The heat and humidity seemed to be especially intense this morning
as we walked to a local school for a visit.
We arrived at the iron gates of the school about 15 minutes late,
because the walk took longer than expected.
The gates opened into a vast courtyard filled with straight lines of uniformed
middle school aged students that were standing at attention. Members of the group mumbled that it looked
more like a military school or a communist youth rally; what a contrast from
some of the other raucous schools we had visited.
The translators told us that we better begin
our program quickly because the students had been standing in the sun for 15
minutes. Some wore pants and sweaters
while we sweated in shorts and T-shirts.
The students continued to stand quietly in the heat despite the fact
that the microphone did not work. They
watched the skit, listened to the song, and then Ryan stood up to share the
Gospel message. A few sentences into his
presentation most of the kids were talking and playing around. I don’t know if the teachers told them they
could talk during the presentation or if they were just too hot or if they
simply lost attention. Ryan asked who
wanted to pray with him to become a Christian and a majority of them raised
their hands. Those that did not raise
their hands were encouraged to raise their hands by their teachers. We left and visited another school filled
with pre-school through middle school aged students. Yet again the teachers asked every kid to
raise their hand and pray with Ryan. I
trust that we are planting seeds that will eventually be watered and grow.
This afternoon proved that I never know what my day will
look like on the World Race. The
schedule read “Industrial Park Evangelism” but I had no idea what that
meant. About 15 of us climbed on a bus
that dropped us off in front of a furniture store five minutes later. Our guides from the church led us into the
store filled with very nice sofas, tables, chairs, and carpet. The owner welcomed us and rearranged some
sofas so we could talk to her and pray for her.
What a luxury to sit on a soft comfortable couch; I could have fallen
asleep. The owner asked if we would pray
for her workers so of course we agreed.
Within minutes the front door of the shop was drawn shut and about
twenty workers were gathered around. We
prayed as a group and then we broke down into smaller groups to talk to the
workers. The employees explained that
they make the furniture that is sold in the shop. They work 6 days a week from 8:00 am until 8
or 8:30 pm, so they don’t have much time for their families or for church. A company from the States is looking into
buying their work. I told them maybe one
day I will walk into a store in the States and I will see one of their pieces. The owner brought out some of the famous
Peruvian soda, Inca Kola, and some crackers.
We enjoyed the snack then said goodbye after about a 2 hour visit. Some of the employees promised to see us at
church and the owner enthusiastically thanked us for the visit. Once again we
were planting seeds.
