had all those books laid out each morning, and the women would mill about looking to see what was available. A couple of mornings we started with some crafts also. But regardless of what we did during "arrival" time, when it was time to began, we did so with AEROBICS!! It was great! It was fun and funny all at the same time, but the ladies REALLY liked it! Of course there were some who didn't participate (yours truly among them), but they would encourage the other ladies anyway. In fact, about 6-8 of them enjoyed it so much that they have continued to come and do aerobics together now that the Houston ladies are gone (they donated that video too)!Then it was time for the Bible study lesson. The theme for the week was Sister, Daughter, Friend, and our Bible study lessons looked at different Biblical women who were one or more of these aspects of women. We studied Mary and Elizabeth, Mary and Martha, the woman with the blood disorder, etc. It was really neat to look at these very familiar Bible stories from the perspective of their interactions with each other and what that could mean for us in our lives! After the lesson, we had small group time to discuss the lesson and what the Lord was teaching us through the stories. And then several days of the week we ended with some craft time. We made banners with the theme of the week printed on them, and the women really enjoyed that! It was so refreshing to see our Mexican ladies interacting with each other the way they did during this outreach! More often than not the two church are pretty isolated from each other (Arryanes and Cofradia). And when there are fellowship activities for both churches together, it's not uncommon to hear commetns about how someone doesn't want to go because of this person or that person, etc. That can be very discouraging sometimes because it's quite the opposite of unity. But during this outreach the Arrayanes women came with a whole truck-load of women and they came everyday. We had women coming who are not part of the church, and they too came every day! We had old women and young women and women all in between! And no one was thinking about who they were trying to avoid. They were just ENJOYING themselves! And it was so precious to be part of!
I was especially pleased because Sandy and Mili came each day. I had such a hard time convincing them before the women arrived that this would be an enjoyable thing for them. They couldn't get past the fact that this would be a week of ministry for grown-up ladies, all married and with families. But I finally convinced them to come at least the first day saying that the ministry that was going to take place was not specific to women of any age or stage of life and that they really would enjoy it! Well, they had a BLAST! And it was great hearing from them during small group sessions. Two of the women on the team took a special interest in these two young ladies. They actually went with me to have our weekly prayer group that Wednesday, and the elder of the two ladies shared about her favorite Bible story: the story of Esther. This was especially cool because Sandy and I are studying through that book right now in our mentor times each week. Sandy and Mili were really touched by what this lady had to share, and they enjoyed the younger of the two as well as we took them home. The younger of the two was also their small group leader, so they had time to spend with her each week.
That week they also went up to Mojocuautla to minister to the Cora ladies in that village. We split into groups and went to several different homes. There they passed out gifts of perfumes, etc, that had verses inside about how our prayers are like incense to the Lord. After explaining all this, the women then offered to pray with the Cora ladies who gladly accepted those prayers. The group I was with had the opportunity to share with a couple of ladies who don't normally
involve themselves with the Bible study activities in that village each week, so it was a real outreach opportunity. One of them was even really sick. None of us left that encounter dry-eyed. During another visit, we were all seated, and a goat began to nibble and nose one of the American ladies during prayer. When we were done and had finally stood up, the goat immediately jumped into the chair and made himself comfortable. We all had a good laugh as we realized that the goat was trying to get his chair back from our friend!Finally, the last night they were there, the American ladies put on a movie night for all the women and their families. They showed the Wizard of Oz (in Spanish!..quite hard to find!), and before it started they shared some spiritual principles that we can learn from this movie! Everyone had a blast during the movie! And we all ate popcorn and PINK M&Ms!!! After the movie, it was time to say goodbye as the ladies were leaving for home the next morning. I was especially struck by the goodbyes that took place between Sandy and Mili and their small group leader. There were tears (very rare on the girls' parts), and as I walked them back to their truck, I asked them what they thought of the week. Their response: "IT WAS PERFECT!" After the difficulty I had convincing them to give it a try, this was a miraculous answer to hear from them! But I was so encouraged by it because it meant that they EXPERIENCED something during the week. They were touched by it, and I've seen them more interactive with older ladies in the church since then, especially their aunts. It's just really cool to see how the Lord works through us and in us in the most extraordinary ways...even when they seem pretty unremarkable! God is really good, and His goodness shone through yet again through this outreach experience! Thank the Lord for all that He is doing!!!
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