Update from the field: SCC in Honduras (Fri-Mon)

Unless the LORD builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
It is in vain that you rise up early,
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep  (Psalm 127:1-2)

I had opportunity to share these verses tonight with the "Sunrise 10" (and our many new friends) as we debriefed and testified to God's work today. We've only been here three days, each day rising up early and, for many, going late to rest...but not tonight, trust me. But one consistent thread of what folks shared tonight is how the Lord is doing the work of building -- in many cases literal (building the foundation of the orphanage's first building), in others symbolic (building into the lives of both children and adults in villages - through the love of Christ in both Word and deed), in all personal (He is doing a work to build us personally and us as a team representing SCC). And so tonight..."He gives to His beloved SLEEP"!! We are looking forward to this last one especially!

Day 1:  Football (soccer) with Kids, evangelism work, construction work on storage room for orphanage at the Village San Francisco.
Day 2: Sunday worship service, lunch with kids at the Buffalo village, door-to-door evangelism at nearby village, Evening worship service with congregation in Vale de Los Angelos (Valley of the Angels).
Day 3: Construction work on storage room for orphanage - pretty much all day long. Playing with kids and blessing them with Bibles and such.

What I'll do here is just include some pictures of our time so far and a comment or two along the way.

Team in waiting at Owen Roberts. Seating was unassigned but first come first serve so we are waiting here to make a mad dash for seats on that airplane.

Some of the goodies we gave to children without

Tara Nielsen, Kimberly Parker & Genevieve Georgiades must've painted over 100 faces in just a couple days

The Work begins. Led by Mister Ray Jones of course. Omar Francis and our great missionary friend, Joe Denton.

I'm so proud of our team for taking advantage of both intentional and "surprise" opportunities to share the gospel. One afternoon we took bags of rice & beans and handed them out door-by-door along with a gospel presentation.

One boy, Orlando, found a bit of a crush on Genevieve Georgiades. I had to show him my wedding ring just so he'd stop forbidding me from talking with her.

Having allowed me to preach amongst his church body in Buffalo, Pastor Omar and I had a chance to visit his church facility whose roof was recently damaged. We raised enough money in offering to fix the roof!! Praise God!

Pinata Time. Things got nuts. Mad scramble for candy. One mother encouraged her daughter to go back into the mad scramble for more after she only retrieved a couple candies!

Helping Brother Ray complete the Sack Race - a great sport as always (and intense competitor)

Lovane (aka Coach Pelo) helping the kids succeed on the pitch

Sean Glidden entertaining us during some down time. He managed to survive.

Some of the completed work. Thanks to all who helped in the effort.

Puppet Show. Let's just say it wasn't a sell-out crowd for long...but we were grateful for "Di" "Si" & "Paul" to have made the journey from the Sunrise Children's Church all the way to Honduras.

Thank you all for your prayers. We really and truly sense their effectiveness! Please keep them up.