Dedication Day, Continued.

When we arrived back at the village yesterday morning, we set about sanding, painting, installing roofs and cleaning the homes.

Each group took time to communicate with the family who would be living there about what they wanted on the walls of the home, and with a vibrant seafoam green as a base for the walls inside these blessed homes, the groups painted rainbows, human-sized flowers, palm trees, mountain scenes, crosses, butterflies, verses, phrases, handprints and names on the walls. Each house became a beautiful and unique representation of each family and each group that put their hands and hearts into building the homes.

After lunch, it was time for dedicating the homes. In our evening deevotions the night before, we discussed the critical importance of staying engaged spiritually as each group presented the family they built for with gifts like clothes, dishes, towels, and the ultimate and most precious gift, the Word of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Truly, we saw miracles at each house. We saw hearts that had been hardened from years of cultural expectations softened to the love of Jesus Christ. We saw little children dedicate their lives to Christ and commit, even at such young ages, to following Christ all the days of their lives. We saw clear physical reminders that our God is all-powerful, all-knowing and present at all times. We saw men bless their wives and chlidren- men who have been angry, agressive and abusive toward their families for many years. We saw babies and little children begin a new life of hope and love in Jesus Christ because their parents hearts were broken and softened and opened to the love of Christ. We saw many tears, many smiles, many hearts rejoicing in the renewed spirit that comes when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. But most importantly, we saw four families- FOUR families- in one village commit their lives to follow Jesus Christ, and prayer partners (that’s you!), we know that’s why we’re here.

Dan reminded us last night that God didn’t need us for any of that, but He allowed us to be a part of it, to experience His glory in a rural mountain village, far away from our homes and families.

To tell each story from each house would take literally hours, because each family is so complex and each family has a story. But we want you to know that even while you were prayer for these families thousands of miles away, and we were in prayer for them here, and others were in prayer from them across the globe, God heard our prayers and let us watch him answer them!!

Today, we are preparing to bring a medical clinic to another rural mountain village. Meds are being packaged, coloring sheets folded, and our hearst prepared for another spiritual battle, of a different kind. This time, we don’t have three days to bulid relationships with the family. We aren’t building houses for them, we won’t have time to learn about their stories and challenge, and we don’t have time to digest and think about what we and you can pray for.

In the clinic and in the village, we will only be there for a few hours, but it will be a critical few hours. Please pray that the immediacy and urgency of the Gospel of Jesus Christ will enter these people’s hearts. Pray that we will continue to stay healthy (so far, noo major incidences or illnesses). Pray that we will come and go safely from the village, and that our vans make it without incident. Pray for their hearts and ours, that God would connect the wires, because even though we’re different, we know that we’re all human and we all desire to know a love like Christ’s love. And most of all, pray that this love- Christ’s love- is present and abundant and is the ultimate focus of all we do.

Finally, don’t forget to leave us comments (either here or on our individual pages), because we love to know that we have prayer partners all over the place! We have been rejuvenated by a good night’s sleep last night, and we are truly blessed by your support and love. Also, we posted a few pictures, so please check those out to see some snapshots our our time here!

God bless!

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