Day 5 - Wednesday, July 4th

On Wednesday we visited a school in a small village called Pedregal and then went back the feeding center in Cantarranas for VBS.

First thing that morning, Ashtyn and I had a really neat surprise at breakfast.  We had the privilege of meeting Pastor Erwin Salgado, the national preacher we sponsor through Final Frontiers.  He is actually the youth pastor of a church in Tegucigalpa.  That morning, Pastor Erwin and Pastor Elmer Umanzor (the senior pastor of their church) had driven out to Cantarranas to meet us.  We spoke for a while before breakfast about the work he does for their church and the 80 + children and teens in their youth group.  He thanked us for our support and shared with us that our sponsorship helps in allowing him to feed his family while serving their church fulltime.  What an honor it was to meet him and hear about his ministry!

After breakfast we all loaded back up into the faithful 4 wheel drive trucks and van that delivered us from village to village and headed out for Pedregal.  We visited a school in this village last year to distribute bags of food and were burdened by what the school principal told us.  She basically said, “I have considered becoming a Christian, but I have not, because many religious groups will visit with a promise to return, but they never do.” After our visit last year, Final Frontiers did return, and faithful Pastor Wilson (yes, the man with 5 other churches) has been working to establish a church here for the past year.

We went back to Pedregal and visited the same school and the same principal we met last year.  Upon our arrival, she assembled all the students into a courtyard so we could all fit.  Some of the group from Harvest Baptist in Lugoff, SC had prepared a presentation for the kids to describe the state of South Carolina and also present the Gospel.  It was a real treat for the kids to learn firsthand about the places we came from.

After the presentation, we sang a few songs for them and then passed out balloons and goodie bags.  We were able to spend a good long time here just playing and interacting with the kids.  Before leaving, we went out into the village beside the school and distributed Gospel tracts to everyone we came into contact with.  As in most places here, the people were very gracious and well receptive of the Gospel.  Sadly, this was in stark contrast to the closed doors and indifferent hearts of many in the United States.

Please pray for the school principal and people of Suyapa.  If I understand correctly, I do not believe she has received Christ yet.  Please also pray as Pastor Wilson continues to establish a church here.

After the visit in Pedregal, we headed back to the feeding center in Cantarranas just in time to help again.  What a blessing to see Wendy faithfully sharing God’s word before their meal each day!  A few of the children from the feeding center hung around and we got to play games and color with them until time for VBS to start.  One fella that caught my heart was named David.  I remember him from last year and believe he has a learning disability; therefore, he cannot attend school.  He had a couple of bruises and a cut on his face, but his smile and heart were very warm.  Please pray for David.

David is on the far right

That afternoon we had the final day of VBS for the children of Cantarranas.  Race Day!! The crowd on Wednesday was just as big, if not bigger than the day before.  With 600+ children and parents packed into the room, Pastor Prosser gave a message and we sang more songs before the race started.  The track was already set up in the middle of the room and the children crowded around it with excitement.  They listened intently as we called out the names they had written on the bottom of their cars before each heat.

After 143 heats in the race, there was a winner for 1st – 6th place.  The prizes ranged from small trophies, to soccer balls, to big bags of food, among other things.  It was good to see that the parents for several of the winners were in attendance to share in the big day and help make sure the prizes stayed with their children. Unfortunately, I do not have many pictures of the race because I was busy with crowd control before, during, and after the race.  I’ll try to post a few from the others in the group in the near future if possible.

To say that distributing all the cars to their rightful owners was a “challenge” might be an understatement, but we managed as best we could.  It was well worth it to see all the fun the children were able to have and all the seeds that were planted in hearts that day.

Please continue to pray that the seeds we planted in Pedregal and Cantarranas on Wednesday will flourish and souls will be saved!

Stay tuned for the update from our last day - Thursday.  It is hard to pick one day as the most touching, but Thursday would definitely be in a tie at the top.