Face Painting and New Perspectives

Thursday was another whirlwind day.  The day started off with Mister Josh who came and talked to the students about both real life and spiritual poverty.  To show what living in poverty is like, he showed the students a game that took the team through different scenarios of what could happen and how you would handle it.  It is very interesting to see how quickly things change when you don't have the money to pay for the things you need.  If you would like to try the game for yourself click on the link below.The team did make it through the game, but not without making some sacrifices to their virtual selves and their virtual family. Josh also discussed with the team about spiritual poverty.  What we need to do is to learn to love not just for the sake of loving, but to really care for those who are in need and try to help them make a difference in their lives.

 Play the game here 

Later, the team returned to The Samaritan Women to continue their work on the farm.  This time they got to do expand their gardening talents by helping out with other parts of the farming expierence.  This team worked hard and had fun the whole time they were there, because they knew that this was for a good cause.  Also, Farmer Jon, the head groundskeeper, kept the students laughing and energized.

Today we went to Samaritan woman and pulled weeds and clear a lot next to a green house, because farmer John can't get the mowers and machinery back there. and then we spread mulch to make a road for trucks to get back the sheds.  ~ Aaron

After their time at Samaritan Women it was time for VBS.  Tonight the kids got really involved in the face painting station. They had so much fun.  There were mermaids, flowers, tigers, pirates, fairies, butterflies, and glitter everywhere.  The kids even gave members of the team their very own face paint or tattoo. This was a great way to connect to the kids because you get to see a little bit of their personality in what they choose for a design and you have some time to talk to them, as they are getting painted.

I met this girl at VBS who didn't want to do anything but stay with her brother. I got her to come with me and get her face painted and do the cha cha slide. ~ Christie

The small groups tonight talked about personal relationships with Jesus and how some of them came to hear about Jesus.  We had a few team members who shared their testimony for the first time.  It was great to hear all of the stories and see the kids relate and open up to the team members and the groups.

I met an older kid who has a lot of the same things in common with me and I seemed to make a lot of connections with him and a few other kids. ~ Noah