Wednesday's Update

You have to hear from me today because of the events of the night didn’t allow for a student to write. I’ll explain all that in a minute.

Austin engaging some kids

Wednesday was a great day for our group. The morning continued with our work at Darlene & Ray’s and at the church. We are so close to be finished at their house. That family has become very significant to us, so we are all excited about finishing.
In the afternoon the group split up because we were starting our VBS program. We passed out flyers in the community the day before to invite the kids to the program. The kids came in so nervous and wary of what was going to happen. But our kids instantly grabbed them and got them involved. Even the older kids that thought they were “too cool” were in the midst of the program by the end. I was so proud of our kids for the way that they engaged them. The rest of the group continued working on Darlene and Ray’s house, but had to quit early because the intensity of the wind was too strong and made it a bit treacherous on the roof.

Teaching new songs at VBS

We had some free time before dinner and we learned how to make Navajo Fried Bread. It was delicious and had a similar texture and look to a funnel cake or elephant ear, but not quite the same taste. We used them later for Navajo tacos and a dessert with honey and sugar.
Later our nightly program blended with the church’s Wednesday night program. Their band allowed Dalton and Parker Stacks to join them in helping to lead worship. They fit right in and did a great job. Clark, one of the Team Effort staff, shared that night. Our prayer groups this night were particularly good as the kids are starting to open up more and more. Clark asked us to share our testimonies in our groups, so it was good to hear kids sharing where they are and have been spiritually. It was already a great night, but it got more intense.
Everybody was suddenly asked to come back to the chapel around 9:15pm. A young man named Kiao, who is part of the church and had been around earlier in the week, died earlier that day when he fell at a creek, hit his head, and drowned. Some people were on their way to visit this 22-year-old young man’s family, who aren’t believers, and they asked for our prayers as they went. They shared about Kiao’s life, his recent decision to follow Christ (about a year ago), and the things that brought him joy. This experience obviously got the attention of our students. We knelt around Bo and his wife, the people who were going to visit with the family, laid hands on them, and prayed. It was certainly a prayer experience that our kids won’t soon forget. At that point, though, many of our kids were shaken. They slowly dispersed to different parts of the sanctuary or back outside. But some the leaders realized that we needed to be together and continue talking this out. Kids were really dealing with the eternal significance of all of it. We gathered the boys together in one corner, and the girls soon gathered in another. The boy leaders shared that they loved the kids too much to not confirm that each kid knew their eternal destination. We talked for a while, some of them shared what they were feeling, and then we invited them to kneel in the middle if they needed to pray to receive Christ as savior and LORD. A handful of them joined us there and we prayed through them asking Christ to take over their lives because they knew that they couldn’t get their on their own. The girls had a similar experience where they girls were invited to pray in their own hearts to accept Christ.
To say the least, it was an intensely powerful evening. God has desperately been trying to get the attention of these students. He did it through some unique experiences and year ago in Brooklyn and He is doing it again. Please pray that He would genuinely get their attention. Not in a way that lasts for a week and it gone, but in a day-to-day long term personal relationship way.
On a fun note, Sarah Wiehe, on of the small group leaders for this class who recently moved away to Colorado surprised the group and flew in last night. What an amazing surprise for a group of girls that really missed her!
God is doing a lot here. Pray for our VBS this afternoon and our visit to the Hopi Indian Village after that.
Cheers,
Casey

The daily Kieren Pic