Pumpkinvine Baptist Church - Thursday
Hola! We have had such a blessed day today…it’s been hot…and we seem to have been dragging more today…yet we have been blessed. Our morning half of the day was spent traveling to a nearby village named Los Conucos where we drove to a baseball park area and spent half the day playing with children and teens. All the guys played kickball on the field, while the gals played jump rope, blew bubbles and had their hair braided by the Dominican girls. This was a wonderful time of fun and games…but the best part of it was the time for the Gospel presentation. After all the game time, we had all the children and teens sit in the stands, while some older adults came and listened in as well. Levi volunteered last night to present the Gospel, along with Kara. \ Levi did a marvelous job speaking, while Catherine and Michael assisted him with a visual board we had developed to bring with us. Our translator for this trip was Wilkins. Through the Lord’s mighty and divine work in the lives of our team and the Holy Spirit’s work in the hearts of these children and teens, we saw approximately 95% of this group respond to the Gospel invitation and make decisions for Christ. It was impossible to get an exact number, but Bob and I estimate the number of public professions to be approximately 45 to 50. Of course, it’s not about the numbers but the lives that have been forever changed and the eternal security of this individuals…please pray that they will now get into a local church and will mature in the Word of God.
After the trip to Los Conucos and a quick lunch back at the Score complex, we headed out to La Ramona, which is about 45 minutes west of Juan Dolio. There in La Ramona, we visited the Bethesda Orphanage (House of Prayer). This was the first time Tammy and I have visited this particular orphanage. The children were absolutely precious. It is unspeakable of the ways these dear orphan children will bless your heart. We spent all afternoon with these children at the orphanage. We also met the local pastor who ministers to the needs of this orphanage. We did many things at the orphanage, like coloring in coloring books, swinging on a swing, playing ‘volleyball’ and kicking a soccer ball, etc. Oh yeah, and I actually played jacks with some of the kids, which I haven’t done since I was a kid…boy did that take me back. But out of all of things we did physically here with these kids, the most important, was just loving on them. These children starve for attention. Many have been taking away from parents through the courts and many have been simply left on the doorstep of the orphanage…just given up. No doubt why the little children was so special to Jesus. I pray they saw Him in our lives today.
We’re settling in for the evening…getting ready for dinner. It is amazing how quickly this week has passed by…I can’t believe that tomorrow is our last full day here. I’m sure you mamas don’t think it’s gone by that quick. But I want to tell…you have so much to be thankful for and proud of with these students…they are the BOMB! It has been great for Tammy and I to have some of this more intimate time with them this week. No doubt about it, these are our future church leaders…in fact, they’ve already proven their leadership to me and the spiritual maturity. I am so proud of them. We have also had some great times of discipleship while we’ve been here too!
Well it’s dinner time…we’ll post again tomorrow evening. Tomorrow is our day of refreshment…we’re going with the missionaries to Catalina Island. Adios!
Brad
