The Fear of the Lord, and the Fear of the Little Ones! (pt. one)

Well ok, the little ones aren't very scary, or scary at all, but it seemed like a good title.
Anyway, this past week has been a great week, but it has also been jam packed with events. Starting with Saturday, June 26th I went down to a town called Villa de Leyva (where Samuel is working, and is also the background of this blog.) There the assemblies have a camp where I worked. For the first three days ( Saturday, Sunday, and Monday) I worked in the kitchen with (obviously) the kitchen staff. The head cook had four daughters 18 and under that helped her out. She also had a friend of theirs helping, and three hired helps as well. It was fun getting to know them, but nothing compared to kids camp.
From Tuesday to Friday I also had the privileged of counseling with the head cook. (Her name is Alma). Together we were responsible for nine girls ages 6-9. We had a blast working with them teaching them, and watching how quickly they soak up information. The theme of this camp was the Fear of the Lord. We looked at who God is in comparison to us, what this Fear is, and why we should have it. As far as the kids were concerned they did a great job paying attention (at least as much as they could) and they responded well to the messages. We also presented the gospel throughout the camp explaining why they needed God and what would happen depending on the decision they make. The whole camp staff did an excellent job presenting the message to the little ones. On Thursday we went down to a really muddy place on the camp grounds and had them get all muddy. The mud represented their sin and how God sees us as unbelievers. Then in a little canyon they placed a log and brought the kids from death by having them sliding across the log. On the other side the kids were reciting Jn. 3:16, Romans 6:23 and other gospel verses. They then also want to sing a few songs, so on the way back to get cleaned up we did. That was probably one of my favorite parts of the camp. For some of the kids it was like "click" "I GET IT NOW". For others it was just fun getting dirty, but we pray that the seed was planted in their hearts.
It was sad to see the kids leave the next afternoon. Some of the counselors also left, while some stayed and worked in the next camp.
I would ask prayer specifically for the nine girls that were in my room: Maria Jose Niño, Maria Jose (last name unkown) Gabriela, Lina, Alieth, Enmanuela, Daniela, Lydia Easter, Laura. Pray that these girls would grow up to know Christ as their savior and Lord and that all they learned would stick in their minds. Also pray that they would continually attend a church and work hard to study their Bibles and be more like Christ.
Thanks so much for your prayers,
God really has given me a good summer so far and I don't want it to end.
Thanks again,
Christina

The fear of the Lord and the fear of little ones!

A week ago Saturday, I went down to a small town that in 3 hours north of Bogota. There the assemblies in Bogota have a camp. This first camp was an Elders-Deacons camp which was actually more of a short term seminarry. (Samuel, I'm sure will tell you more about it as he attended that camp.) From Saturday to Monday I worked in the kitchen mostly washing, drying, and putting away dishes. The rest of the time I was setting and clearing tables, or helping with small things. That weekend went by quickly.
On Tuesday kids from 6-13 years old came. As soon as they arrived we decided that it might be a good time to decide how we are going to divide them up, and what counselor is with whom. Yeah, not exactly effecient, but its Colombian style and eventually everything works out in the end anyway, so there's not really a need to worry right? I had the privlage of working with Alma, a wonderfully organized person. (She also was the head cook in the Elders camp.) We were put in charge of nine 6-9 year olds who were wonderful! The theme for this camp was the Fear of the Lord. Something we as Christians have lost in our walk with God. Our main memory verse for the week was Deuteronomy 10:12 which in spanish is "Ahora pues Israel, que pide Jehová tu Dios de ti, sino que temas a Jehová tu Dios y andes en todos su caminos, y que le ames y sirvas a Jehová tu Dios con toda tu corazon, y con toda tu alma. (Sorry didn't memorize it in english.) Anyway I was able to pay attention to a lot of what the the speakers (one being David Easter) had to say.
I have to go now as i am getting ready to make the "almuerzo"
I will tell you about youth camp and what i learned later  on
thanks for your prayers,
Christina

First Week at Camp

Hi Everyone,

This week was my first week at camp and it was a good one. Monday I got going by fixing a chainlink fence that was smashed by a fallen tree. Tuesday I cut grass and cleaned up the fallen tree. Then Wednesday and Thursday I painted lines on the Basketball court and cleaned some overspray paint of window sills and light fixtures in the dinning hall. Fin

ally Friday I cleaned the camp (with the family that takes care of the facility) so that it would be ready for the camps this weekend and next week. Everything is going well so far there.

This next week is going to probably be the most interesting for me. I am attending a leader's camp that is going to be a lot o

f teaching. Then Tuesday through Friday I am counseling at a kid's camp. Finally, Satruday through Monday I

am counseling at a teen camp. I would really appreciate prayer for an open heart during this time and that God would use me for His glory this week. (I am a little nervous about conseling having never done it before and then adding in a little bit of a language

barrier too. ) Thanks for all the prayer. :)

Samuel.

Lunch or supper??????

So this is a short post to share something that i thought was funny. we had breakfast at 9:30 or so, and at around 11 we had a small snack. the we had half a hot dog and half an arepa (corn flower and water mixed together then fried it in a little butter (sometimes they put cheese and sausage in it... at least that´s what we made)). so i thought that was lunch but to my surprise at 5 we were called for lunch. haha oh you gotta love colombians.
well thanks for putting up with my weird humor,
love you all for reading this,
christina

The view!

Well, today is my 17th birthday and I´m having a blast! I´m staying with a family from one of the churches here and they are so nice. The wife is 7 months pregnant and they have a three year old daughter. (I think little Sophia Easter has competion of cuteness). (BTW you have to forgive my spelling, I´m on a spanish keyboard and am lost without spell check). Anyway, this family lives on the 6th floor of an apartment building and have an incredible view of the city and mountains. Tomorrow I start working at ECS and hope to go to camp on friday. Pictures will come when I can use my own computer. So for now I wish you all a great day, may God bless you.

Oh ok so if you ever come to visit don´t be alarmed by the driving.
Also I was reading in the book of Ezekiel chapter 3 where God is telling to go to the house of Israel and preach. He said not to worry about speaking because He wasn´t sending him to a place with a strange language and that He would give him the words to say. I found this really comforting as camp is comming up and I´m not sure that I can be effective in teaching the kids what they need to know.
Well that´s all for now,
Thanks for keeping up,
Christina

Hi from the Easter's House

Well, I am here at the Easter's House. Plans have come together for me to be going down to Villa de Leyva Sunday afternoon. I will start working on Monday. As of right now the first job has not been settled, but it will be something smaller because next weekend there will is an elders and deacons camp coming down. As I go out for work this next week I would appreciate prayer for safety in travel as well as in my work. On top of that I have some work to do in preparation for counseling at the kids camp in a week, so I would appreciate prayer for that.

Thanks,

Samuel

Get ready.... get set.....

Ok, so we finally made it. We traveled all day yesterday from Dubuque to Bogota, and arrived around 11:30 last night. Praise the Lord that immigration didn't give us any trouble as we were entering on two different passports. (I had to come in as a Colombian, and Samuel as an American.) Right now we are staying with the Dubberlies (spelling?) and are adjusting to the altitude. On Monday I head off to my first full week of work at Emmaus Correspondence School and will be there till Friday when I head off to camp.
We praise God that we got here safely and now are excited to see His plans for the two of us.
That's all I have to say,
Christina