Thanks for your prayers for the first day of the VBS in Las Palmas! So far so good. I believe there were 53 kids there today – a great start and far more than last year. If we grow a bit through the week, we should be able to double last year’s number! Lots of great Bible teaching and talks today.
Anyway, I’m just swinging by to share a few pictures to prove that it’s really happening…
You can tell by the buckets on our floor and the drips from our ceiling that rainy season has arrived at last. On Sunday morning I was at the front, just about to lead in a Scripture reading, and I let out a yelp as I got sprayed by water from above. Apparently the rain from the night before was sitting up there, and dripping not only on me but on others throughout the service. Hopefully not much on our sound system!
But hopefully I can be forgiven if I started thinking about the old song Showers of Blessing…
Showers of blessing,
Daniel W. Whittle
Showers of blessing we need:
Mercy drops round us are falling,
But for the showers we plead.
The words are an expression of thanks and prayer. Yes, we’re so thankful for what God is doing in our lives – in our community – in our church – but we want more! Not for ourselves, but for the Lord.
It fits well with Sunday’s study on the lives of Gideon and Barak – imperfect, hesitant men who nonetheless accomplished great things because of their faith in God. As William Carey pleaded – Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God!
So we are looking forward to more great things. In two weeks we’ll be well into a major community outreach event – a vacation Bible school in Las Palmas. We’ll be back at the old party hall where we used to meet for the week (that’s another story), Monday to Friday. We’ll have help from a short term team for the week, and a lot of help from many people in the church.
We’re preparing and praying – asking for those showers of blessing!
The theme of the week is the life of Joseph (otherwise known as Zaphenath-paneah – that tongue-twister was Pharoah’s bright idea) – certainly one of my favourites.
So we would love it if you joined us in prayer – pray for our church as we prepare, for the team as they travel, and for the families in the community. We’ll be having not only lessons for kids and young teens, but also for parents who will be hanging out while their kids are there. So pray that many would come, and that we would clearly share God’s truth and love with them!
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21
We’re approaching the half-way mark of our tour of Alberta and Saskatchewan! Right now we’re in SK, and looking forward to being in Prince Albert this weekend. If you’re in the area, check out our weekend activities here (just look for the date), and consider joining us!
We would appreciate your prayers for the weekend. This is one of those seminars that may look simple, but it does require many hours of prep and setup. And I’ll be going from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon between the seminars and preaching and sharing and so on.
So pray that my voice will hold out! 🙂
But more than that, just pray that God would give us all strength and endurance – and that God’s Spirit would speak through us as we share. May we all grow in Him this weekend!
You could also pray for the vacation Bible school that’s going on in Las Palmas now! The group there needs lots of endurance as well, as they share God’s Word with those kids. Pray that the children would come out, and that God would speak to them through His Word.
Thanks so much! I hope we can see lots of you in Prince Albert on Saturday and Sunday!
Yesterday Shari and Hannah were in the community of Jesús MarÃa, lending a hand at the kids’ club that the church is putting on this week. Quite a crowd, as you can see!
The theme of the year is “Under Construction”, and so there are lots of hard hats and safety vests to be seen. Yesterday, a large group from the power company happened to be meeting right by the club, getting ready to do some repairs. So some people from the church invited a few of them over to stand at the front while the kids sang one of their songs – adding an extra “construction ambience”, and hopefully being a bit of a witness to the workers too! 🙂
As is often the case, there was a little class for the Moms who were hanging around. Shari joined them toward the end, and had a good chance to talk with them.
There are so many challenges that people (including Moms!) go through, and it’s hard to see them struggling to find answers without really knowing Christ. Please pray that God would work in their lives, so that they would accept God’s gift!
And please pray for the church and for the kids as they continue to learn about the Lord today and tomorrow!
Hannah and Nathanael were able to go to part of a kids’ club while visiting their grandparents in Saskatchewan. Here are just a few clips of the games and crafts.
Obviously the theme was "construction". One day was rainy, which is why the games you see were indoors.
Watch for Nathanael and Hannah. He’s wearing an orange shirt, Hannah has a green shirt and purple sweater.