Men

Today saw the completion of the work projects.  The second pit was nearly finished but it turns out our friendship theme was ordained from before our arrival.  The guys who worked on digging these pits had to exercise more than their muscles this week needing to interact with the local people more than ever.  The men also completed about half of the digging needed for the septic tank at the new Compassion site on the church property.
A special opportunity was presented today with the help of the women's team.  Yesterday during home visitations the women were approaching a house and the residents were asking them not to come in.  Finally they were invited in and things became clear.  Alma, the mother of four, confessed that her husband is an alcoholic and can't stop spending his entire paycheck on corn whiskey - all $4 of it.  She asked us to pray for him when he finally appeared.  Miguel, the father, confessed that he wanted to stop drinking and asked the women to pray for him, which they did.  Next they invited him to come hear some testimonies and receive prayer from the men from our team.  After some open sharing we asked him if he wanted to ask Jesus for help and to surrender his life to God.  Miguel thought long and hard but finally, broken, he repeatedky said "Yes, I want him.  Yes."  The Holy Spirit was strong and our team enjoyed welcoming a new brother into the Kingdom.  Pastor Miguel was present and offered the full support, love, and acceptance of his church.  Finally, the entire family received an enormous lunch and ate until they were completely full.  We all felt full - not just in our stomachs today.




Women

The women's team rocked the community today!  The fellowship enjoyed between our team and the women of the church was beautiful.  They cooked and they laughed.  At lunch time, all the teams met at the church and, along with the people of the community, had a food fair.  Offerings ranged from pasta with home made spaghetti sauce to empanadas.  Our team enjoyed treating all our friends from the community to hot lunch, treats, and local favorites.  The purpose of the fair was to raise funds to complete the tile floor in the church.  The final tally is yet to be known but as soon as we do we'll share it with you.

Youth

The youth team enjoyed an incredible harvest today with the at risk grades at the local school.  The team spent lots of intentional prayer time last night and this morning really preparing our hearts to meet these kids where THEY are at - not to preach a message to them.  We changed strategies and turned on the joy this morning, welcoming them in Spanish and creating an inviting atmosphere.  Then, after an ice breaker game, we had a team member share his testimony about his life before Christ which included drugs, alcohol, and even jail time.  The kids finally were relating to us!  We then separated the girls from the boys and while the girls had small group time, the boys played an aggressive (and fun) game of futbol (soccer).  The girls made some significant relationships and we even exchanged emails with several of them.  All in all, the walls came crumbling down today and we made some new friends.