Sports Ministry, Saturday, Part 2

So we decided if it was going to be a snack break, we would obviously require snacks. Luckily, we had several boxes of animal crackers and juice boxes and licorice, and there weren't that many kids, so we had enough for the kids and the moms who were watching!
Thank goodness we had translators to help us get everything together.
We started with the story of Job. We picked some volunteers from the crowd to hold paper-cutouts and help us tell the story.

  We told the story, and Melissa translated, and the kids acted it out. Luckily we had some sort of a stage.

The moms, at least, seemed to like what we were doing. It was amazing to me. They were listening intently, without a sound, to the story we were telling. They listened better then a lot of people back here.(sorry.)

See that little girl with the juice box? Her name is Jasmine and her mom's name is Sara. She's 3 years old, and she's adorable! (She's also Hannah's sister.)

Our purpose was to explain the Five Purposes(Cinco Propositos) that God put us on earth for.
They are the same ones used at our church. Worship, Belong, Grow, Serve, and Share.
That's what we did after the story.

 

Holding up Pertenecer(Belong) and explaining it to the crowd. We said something like: "If your are in God's family you aren't ever alone, because God is protecting you. God want's everyone to be in his family."

 

Behold the Cinco Propositos! From left: Worship, Serve, Belong, Grow, and Share. We had them recite it in Spanish: Alabar, Servir, Pertenecer, Crecer, and Compartir.

This is the Bible verse: "Ama al Senor tu Dios con todo tu corazon, con todo tu ser, con todo los fuertes, con todo tu mente, y, amo tu projmo como a ti mismo."

Lucas 10:27.

Too bad you can't see the verse clearly on the poster. Try and guess which verse it is. We had them recite it as a group, then individually. Whatever kid recited it individually without looking, got a licorice.

See? We had hand motions, too. 

Two kids gave their testimonies. I think we touched our audience. There was a lady reciting the verses with them.

Look at their faces! Sometimes I wish I could just go back and bring them all back across the border. 

The pastor of La Vina gave a short salvation message. And 4 kids publicly said they wanted to receive Christ! I'd never seen anything like it before. If there was a highlight to the trip, that was it. I'd done ministry before, but I'd never seen such an immediate impact.

We gathered around them, and prayed for them.

Pastor Rudophl(that's his name, IDK if I spelled it right,) invited them to the church. I don't know if they went. Some people want to know if what they do really makes a difference. It does, all right. I saw it in the faces of these kids. 

Sometimes I think about them, in their run-down city, and wonder if their lives are any different now that they've accepted Christ.

I wonder if they will follow through on their commitment.

I wonder if their newfound faith will help them resist all the temptations of the city.

I wonder if God will help take some of the pain out of their lives.

I wonder if they'll ever have a chance to make a difference in the world. I wonder if I'll ever hear of them, and I wonder if I'll see them in heaven.

Whatever happens, it's in God's hands now. We planted the seed. They're just little kids, and Mexico near the border is a big, dangerous, place, but God is an even bigger God, and he's got them in his hands.

Amaranthine

Please pray for all the kids whose lives we touched that day, and those we didn't as well.