God Doubles the Numbers!

Thursday was the final day for us in our sister church in Tuizicaja. What a tremendous day it was!

262 children attended the VBS today and heard the gospel message presented. We presented the plan of salvation at the conclusion of the large group worship time, and over 200 children responded. All the glory goes to God! Even if some of the children did not fully understand, seeds were planted in their hearts. As we followed up with the children in smaller groups, we emphasized the importance of the making the decision to follow Christ. We still had about 150 children who proclaimed Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior for the first time. It was very exciting to see the children who could not wait to share their decisions with us. Please pray that they will continue to grow in their walk with Christ.

We gave them 3 things to help their walk with Christ, and these definitely apply to us in the States as well.
1. Read the Bible: We must read God’s Word to grow in our daily walk.
2. Get in a church: We must get plugged in to a church because we need to be taught and fellowship with other Christians.
3. Pray – We must talk to our Heavenly Father just like we do our earthly parents.

Those of you who helped to make the prayer bears during VBS at Biltmore would have been so happy to see the children receive the bears. The smiles and excitement were more than we could handle. Each child received a prayer bear, a gospel booklet, and pencils. There was so much excitement in the air that the ladies and men even wanted prayer bears, and they all received them. These bears will be forever cherished by the families.

We celebrated with a farewell service last night. It was a very moving service that lasted for 2 hours. At the end, the church presented us with many gifts in appreciation for our work here. The sacrifices that went into these gifts was very humbling. The mother of the pastor presented us with woven gifts that took at least a month of 8 hour days to create. They also presented us with pottery vases that were the finest in the area specially chosen for our team. As we left, there were many tears from the children, and just as many from the adults. We can be sure that we will see them again, whether in Tuizicaja or in heaven. We can’t wait to see them again!

I cannot wait to get back to share the many stories and pictures with all of you. This has truly been a time for me to grow in my walk and learn a lot about what Christ’s love is all about.

Please continue to pray for our team, as well as the families at our sister church.

In His Love,
Mr. Bill