Church and Adventure Day

This morning we took the team a little way down the road to go to church at Light of the Valley. Our team had charge of leading their four Sunday School groups after a short worship time with the entire congregation. Becky lead the 2-7 year olds, Wendy had the 8-12 group, Jordan had the teenagers, and Dave taught the adults. I helped with the 8-12 year olds, and everyone was pretty well behaved and things went smoothly.  Becky says they had great success with the youngest group.

After Sunday School, we all gathered back in the sanctuary for a brief worship time before heading to the river for the baptismal service. It was really special to be able to witness that. Four people were baptized, including two girls from Hosanna House. After the baptism, the church people took communion at the riverside, and then everyone headed back home.

Once we got back, the team got ready for a little day trip out to the Mayan ruins of Xunantunich (shuh-nahn-tuhn-itch). Darren, Wendy, and Jennifer decided to stay back and hang out with the girls for the afternoon. They taught the girls origami, and just spent some laid-back time with them, while the rest of us were climbing up and down stone stairways and looking at monkeys and iguanas.

When we got back from the ruins, the team got dinner and then headed up for devotions and activities with the girls. We started a series called The Comeback, talking about how God brings us back from our lowest points and restores our lives.

The atmosphere with the girls up at the house seems different this year- different in a good way. Everyone seems to get along pretty well, and I think we've been able to make connections pretty quickly with the new residents. God is working in these girls' lives in a big way, and we can only pray that we are facilitators of that work and that relationships continue to flourish throughout the week.

The VBS that we are hosting at Light of the Valley begins tomorrow and runs through Wednesday. We're all looking forward to it, and praying that the good weather holds for all of the outdoor activities we have planned.