Neufelds

There were times when it felt like everything was conspiring against me as I tried to prepare for the weekend in Hermosillo.  Well, maybe some things actually were!  Just when I finally got to the time I had set aside to really prepare – something else would happen, and the day would dissolve into nothing.

That being said, I think it went ok, and the weekend as a whole was quite good overall (though maybe not exactly what anyone expected).

The idea was to get some elementary age children together, ones who had probably made a confession of faith, to help them learn about sharing their faith, serving, discipleship, and all stuff like that there.

Shelli Neufeld ran the event with a lot of help from the youth from the church (Arból de Vida Iglesia Evangélica Libre).  There was also a team there to help from Olds Koinonia Christian School in Olds Alberta.

The theme was No Solo Poco Loco – in other words, we’re not just a little crazy, but very crazy – crazy to serve the Lord!  And everyone got these great T-shirts designed by Greg Neufeld:

The weekend was full of fun events.  We learned our verses in many different creative ways (2 Corinthians 5:13-17), they built shelters to sleep in (in the building, but in shelters), there was a campfire, theme meals, fun action songs, a "missions meal" (where we learned what people eat (or don’t eat!) in countries like Cuba, Haiti, England and India), and more.  The kids had special teaching times learning how to be wise in choices of movies and TV shows, they could also choose workshops where they could bake cookies, learn chalk art, do drama, and more.

They were also involved in special acts of service.  One afternoon they went to hospitals and other places delivering sandwiches and talking with people.

Incidentally, it was unbelievable hearing testimonies of the kids, who talked to people and got into rather deep conversations with them, promising to pray for them.  WOW.  And yet – why is that so unusual?

Shelli sharing the Gospel story

The children also learned about the Gospel, and various ways to share it.  Although the weekend was aimed at Christian kids, we realized the need to continue to explain the Gospel, and learn to live in the light of it.  And so it was repeated over and over, and there were actually some children who apparently made first-time confessions of faith in the Lord!

I spoke on the life and teaching of Peter.  I learned a lot, and I hope everyone else did too!  I ended up on Sunday morning talking about Peter’s visit with Cornelius in Acts 10.  Here was Peter, being sent by God to a place that … well, it wasn’t his place!  Jews simply didn’t hang out with Gentiles.  And God does the same today, doesn’t He?  He sends us to places that aren’t really our places … places where we’re not comfortable.  And He does amazing things in those places.

The Campers sing in the service

On Sunday morning we enjoyed a great service led by Greg Neufeld.  We worshipped in a tent (a big one!) set up with hours and hours of work in the heat by a number of people from Canada and Mexico.  One of the leaders of the church gave a message that really tied things together.

The children served by presenting what they had learned in their workshops (drama, chalk-art, etc).  I was drafted to lead the drama workshop, and we had a lot of fun with that.  They did an excellent job in their presentation, considering the amount of time we had to prepare it!

Earlier in the week (before Hannah and I arrived) the team helped with a special camp for some of the children who had been in the terrible Hermosillo Day Care fire of 2009.  These little campers came to the service as well, and were involved.  They did an incredible job!  It was so great to have them there as well.

On Sunday we also went to the beach for an hour or two, where Hannah played with the jellyfish, and then visited downtown Hermosillo.

Hermosillo is most certainly another world.  It’s hard to know even how to compare the context that they are in with our context here.  Still, I hope we can share more in the future, whether in person or from a distance.

Thanks to the Neufelds for hosting us!  And thanks to you, the church, the Olds Koinonia team, and so many others who put so much work into the weekend!

Photos to follow in our photo gallery – watch for them!  Oh, and here’s a post and video from a missionary family in the area – Lane and Sheri Elliot.

Campers (from both camps) and Leaders sing at the Sunday service!