RATS!!!????

Since the last team left, you can find me continually thinking about Chilren's Church. Sunday was the best service that we have had at Centro Cristiano Huambi. The group of children was smaller, but it was one of the best kid's services by far. I talked about returning our offerings and tithes to God. I made some really big bills out of green construction paper and markers. The kids really liked it and I got some volunteers to hold them up for the rest of the church to see. Then we sang some songs with hand motions. The girls especially are good with the hand motions. I make all of the signs and all of the scriptures or illustrations on posterboard and have two kids hold them up so all can see. All of the songs we sing are written out on posters. It's so much fun to watch the kids do the motions as we sing the songs. Sometimes I grab a volunteer to help the rest of the kids learn the motions. I think that this week we are going to learn some more songs. The church is a small building that has an open feel to it. Really it reminds me of a brick picnic shelter. The walls only go up about to my elbows so there is quite about a five or six foot space in between the walls and the roof. Our benches are stumps that are positioned in rows with planks over them to make benches. We are hoping to have a construction team come and build a complete back wall going from the floor to the roof so that when the kids move to Children's Church, we won't be a distraction to the big service.
Yes, we have our own Children's Church building! It will be an exact duplicate of the Big Church, but at the moment is only a concrete floor and a roof. Right now, because we're the biggest service, the kids meet in the bigger building. It will be a blessing to the kids to have their own church building. I think that it will help them know that they are an important part of the church.

On a funny note, right now I am staying at Mike and Pat's house because they are gone for the week, and just now I was outside standing at the pila scrubbing out some laundry. I decided to grab a shirt from a pile of clothes on the floor. When I picked up the shirt, a HUGE RAT ran ACROSS MY FOOT. It was HUMONGOUS!!!!!!! It had been in my pile of laundry, which had been on the ground about a total of 3 minutes. I screamed so loud!!! lol... and then I started laughing. There is a big pit bull dog that they keep as a watchdog. She just stood there and then when I screamed, she ran away. Some watchdog... That rat must have weighed as much as a sack of sugar. It was huge. It was as long as my foot is (which is big because I'm a size nine) and very heavy. I marched into the house and rummaged in closets until I found Mike's big shoes. Then I finished doing my laundry wearing his shoes and staning with a broom nearby in case I saw it again. No monster rat will run across my feet again today. lol.. :)
I think it had been in the dogfood because the lid was open. So I will make sure to NEVER do that again.. lol.

Please pray for a young lady named Nimfa. Nimfa is thirteen and has an eight month old baby. She was abused against her will and it resulted in a pregnancy. She is living in a nearby village and needs a lot of guidance and wisdom about caring for the baby. The name of the baby is Estefania. Please pray that the Lord would give her wisdom and that she would come to know Jesus as her Lord and Savior.