Ecuador Mission Team Update - Day 1

Ecuador Mission Team Update - Day 1

Oh come let us worship the Lord together!
Experiencing corporate worship with brothers and sisters in Christ is a very special bonus on any mission trip whether this is your first trip or you are a frequent flyer! Recognizing the melody being strummed on the guitars and then either singing the best you can in Spanish or just singing along in English to songs like "How Great Thou Art" is sweet praise!
We were also blessed by the opportunity to share in the ordinance of the Lord's Supper for the first time since we began coming here in Feb. of 2012. Our ernest prayer is that groups of believers will soon be able to have similar worship experiences together here in Tabacundo. Unlike many Sunday afternoons, we did not get a nap...which for some is possibly its own kind of worship!
-Janice Durance 

Been a full day and it is 10:40pm and now planning the week. God is awesome as the days are already getting full. We will be showing War Room at several different places and the churches we went to today. We need you all to pray for the taxi driver and well known friend of the team as Bruce will try to spend one on one time to once again share the gospel with him. We so much going on but God is in control.
-Matt Warren 

Please continue to pray for:
*Divine appointments
*Lorena's sister who is in the hospital (not Paulina)
*Holy Spirit-led discernment in filling our week, and
*A new believer who is a first time mom...she named her little baby girl Grace!Praise God for:
*Faithful hardworking translators
*restored health to a team member
*His faithfulness

Ecuador Mission Team (FBCBG)

Week 1 of the Ecuador Mission Team from First Baptist Church of Bowling Green is on their way! They will be serving in Ecuador until January 2nd when another team will meet up with them and serve thru January 9th. Please keep these missionaries in your prayers. (Updates are available on Facebook) To hear of their testimonies from their trips, please plan on attending the worship service on January 17th at 6pm at FBC Bowling Green. 

5 Weeks of Missions - Team #5

Northside Baptist Church of Wauchula and their missions team is headed to Haiti. They will be serving at Cabaret Baptist Children's Home this week.

Please continue to pray the team's safety, health and effectiveness while serving.

Aug 5th & 6th - DR Team Update

Yesterday we spent our time in several villages playing with the children, sharing with them about what Jesus' love means to us, and walking ALOT! A small group spent some time painting one of the local churches that Pastor Craig works with (you can see more about his ministry at www.facebook.com/craigmac25) Another group made their way to another village in the afternoon and started a game of baseball with the kids. We didn't have a ball with us so the kids went and picked some fruit off the tree and that became our ball for the game. Then 3 of the FL team members made their way down the village streets to stop and talk with the families in the area. We were able to pass out tracks and pray with the families.

Today we spent the morning in the Capital being "tourists." For lunch we went to a local restaurant and experienced some of the cultural food here in the DR, it was so delicious! Then we went to Pasitos de Jesus, which is a girls home that Score International oversees. Our team played volleyball, played on the playground, sang songs and Tina had the opportunity to present a Worship Painting. The kids even helped with the painting and it was beautiful! Before we left, the kids sang to us and shared some of their stories. Tomorrow is our last "ministry" day with the NY team. Please keep praying for our team as we finish out the week strong and make our way back to FL late on Saturday.

Aug 4th - DR Mission Team Update

Today our team headed out to Emanuel House again to finish painting the chair legs, table legs and the outside of the building. There were 2 additional smaller groups that had the privilege of going to the village to visit with some more families. Pictured above is Pastor Theodore and his family. They have 10 children ranging in age from 2 to 22. Pastor Theodore shared with our group about his church, different customs within the congregation, and about their need for water. We had the opportunity to pray with them, asking God to provide an abundance of rain and water.
 

NY Team Member, Paul, playing baseball with Pastor Theodore's oldest son, Jackson.

 After returning to the Score Complex and eating lunch, we made our way to the Lily House which is a ministry of Score that rescues exploited women and empowers them to work with dignity as they work creatively with their hands! While there are no pictures allowed at this location, team members and Lily House guests shared their testimonies and gave us a tour of the facility.

