(DUE TO MORE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES WITH THE INTERNET IN THE MISSIONARY HOUSE, WE ARE AGAIN LATE IN POSTING ON THE BLOG)
Wednesday was a long day for the team. We still are not all in the habit of waking up early and having devotions at 6:45, and then departing for construction at Ezel by 7:30. Although some of the team members may not have been completely awake, we made it to the church to begin some more bucket brigades. The team lined the church to carry the new load of gravel from the street level entrance to the playground, four levels below. Instead of having the team pass the heavy buckets of gravel the entire distance, the construction leader Ricardo told us that we could dump it over a ledge to the playground, and in the process cut out two levels of carrying. The men mostly worked mixing ten buckets of sand with eight buckets of gravel, and then two 90 lb bags of concrete mix using shovels with glorified tree sticks as handles. The concrete was then used to cover the rest of the playground area. Randy, Jordan, and George continued tiling the new bathrooms upstairs. The girls helped Lisa complete some last minute tasks for the Vacation Bible School crafts.
At two, the kids started pouring in for the second and final VBS day at Ezel. We had a strong showing of around 175 kids and found ourselves running out of crafts, which is a praise. The two stories for the kids on Wednesday were the “rich young ruler” in Luke 18 and becoming “fishers of men” from Luke 5 … The kids worked on weaving a magnet fish craft and decorating it with eyes and a verse. The other craft was a wooden puzzle demonstrating that what seems to be impossible with man, is possible with God. The preschoolers painted their hands for the story of Samuel and enjoyed their unique craft.
After VBS concluded around 4, the team relaxed at the church until the praise and prayer service at 6:30. After singing songs exalting our all-powerful, majestic, invincible God, we had a time of sharing prayer requests and praises. Many members of Ezel stood up and tearfully shared their petitions with the church body. We then broke up into groups of 10-12 and prayed for those requests. These requests will surely be lifted in prayer numerous times in the next few days, weeks, and even months, as the team really took the prayer time to heart. It was such a blessing to hear the Salvadoreans and Gringos praying at the same time, in different languages, to the same God. The Holy Spirit was moving in the sanctuary and making intercession for us as we prayed for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
The day ended with pizza at the mission home at around 9. It was a long and eventful day, and the entire team was tired and ready to get some much needed sleep. We ask that you would continue to keep us in your prayers; for safety, health, and strength as we endure some very long and busy days. The team members will certainly be returning home with many stories that were not posted in the blogs, so be sure to get in contact with any of the members to hear about their specific experiences. Thanks for reading, and God bless.
