Post 4: “Basically I’m related to half the town.”

Yesterday was another great day. During VBS the gospel was preached. It’s funny, everyone but the bible teachers said it was a crazy day, but the students who were teaching the gospel said that it was the most focused that the students had ever been. After VBS it was a rest day for the team. We tried to keep them on campus at the church until dinner so that we wouldn’t get burned out before the end of the week. Some of us watched “The Princess Bride” and others just slept. A small group couldn’t deal with being cooped up, so they went out to shorts bar and met up with some of the teens and VBS students we’ve been meeting through the week.

Out at the field, Jordan gave a great presentation of the gospel and outlined the Roman Road. He wrapped up by saying, “I’m going to leave this bible here, and if you want to know more just take it.” He ear marked the gospel of John and told them to start reading there. The reactions were interesting and varied. One boy stood up and was about to leave because he didn’t want to hear about the Bible, but his girlfriend stopped him and made him stay. Others were completely enraptured and excited to hear about scriptures. Tamara and Faith also did a great job in sharing their stories with the teens. God was definitely at work in some people out there… kicking up dust.

We wrapped up with a marathon family night. We’ve been talking about God’s will and how lots of people in the church today have a bit of a mystical view of it, like His will is a secret we are supposed to figure out or a magic eight ball we’re supposed to ask of our hard questions. Last night we finally got to the alternative. How do you know what God’s will and we dug into some scriptures telling us what God’s will really is. I encourage you all to look up 1 Thess 4:3. You might be surprised by how clear that passage is on what God’s will is for your life.

We got to bed a little late because the discussion and prayer was so in depth, and today is a big day. On top of the usual, we have baptisms today. Four of our students have decided to be baptized. Joshua Salmon, Sam Runyon, Aaron Clayton, and Faith Rawlins. I am so excited for all of these students and I will be sure to put up pictures after today right after we get back from the river.

Stories:

Yesterday, Aaron and I were wrestling out at rec (he was showing me some moves since he’s one of the best in the state) and I got him into a headlock. He swung his hand up and got his thumb impaled on his nametag. We got it out and bandaged him up, but now I’ve been telling people not to mess with me or I’ll stab them with their nametag. People ask me how and I say “Keep pushing me and you’ll find out!

One of the VBS kids, Zealand who is 5 years old, keeps inviting Sam to come to his house and read him a Starwars book. Yesterday he got really serious, and sat Sam down and gave him turn-by-turn directions of how to get to his house.

Cordell, the child of Bruce Bovey one of the elders at the Church, is 8. He came out to the field with his parents and was throwing the Frisbee farther than some of our students. We couldn’t believe the arm that he has.

Yesterday, when we were walking down the road, Megan was telling us who everyone was. She was saying pointing to different people saying, that’s my cousin, that’s my uncle, that’s my aunt’s sister in law. Then she said, “Basically I’m related to half the town. But it’s all legit. There’s no funny business going on.” It was pretty funny.

Jordan had a sweet moment with the student who took the bible from the field. Sarah, who has a handicap, came up to him and asked, “Do I really get to take this with me?” He said yes and she got a huge smile on her face and started telling him how she was going to tell her mom about everything she was learning and read the bible with her.

We witnessed a miracle yesterday, and I’ll try to explain it. At the field there is a rickety old set of bleachers. The coach of the football team at the school, who is a believer, waters the grass like crazy. He has two huge sprinklers that are sometimes out on the field while we are. They stand in different areas and spray a huge amount of water about 40 yards away and rotate in a circle like a regular sprinkler. While we were playing sports we were dodging the downpour on a regular basis and the front half of the bleachers were getting soaked. Every rotation, the front half of the bleachers got covered. We gathered up and sat in the bleachers thinking we would just sit in the back, but a few students sat closer to the front, so Jordan, Tamara, and Faith decided to stand at the front where the water was. They were just going to step forward out of the spray when it came around every two minutes… but God had other plans. Every time the water came around to where it should have hit the people talking a big wind would pick up and blow the spray away from the bleachers. It happened at least eight times. I was floored. I thought I was the only one who noticed, but right after, Joshua Salmon said, “Guys, did you notice that nobody got wet that whole time?” The very first time the sprinkler came around after we were done speaking it soaked the bleachers again. I love when God shows Himself in little ways like that. I hope some of the locals noticed it too.

Prayer Requests:

- A praise needs to be given to God for the attention that the kids had during the Bible lesson yesterday. It was incredible.

- A couple of the VBS kids like to rough-house with each other and their crew leader is getting worried about it. She would like prayer today that they won’t be a distraction and she’ll be able to keep them in line a little bit more today.

- One of the students at the field is being very receptive to what we’ve been talking about. Even though he claims to be an agnostic he seems to be searching. Please pray for him as he gets more curious. Also pray for his family as he has a bit of a tough home life.

- The student who wanted to leave yesterday talked with Clint afterward and he calmed down a little bit. He also has a bad relationship with his father, so we wanted to pray for healing there.

- One of the teens who has been helping us with VBS and coming out to the field for a couple years now is having a tough time at home. Her dad is on parole but hasn’t been diligent with his parole officer and has been leaving without telling them. She’s also worried he might be breaking his parole in other ways. The officer is visiting this week and she’s worried he might be going back to jail. Please pray for her as this goes on in her life and that if her father does get taken away again, she would be strong through the test and count it all joy.

- One of the large families here, whom we have visited a lot over the years, is having a lot of problems. The parents have recently gotten a divorce and there is a lot of hostility between the family members. There are 6 kids and they are all taking sides. The church that they go to across the road has also taken sides in the conflict and so some of the family has started coming to Salmon River Community Church instead. Please pray for the whole situation as it really tears our hearts up to see something like this happen to one of the stronger families in the town.

- Finally, we want continued prayer for the VBS kids, that they will continue to be receptive to what we’re teaching and they will think about what they sing in music and learn Bible class and all around get impacted by what we’re doing.