Jerusalen leaders
2. Mallory leading Wordless Book training
3. Monarcas futbol game

We just got off the bus in Morelia, safe and uneventful trip. Met Heber, Nena, and Eduardo and now we're headed to the church to get situated.

Leaving Dallas... Next stop Mexico! (followed by the looooooong bus trip to Morelia)

Hanging out at DFW during our layover before departing for Puerta Vallarta at 5:50.

Just about wheels up in STL. Other than a minor issue with the automated check-in, we're doing great. Next stop Dallas.

Mexico team is off and on the road to the airport. Pray for a safe day of travel. We should be in Morelia in 23 hours.

Testing Ping.fm to see if it truly will be the end-all for keeping up-to-date on mission trip news. If you're reading this on twitter, facebook, or blogger, it works!

Update from Sharps Corner

We have enjoyed a great week in Sharps Corner so far! We arrived safely around 9:30pm local time Saturday evening. Robert and Mallory led worship at Sharps Corner Baptist Church on Sunday morning and Conrad preached (David Moser also had the opportunity to preach in White River).

Eric's team is leading a 5 Day Club for younger kids, Robert's team is leading a club for older kids, and Megan, Robin, and Conrad are working with the teens that have been attending. We have been able to continue our outreach from years past to the community of Evergreen, a housing area a few miles from Sharps Corner. We have averaged over 30 kids and teens each day. We have also been able to continue community involvement through sports in the evenings, although the volleyball and basketball courts were in severe disrepair. The volleyball court was overgrown with weeds over two feet tall and the poles were missing, and the basketball rim was gone. After some renovation Monday, we were able to play on Tuesday and look forward to tonight as well.

We've reconnected with many kids and families from past years, and begun new relationships. Pastor Roy and Linda are doing well; Roy is involved in a week long revival in Pine Ridge and Sharps Corner that is hosted by God's Cowboys, a New Mexico-based outreach to Native Americans. We learned that Delaine is struggling through some difficult things and will be unable to return with us to Columbia to visit for a few weeks as we had previously hoped. Destiny, Amber, and Carly, three girls that had been involved at the church since our first trip in 2006, have encountered some family issues, but Destiny has been involved in our teen outreach this week, and we hope to see Amber tomorrow. We have had an exceptional group of teens to work with this year; they have been open, and instead of trying to keep them from distracting the kids clubs, we have been able to talk with them. Most are in junior high and attend a local Catholic school, but as Tiny, one of the girls, mentioned, "I'm Catholic... I think. I've been baptized." Please continue to pray for us, the clubs, the individuals mentioned above, and the White River team as they've had over 40 kids each day. We look forward to sharing more with you as we have opportunity! Short, more consistent updates are available on twitter; follow "fishermanr".

Pictures from top to bottom:
1. The Sharps Corner team overlooking Evergreen
2. Megan playing a game with some of the teens
3. Hanging out with kids at the end of clubs
4. Robin and Alyssa overlooking the Badlands on Sheep Mountain

Lakota Missions Update

There is not consistent internet here in South Dakota this trip, so my apologies for the lack of updates recently. Hopefully I can post more information this afternoon, but for now, praise the Lord for what's happening here in South Dakota!

Clubs on Monday & Tuesday went well in both Sharps Corner & White River. Sharps Corner is averaging over 30 kids, and White River is averaging over 40 kids! Our teens enjoyed some rest and down-time yesterday while sightseeing a little bit.

Please pray for additional opportunities to share the Gospel, strength and group unity to finish the last 3 days of clubs, and for the revival services going on in the Pine Ridge Reservation.