We were super blessed to welcome a group from Canyon Hills Church in Bothell, WA for a ten-day outreach from June 20 to 29. What a great and dynamic group!! They all came down ready to serve and give their all for the cause of Christ, and it glowed in them every minute they were here!
I was especially excited to work with this team this year. The last time they came down was in June 2007 while I was in Virginia for my youngest brother's funeral. I arrived back in Cofradia 2 days before they left to return home that year, and since I was still reeling from the grief of it all I wasn't all that present in what was going on. So, this year was a really fabulous opportunity to get to know this team and really dig into ministry with them, and let me tell you I had the time of my life with them!
Each morning they worked in construction at the new church facility. They installed lighting in the sanctuary, leveled the second-story office floor, poured second-story classroom beams, hauled rocks, dug trenches, and many other small but significant jobs around the property. We are in the process now of preparing the property for the height of the rainy season (August-September) and the halt to construction work until after the rains end and the Elias’ return from their trip home to Canada. The Canyon Hills team efforts were incredibly helpful as we get closer to this goal.
In the afternoons, this group took to the towns doing evangelism outreaches in five different locations. Three of them were towns where we are already present and ministering on a regular basis: Cofradía, Las Pilas, and Paso Real. However, two of them are towns we have never ministered in before. We were blessed to partner with the church in Rosamorada to evangelize in the town of Minitas. Then at the end of their trip, we partnered with the church in San Vicente in putting on the group’s Carnival outreach there in the plaza! There was a good turn-out in every town, and the group did a fabulous job playing with kids and youth before and after each outreach as well as presenting puppets, music, testimonies, dramas, a gospel message, and craft projects. They did a great job walking through each town inviting people to the event, and then they showed no reservation at the conclusion each day as they walked out and just started praying with people who were in attendance, whether they could find a translator or not!
(left) The team singing a song in Spanish; (right) Praying before puppets
(left) A drama done to the Lighthouse song "You're Everything"; (right) Praying with local men at the end
Since this was a ten-day outreach, on Thursday I accompanied them to the beach and Jungle Tour in San Blas. This is always a popular outing and a great way to relax and see more of the Riviera area of our state (Nayarit). They had a blast looking for crocodiles, swimming in a natural swimming hole surrounded by mangrove trees, playing volleyball on the beach, and eating really amazing food including the most amazing fried bananas you've ever tasted! What a fun day that was!
(left) Playing volleyball on the beach in San Blas; (right) Man, can this team eat!!
As I mentioned, at the end of their trip, they put on a carnival for the kids in San Vicente. They had all kinds of games that they manned in addition to their regular program of puppets, drama, testimonies, and a gospel message. It was a ton of fun, and the kids had the time of their life! We staff even got involved as the human pins in the bowling game!!!
Face Painting!
I thoroughly enjoyed working with this team, and I especially enjoyed participating in their team devotions and debriefs and being able to hear from each of them on a more personal and individual level about how the Lord was touching them, teaching them, and changing them as a result of their service to Him in this area. We are definitely looking forward to having them back again in the future!
Me and some of the girls from the team

