We very much enjoyed our time with 18 team members from Hope Community, Mt. Joy, PA, here from July 20-28, including the church’s senior pastor, Kirk Belmont. While here, the group of teenagers and adults participated in a soccer tournament, an English class, two hearing aid/reading glasses outreach events, and a visit to a nearby rehab center. But the centerpiece of their time here was helping the young Palmas 1 church put on our first DVBS program, entitled It Happened in Babylon, a 5-day review of the life of Daniel.
The Palmas 1 church only has about 8-10 kids on average every Sunday, so it was exciting to see a maximum of 31 kids at the DBVS program. During a couple of the days a number of the team were able to visit the Jesus María DVBS program, that has been going on now for around 12 years, this year with a maximum number of 150 kids attending!
It’s always fun to hear about a team’s experiences in the homes of Mexican believers, both from the visitors as well as the host families!…the 18 people from Hope stayed in 9 Mexican homes.
The priorities for our short-term times here are a bit different perhaps from the typical short-term experience. Although often we do service projects (even painting!), that is not the priority. The priorities are developing relationships, understanding culture a bit, and serving alongside a vibrant Mexican church. And hopefully along the way, worship takes place, both planned and spontaneous. We talk about how often service can be about control, rather than about serving in a vulnerable, dependent way. We talk about how the universal, international church can and should function. We talk about how every believer, no matter what language they speak or how much or little they have, is equal in the body dynamic of Jesus’ church. Our hope is always that both the national church here and the visiting team leave having received a blessing!
Below, some pics of this last week, and a short video at the very end. Don’t miss it!