INFOP Day of the Student

It has already been a year since we celebrated Day of the Student at the agricultural school!  Normally all the students have to wear blue uniforms but for this day they get to relax and hopefully have fun.

I (Matt) started the morning off with a talk/devotional/sermonette on 1 Corinthians 9:24-25:

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, 

but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.  

Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. 

They do it to receive a perishable wreath, 

but we an imperishable.

My message was basically that all of life is a race and so it is very important to know what your final goal is or you may miss it!  We can be distracted by lots of little goals but the most important is to turn our lives over to Jesus Christ, to run for Jesus and to His glory!

We don't have pictures of all the games and activities but below are shots of some of the fun!

Ellen is off to the side explaining "lawn golf" or "ladder golf"

This was a super noisy game as they all shouted and cheered almost continuously!

There were also some of the traditional games like the egg on the spoon relay.

That's the director standing in the middle of Tug of War in the white shirt.  I really appreciate that he is so supportive of the kids that he helped out the entire time!

"The war that wouldn't end!"  The tug-a-war competitions went on and on!!  

We introduced a new “game” shooting off paper rockets using a bicycle air pump and a launcher made from PVC.  

We went out to INFOP the day before and helped each student make their own rocket.

The rocket competitions included best looking rocket, furthest flying rocket, and even a contest for accuracy.  

I asked several students what they enjoyed the most and it was always the rockets!

What a great way to finish a hot day of games but with a water game!!  They played it until there wasn't enough water left in the barrels to have a race, and then they dumped that water out on each other!!

Why waste our time on games?  Because it's fun and God made us to enjoy this life that He has given us.  So, we spend ourselves even in helping others simply enjoy God's goodness!

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; 

I (Jesus) have come that they may have life, 

and have it to the full. 

 John 10:10

Lifting Up the Floors

Well, maybe we didn't really lift up a floor but what we did was put in a support beam on top of a wall instead.

Pastor Gustavo came to me and was very tentative in asking the question could they use the funding for a floor to help a man in the church who was in the process of building a house.  I thought it was wonderful that the church would want to come alongside this brother and bless him as he works to provide a home for his wife and baby!

Here Pastor Gustavo and Alex, the homeowner, are mixing cement.

You can see in the background Alex's adobe house that he has been building with the help of friends and family, with adobe bricks he has made by hand.

Here's a little close up of the wall with Ellen, Mari (Alex's wife) and their baby, Alex.

You can see that in the photo that the wall is topped with terra-cotta roof tiles to protect it from the rain.  The cement beam will provide that protection and greater strength by tying all the walls together.

Ellen is checking out the progress.

And it looks good!

This is hard physical labor (especially in 90+ degree temps) and what a wonderful labor of love for the church to come alongside this brother to help out with!!

Thank you for your gifts and prayers that make this work possible!!

Unless the Lord builds the house,

    the builders labor in vain.

Unless the Lord watches over the city,

    the guards stand watch in vain.

Psalm 127