Nauta!

Although our time here is short, our team has broken up into different zones all over the city, looking to the Lord to lead us to people who either do not know the Lord, or people who simply need some encouragement and love. Each day, different people come back with amazing stories. On the first day of street ministry, a couple who had lost a baby just three weeks ago came to know the Lord, praise God! 

Many people in the city are suffering from illnesses, and we have jumped in to pray for them. It’s amazing to see how a simple game of futbol (soccer) can show God’s love to the children.  Some of us are being stretched outside our comfort zone, speaking a language that we are not completely comfortable speaking, and others are quickly learning bits and pieces of the language. However, there are many places in Nauta that are in desperate need of the Lord’s intervention. I am in awe of how you can walk through one neighborhood and feel the love of the children, and then you turn down another road, and there is evident darkness. 

Please pray for the people of Nauta, as we will be leaving them soon.
The team would also like to tell you all how blessed we are to be here. On one of the first days in Nauta, we led a children’s program, and during the program there was a downpour of rain. So what do we do? We grabbed the kids by the hand and played in the rain! However, it didn’t stop there. The inner-child in ourselves came out in full force…we got a little muddy—well that’s an understatement, we got extremely muddy. And we may have been having more fun than the children at times…but it was a blessing to just “be a kid” an laugh with the children. 

One of the things that touched us the most was that, after playing in the mud, the little girls followed us to the well so we could clean up, and they were so kind and focused on getting us clean. I will never forget the girls’ hands wiping my face and fingers going into my ears to make sure the mud was completely gone. Also, we’ve had many interesting food experiences: alligator (it’s awesome to most of us), chicken, fish, lots of rice and eggs. It’s all amazing—although some are ready for a nice American meal. But we will survive. Also, one team member (Eric) celebrated his birthday this week and the cocineras baked a birthday cake, which was very delicious. They are a blessing.
The team continues to draw closer to each other. So many victories were won at training camp, and more occur each day. God has truly brought us together for a reason, and it’s not accident that each member is here. We thank you for your continued prayers, and can’t wait to share more experiences with you soon.