Matt and I serve as coordinators of one of the 5, yes 5! Sunday morning children's services at our church, Comunidad Cristiana de Arequipa here in Peru. Here are some pictures of us (okay really me - Matt was behind the camera) preparing for Sunday morning and then teaching. The pictures were taken in December, hence the artistic manger scene in the background.
There are also a couple pictures of our precious preschoolers!
On Christmas Day, we were able to participate in a great outreach that our church, Comunidad Cristiana de Arequipa, does here each year at Christmastime. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, the church collects donations of nonperishable foods, clothing, food, and toys. On Christmas day, volunteers go out from the church all over the state of Arequipa and the neighboring state of Puno to distribute the donations to the least fortunate in our area. This year MCMINTL participated and was able to contribute over 8,000 pounds of donations! Thank you for giving and being a part of Tons of Love!
By Christmas day, the church had surpassed their goal of over 250,000 pounds of donations! It was an awesome outreach to be a part of.
Lots of red onions!
And many, many potatoes. My head is in there... can you spot it? **Look for the different colored hair :).
Tomatos.
After bagging everything up, we drove to the outskirts of town to distribute the gifts.
Waiting in line to receive clothing.
Notice the looks of hope and expectancy that develop as the distribution begins.
Halfway through the distribution, a young man from the church talked about the real reason why we celebrate Christmas and shared the Gospel message.
There were many smiles.
Children and families were blessed by Tons of Love. Thank you for giving!
One of the things we are most passionate about is training children's ministry leaders and teahers so that they can reach children in their own language and culture. Here we are in our weekly Skype meeting with one of the children's leaders at Alas de Fe church in El Alto, Bolivia.
The week before Christmas, we loaded up the car with Christmas presents and headed to Bolivia. It is a 7 hour drive to the border.
In the first hour and a half, you climb from 7500 to over 13,000 feet and for the rest of the drive, you remain above 13,000 feet, reaching altitudes up to 15,000 feet.
The people who live in what they call the ‘altiplano’, or high plain, are a tough people. They live in harsh conditions. We drove through fog, rain, wind, and even hail. We thank God for providing us with a 4 wheel drive vehicle which handled the road conditions like a pro!
Pastor Ben and Pastor Ernie from Bolivia met us at the border, we transferred all of the gifts, ate a quick lunch, and drove the 2 hours back to Alas de Fe church. Alas de Fe Church is in El Alto which looks over the big city of La Paz.
We were able to bring special gifts this trip for the preschool children. When Matt lived in Bolivia in 2007/2008, he built an awesome playground that the kids play on every week, rain or shine.
The playground has always been great for the older kids, but a bit out of the preschoolers’ age range. To take care of that, this trip we purchased a plastic mini-playground that fit in the preschool classroom so that the preschoolers can safely play inside.
The preschoolers loved it! The slid and slid and slid down the slide. They just couldn’t get enough! We also bought them legos and blocks with which they can express their creativity and engage their minds.
They had so much fun with their age-appropriate toys!
The children’s ministry in Bolivia just keeps growing and growing.
For Christmas, Matt and I wrote a drama which was performed during the Christmas Eve children’s outreach. All week while we were in Bolivia, Matt and I helped direct the practices as the children’s team prepared for the big day. We gave tips here and there and helped pack hundreds of goodie bags for the kids to take home.
MCMINTL was able to give so that the children’s ministry could reach more children. Thank you for your giving and prayers that allow us to pour into the lives of children around the world.
It was a great trip and God gave us favor and went ahead of us every step of the way.
We are grateful that we’ve always had favor as we’ve moved in and out of countries in South America. Please continue to partner with us in prayer for more leaders to work in the children’s ministry at Alas de Fe Church as they reach out to many children in one of the poorest regions of the country.
And we are back. Happy New Year! Stay tuned to our blog we have a bunch of stuff to write about. We have had an awesome year here at MCMINTL. But for now enjoy this way cool kids space.
I love this space! Way cool chairs. But, the best part about the whole room? Two words: gigantic chalkboard!I am a huge fan of chalkboards, especially when they are painted onto a wall that allows kids to draw and write all over them. In fact, it’s been on my heart for a long time to put gigantic chalkboards in all the churches we work with. I think they hold such huge potential. Teachers can use them to draw scenes from the Bible when they are telling a story or utilize them to create games to play with the kids. They can also be used as a medium to help kids express their thoughts and ideas or creatively draw out stories and lessons. Chalkboards invite children to express their imagination and they open a door to help us minister better to children.
