Celebrating With the Angels!

Sunday afternoon we joined the church from Xepocol on a "little" hike to the river to baptize 11 people!  It was going to be 12, but one had to do something at a school in Santa Cruz.  There was a new family the the church has been evangelizing, the husband of one of the members, and several teens from the church, including ABC program kids.  After the baptism we headed back up for worship services and filled the auditorium.  We asked the church to gather up for a picture afterward to compare to a 2007 photo we have.  What a huge growth!  Here are some pics from the day.  Please keep these new Christians in mind when you pray, that they will learn to follow Jesus' commands and be led by the Spirit.

Tomas and Noe being the ever gentleman and

bringing in more rocks for people to cross the river

Tomasa - ABC Child -

sister to Esteban and Ana below

 

Cannot remember this ladies name

but part of a family that was baptized.

Can you find us??

 

 Cannot remember this boys name but he is

part of a family that was baptized

 Esteban - ABC Child

 



  Manuel Esteban - ABC Child and

brother of Ana. 

Cristina - ABC Child and sister of Maria who

works with us as a dental assistant. 

Ana - Previous ABC Child

Silvia Manuela - ABC Child - looks like she is 8 but is 12.

 

Here is a before and after picture of the Xepocol Church family

 

 

In 2007

 

In 2013!!  Wonderful growth....

ABC Birthday Gifts

Each month we deliver ABC gifts to children whose sponsors send in some extra funds.  We normally try to get photos of each of these children but it is not always possible, but this last time we were able to get some photos.

Alicia Josefina

 

 Alicia Josefina, mom and little brother

 

 Leslie

Mycol opening the gift

 Mycol

 

Mycol and his mom.  Mycol is finishing 6th grade and

we have been trying to encourage him to go to middle school

This is Ingrid Mishelle.  Ingrid has a also has a little brother with cerebral palsy.

 

 

Sheri, Sara, Mario and Kemmel are heading out to the community of these kids for an annual area-wide church conference that will go for a couple of days with hundreds worshiping together.  Hopefully the rain will stop or it will make it a very long day.

Goings On

Our last couple of weeks have been packed with activities--some work and some play which is always nice!  Dr. Sara and I (Lisa) were blessed to take part in an educational conference two weeks ago to get certified in cervical cancer screening using the Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (or VIAA) method.  It was a long week of study and clinical practice but well worth it.  As a group we attended to more than 700 women and treated several for precancerous lesions with cryotherapy.  This is a service we want to begin here in our area soon and pray that it will help us reach many women who have never been screened and also open more doors for future evangelism contacts. 

After finishing the course Kemmel and I took advantage of some saved up days and made a trip to Hollywood, FL for some relaxation and a visa renewal stamp.  The tickets on Spirit airlines to Ft. Lauderdale were too cheap to pass up so we took off!  We love Hollywood Beach because of the beautiful beach, long boardwalk and ease of public transportation.  In fact one of our favorite pass times is riding around on the buses and seeing what (and who) there is to see.  Although entertaining, it is sometimes so frustrating waiting on a bus that is late or passed by earlier than you arrived and only comes by every 20-30 minutes.  One day we took the bus to a shopping center with plans to get back in time to eat dinner in the park at the food truck row.  We should have had plenty of time but the bus never came and after waiting an hour it started to rain with us out in the open and no covered bus stop in sight.  After getting completely soaked we decided to scrap the dinner plans and run over to Red Lobster for dinner (I know, "who eats at Red Lobster when they are visiting the coast???")  and just call a cab to take us back to the hotel.  After being seated we saw our bus pass by (1.5 hours late)!  It helps us realize what a lot of people have to go through to get to work and get groceries, and just survive every day, and what a privilege it is to have your own vehicle or live close to work.  It also opened our eyes to the rudeness and indifference people routinely face, and how a kind word or show of compassion shines like a spotlight.

Anyway, we are back in the saddle and tomorrow we get to celebrate 9 baptisms with the church in Xepocol.  They are such a loving church and their good reputation in their town is drawing people to Christ. Praise God and keep looking for opportunities to do good!