Today, I had the opportunity to sit down and share the gospel "full-out" with three girls. Two of the girls wanted Jesus to clean their hearts "hoy" (today). So they prayed with me after we had talked for for about 30 minutes. God knows their hearts! The third girl I shared with one-on-one. We had been talking, she was asking me to say things in English, sing in English etc She then asked me about the bracelets I was wearing (bracelets that have the wordless book colors on them). So, I told her that the bracelets told a story. She wanted me to tell her the story. We went and sat down and I began telling her the greatest story in the world, the gospel. For a seven year old girl, she was asking lots of good, solid questions! Anyways, I told her what all the bracelets represented (a gold crown for heaven, a black fruit representing sin, a red cross representing salvation, a green flower representing growing and christ and a white (clean) heart representing a "cleaned from sin heart") I love it when a child is interacting with the story and asking lots of questions. And one of the best questions to hear from a child is one along the lines of, "So what does my heart look like?" She asked me the question after seeing the white heart. Boom. I'll take that opportunity! I told her that I didn't know whether her heart was the dirty one or the clean one but that "the Bible says if we believe in Jesus as our savior and ask Him to forgive us our sins, He cleans our heart." Child like, earnest faith. Earnest questioning. I love it. I think I'll be seeing that little girl again, but I pray she will go home and think hard.
Later today, we will be doing another bible club. It is called "Joyas Preciosas," which means precious jewels. Ah, I love this kind of work. Over-excitement is perfectly acceptable with kids. Over-expression is great when talking with kids. Joking around and saying crazy things works well in building relationships with kids. Kids want to talk; kids want to tell stories, kids want somebody to play and laugh with. But the most exhilarating thing is when you look into the eyes of a kid who "gets it." Who realizes, " I am a sinner and cannot do anything to solve me problem.... BUT Jesus died on the cross, in my place." Ah what a glorious privilege we have as Christians to share the gospel with others... with children.
We had one club last night, one this morning, one this afternoon, and then later today I will go to church group for 18-24 yr olds or something like that.
So far, I've been working in the school with the k-3 and k-4 year olds, and will continue I believe the whole time I'm here. Then, certain nights of the week, I'll be visiting various kids from the various bible clubs at their houses. Weekends hold a lot of children's ministry.
I'm very excited about the time I have here! Cannot wait to see what else will happen! God gives joy.
Gracias por sus oraciones! (Thank you for your prayers)