Aug 3rd - DR Mission Trip

Our 1st work day began with preparing bags of food for families that Score International works with. The bags consisted of rice, fish, beans, oil, pasta and the hygiene bags that were made at First Christian Church and here at the complex.  After preparing the bags we made our way out to Emanual House which is located in Quisqueya about 30 minutes away from where we are staying. It serves as a school for about 150 kids. Many of these children are not allowed to attend public school because they do not have a birth certificate or their parents can not afford the uniforms and supplies.

 

Once arriving to Emanuel House, the teams split up into several groups serving with different projects that needed to be completed before the next school year begins. Pictured above the group was responsible for sanding and repainting all the tables and chairs for each classrom.

Although team member, Brek McClenithan's favorite quote is... "If you ain't sweating, you ain't serving," we did capture this moment of interation with one of the kids at the school.

Another group was responsible for scraping and spackeling all the classroom walls to be repainted tomorrow.

Some of the groups had a chance to go into the village of Quisqueya to help deliver the food & hygeine bags from this morning. They were able to talk, witness, and pray with the families that had children attending Emanuel House.

Sunday, August 2nd DR Mission Team

This morning, we got to attend a church service in the town of San Pedro (it's about the size of Lakeland and 20 minutes from the SCORE complex in Juan Dolio). The name of the church is Juan 3:16 and is pastored by Sadrac who is a Score missionary. The music and message was amazing! A group from the New York team got up and sang "How Great is Our God" in Spanish in front of the church. When combined with people also singing it in English, it was a beautiful joyful noise singing praises to the Lord! All of the music was sung in Spanish. Pastor Sadarac gave the message in English and had a translator for the Dominicans there. He started the message by reading Matthew 10 talking about all of the disciples, and how Simon the Zealot was just mention once in the entire Bible. Then he used 1 Corinthians 12:21 talking about the importance of all of the body parts, and finished with Matthew 19:27-28. The meaning behind the message was to be faithful in whatever God calls you to do, whether you are a known or unknown soldier. Your reward will be received in Heaven for the Kingdom work done on earth. It was awesome to be able to worship with the church members there despite having a language barrier.

After church we made our by a local store and picked up some items, then we headed back to the Score Complex. We ate lunch and then met as an entire team to introduce ourselves and get to know each other a little better. After that it was time to work! We began unpacking the supplies that were brought by both the FL & NY teams. We formed an assembly line and started making 200 hygeine bags that will later be distributed to families that Score works with throughout the year.

We got to visit the beach for few hours after packing all the bags right before coming back to eat super and have devotion. We can't wait to share with you all tomorrow about the amazing things that God has shown us. Continue to pray for our team, both FL & NY!

5 Weeks of Missions

We're about to lead into Week #4 which means you've all been praying for these teams, hearing all about what God's been doing and you're ready for more KINGDOM NEWS!

It's certainly exciting to watch our Brother's & Sister's in Christ follow the call to go into all of the world and share the good news. Here are some pictures and updates of the trips so far...

WEEK #1 - FBC Wauchula (Toronto, Canada) 
To view more about their trip and the work they are doing, visit http://www.fbcwauchula.blogspot.com

WEEK #2 - Florida's First Assembly (Cite Soleil, Haiti)

This team brought Kidz Muzik Kamp to Haiti!!! 

WEEK #3 - First Baptist Church of Bowling Green (Ecuador) 

This team is still on the mission field and people are coming to know the Lord. Baptisms will be held tomorrow! (updates are posted on FB frequently) 

WEEK #4 - Oak Grove Baptist Church & First Christian Church (Dominican Republic) 

This team leaves on Saturday. Most have never left the country and this will be there very first missions trip. More updates for the SMM DR 2015 Missions Team coming soon... 

WEEK #5 - Northside Baptist Church (Haiti) 

Pray for this team as they still have another week to prepare for their trip. Each of the team members will be leaving behind family and small children which can be hard. 

The Rouse Family who live in Haiti