Tuesday

Dear brothers and sisters who have been supporting us through prayer and by following along with our observations of God’s wondrous works here in Kensington. We are humbled by messages of support from so many of you and thank you for your prayers. Please continue to pray for us as we continue to partake in this ministry–we need your prayers.

 

By His grace, we have come to the end of another day. Today the team split into mini-teams in the morning to (a) do demolition work in some of Pastor Vegas’ buildings, (b) prepared the walls of rooms in a nearby church that are to be painted soon, and (c) spend time in fellowship and prayer. By noon, we were ready for lunch and ate Pastor Vega’s Secret Recipe Chili, Philly Cheese Steaks, and more. Soon thereafter, we took both Ben’s and Pastor Vega’s vans to the playground. When we showed up there, we saw many of the same kids as yesterday plus several fresh faces. We also saw a handful of parents sitting on benches on the sides of the playground. Only one parent had been there yesterday. The parents seemed like they were beginning to be interested in what we were doing. Perhaps God is calling them to come and hear the good news too (please pray for the kids and their parents).  Among the activities we engaged them in were basketball and soccer. A few aspiring gymnasts flexed their muscles on the jungle gym and  some more were engaged in perfecting their hand-eye coordination by playing patty-cake, patty-cake.

 

Next, we engaged the kids by bringing them in to the building at the north end of the playground for further activities. We started by singing several interactive songs (please pray that this helps the kids remember our message for today: forgiveness). We repeated a song and the associated motions which we had learned yesterday. Some kids even requested that we do the others we had learned yesterday! Yes, please pray that these simple songs of praise, about Christ and His love stay with the kids beyond the time that we spend with them. We are confident that God is planting seeds in their lives and in the lives of their families. (As Pastor Vega told us in his testimony yesterday, sometimes a person comes to Christ through the testimony of their kids.)

 

After the songs, we performed a skit attempting to illustrate the example of forgiveness illustrated in Matthew 18 by translating this into something the kids would be able to relate to and could remember. We had a question and answer session following the  skit. The kids showed us that they paid attention by answering questions posed and participating in the ensuing discussion facilitated by JW Betts. It was amazing to see God touch the heart of a six-year old boy named Rafi. When asked what forgiveness means, he replied that it is letting someone off the hook even though they really don’t deserve it. JW made it a point to show the kids how important forgiveness in their lives.

 

After the skit, the kids made hand puppets for the kids that said, “I can forgive” while the back said “By his grace, Jesus has forgiven me though I did not deserve it”. They decorated them and drew faces on them. Some team members engaged the parents in conversation at this time. Once the decorations on the puppets ha d dried, we headed back to the mission center to prepare for a trip to the subway terminal. (Pray that through something even as small as a puppet these kids would be able to remember what it means to forgive and that God forgave them their sins.)

 

Upon returning to the mission center, we found  a wonderful dinner prepared by Pastor Vega awaiting us. After being strengthened physically, we left for the inner city subway terminal where we shared meals and the gospel with the homeless. (Pray for them that they would search for Christ.) 

 

-Evgeni