Saturday Church Meeting

Linda and I spent the morning putting more of our video reports together. A DVD we will be sharing with their friends and family when they get back to the states.

With the Gables taking the full month of May to visit family and friends and raise support in the states, we needed to have a meeting with pastors, people in small business, and other church leaders.

The Gables put together a full packet of how things need to run with them gone. They spoke about respecting Scarleth, Oscar, Leo, and myself in their absence. They also let the church know that Larry was going to be here to drive the team around and help with any emergencies.

The meeting took about an hour and a half and we addresses a lot of important topics, with times to answer questions and concerns. Of the 40 or so people there, everyone seemed ready to work together and keep things running as close to normal was we can during the Gables US trip.

Larry Sellers got to Leon this afternoon, and is resting after a day of travel at Marcela's house. I will get up with him tomorrow to get a lot of things he brought down that I could not pack in my original trip.

Colons Home, and Youth Night

This morning Tommy, Linda, and I sent the Colons in a taxi to the airport for their return back to SteeleCreek Charlotte, NC. They were unbelievable in their 4 days in the village. They both led the target 3 straight days for 3 hours each day, and Pastor Gilberto led the evening services on Sunday then Tuesday-Thursday. The congregation was really moved and we had around 10 professions of faith in the nights he spoke. Having a Spanish speaking pastor makes such a difference, and we are very thankful for all the Colons did here.

Scarleth and I ran youth group, and with Tommy under the weather we brought Pastor Pedro along to speak to the teenagers. He is a young pastor born in Leon, but has been living in Portland for years. He and his wife and 2 girls have just moved back to Leon because he has a call to start a church here. We met him when Pinnacle was here, and Tommy asked him to come along with us anytime he wanted, and we have hoped he would be available to speak on Fridays and Sundays during May when the Gables are in the states.

Scarleth and I started the night with a game we did at Montilemar with pictures, songs, soundbytes of different athletes, celebrities, presidents etc and the kids have to run to be the first in a chair then give the correct answer. They seemed to have a lot of fun with that and Daniel led some good worship.

Pedro spoke on making good decisions, and how what you do as a teenager makes a world of difference in the rest of your life. The kids had great attention, and once again we saw how much better a service is without the dead space time of speaking English and them waiting to hear it in Spanish. We are really excited for him to here and help us in May and hopefully more after.

THURSDAY TARGET

We went out to Candelaria around noon and stayed through the evening service. Pastor Gilberto had a group of over 25 men, and Maritza had the more or less the same amount of women for an afternoon class of the target day 2. The groups met for 3 hours.

Leo ran baseball practice, and is now taking time before practice to share some scripture and bible stories with the team, along with the required prayer before and after practice.

For the time that the Colons are here: Santa Matilde, La Isla, Tonola, and others in Chichigalpa are being trucked in for the evening service, so the chruch is packed with all ages. Pastor Gilberto led the evening service with Daniel leading worship. Yaihaira and Rigaberto had worship and shared bible stories with over 60 children.

WEDNESDAY TARGET

We went out around the sametime today for target day 2. The Colons had numbers of about 25 each again. Linda and Scarleth took the truck to Chinadega to look and price some tile for dental clinic flooring.

Leo ran baseball practice, and is now taking time before practice to share some scripture and bible stories with the team, along with the required prayer before and after practice.

The coolest part of this for me was the number of teenage boys not on the baseball team that were paying attention and interested that Leo, a 25 year old would share the Bible with them and not just older people or visitors from the US.

I got things setup for Daniel's worship in the laptop, as well as Pastor Gilberto's sermon notes and scriptures. I also did my best to keep the children entertained with a dry erase board because the baseball field was occupied for practice.

The numbers trucked in from surrounding villages filled the church again and Pastor Gilberto spoke on superstitions. The congregation enjoyed his sarcasm and upbeat service about some crazy superstitions people believe. Rigaberto and Griselda helped with nearly 40 children behind the pastors house sharing Bible stories.

TUESDAY TARGET

We went out to Candelaria around noon. Pastor Gilberto had a group of over 25 men, and Maritza had the more or less the same amount of women for an afternoon class of the target day 1. The groups met for 3 hours and shared testimonies and scripture.

In another corner of the church the newest members of the sewing class were meeting. A couple of women who finished the class in early February are now teaching new women. With 2 teachers the total people in the group varies from 10-12 women meeting 3 days a week. It is very exciting to see them growing and independent like the gardeners.

I worked on keeping kids playing outside and keeping the church quiet for the classes, and got things setup for the night service. For the time that the Colons are here: Santa Matilde, La Isla, Tonola, and others in Chichigalpa are being trucked in for the evening service, so the chruch is packed with all ages. Pastor Gilberto led the evening service with Daniel leading worship. Yaihaira and Rigaberto, after worship, shared bible stories with over 60 children.

Monday off with the Colóns

Today is a day off for the entire team. In the afternoon we will go to the beach closest to Leon, Poneloya, and enjoy time with the Colóns. Stay for sunset and dinner, then come back for a full nights sleep.

The next 3 days will be very long in the village. The teaching of "The Target" will have classes all 3 days in Candelaria and then Pastor Gilberto will lead services every night. I think we will be in the villages something like 12-8 everyday, but we are all excited about this teaching, Tim has already done it at Steele Creek in Charlotte, and speaks very highly of it.

The beach was great, and the Colons enjoyed the time with Tommy, Linda, and myself. The tide was really high and a huge stingray had washed up. Some of the locals had skinned it and taken all the meat by the time we got there. Can't imagine what that tastes like, but I guess they like it.

We had a great dinner and good conversation, getting to know each other better.

Pastor Gilberto Begins "The Target"

Pastor Gilberto Colón is the Latino Connection Pastor at Steele Creek Church of Charlotte, NC. His profile on their website reads:
Born in New York City, Pastor Colón moved to Puerto Rico as a teen and remained there for 17 years. Currently he actively reaches out to the Spanish and English speaking Latino community in Charlotte. Teaches and equips in accordance with SCCC doctrine and vision.

He is here with his wife, Martiza, for a week teaching "The Target." He will be leading Sunday night service as well as events Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in Candelaria.

Oscar and Scarleth get to take a break from standing up front interpreting and instead will be sitting with Tommy, Linda, Tim, and myself letting us hear the service in English. Oscar's wife, Jennifer came for the second straight week and she seems to really enjoy her time with us there. They send their thank yous to all the prayers for their marriage problems the past months.

Daniel led worship with Tommy on drums and Darling singing backup. Scarleth and I ran the powerpoint. The worship time was really great, maybe the best praise songs we have had at a Sunday service. Pastor Jose introduced G&M and they said their greetings from US, NC, and SC. Then Gilberto began the first of his 4 day teaching. The service was different for me, but I enjoyed it with Scarleth's help. The villagers were very into it, I'm sure they liked having a fluent guest Pastor for a change. 3 men and a woman all came foward at the end of the service and Pastor Gilberto prayed for each of them, and Tim shared some scripture with them and had the congregation acknowledge their decisions.

Yahaira did another great job with the kids. She taught the story of Daniel in the lion's den with the Spanish Bible Stories DVD as an aid. She keeps the attention of around 30 kids from ages 3-13 in the Pastors house for over any hour after worship Sunday nights. She is such a servant and blessing to us everyday she goes out. She let us know yesterday that with some of the support Sarah of IHBC has given her she wants to take some English classes to be a better help to us when we have teams here and also just easier to communicate with our team!