Pray Pray Pray!

Please take any additional time you have today to start praying for our final service with the kids tonight! We have had some major breakthroughs with a lot of the boys so far, and it has been absolutely amazing to see them bring down their walls and open up about their lives and their fears. Last night, we had small group discussions within each of our teams and really started to pour our hearts into them and allowed the Holy Spirit to move amongst our discussions and to let God speak through us to reach the boys and to touch their hearts. Tonight we will be doing a final altar call, and we are praying that the Spirit will fill the service and fill each of the boys who have not yet accepted Christ into their hearts and lives. God's presence has definitely been with us this week, and it has been building and building and building. We are all buckling down today and praying hard whenever possible throughout the day; we are sensing that something major and life altering is going to happen tonight, and we need your prayer and support throughout the day and the night to call upon God's spirit to really move within us and the boys tonight. The services usually start around 8pm (10pm ET) each night; if you are awake anytime between 9pm and midnight (ET), please pray for us and the service.

It is HOT!

One of the biggest challenges during this camp has been the heat and the sun. I think most of us have been sweating since we stepped foot in Guatemala. Outside of our extreme sweatiness, the heat and sun has been causing a lot of health issues for everyone at the camp: from sun burns to headaches to fainting due to heat exhaustion. We have all been working around the clock to make sure that the boys are drinking lots of water and staying in the shade whenever possible, but some times this isn't enough. Please keep the safety of the boys in this heat and the sun in your prayers. Also, pray for a little bit of a break from the heat, even if its just overcast!

Here are some pictures of our hydration efforts:

Let's Play Soccer!

The soccer tournament among all of the groups has been occurring for the last couple of days, and the boys are doing so well! They have such potential to be great! We are all getting so attached to each and everyone of the boys, and we want each of our teams to do well in the tournament. It breaks your heart when your team loses a game because the kids seem so defeated when it happens. They have been through so much in their lives already and attending this camp means so much to all of them. Winning the tournament and receiving a trophy would be the icing on the cake.

USA all the way!

We are having a blast when Team USA gets to play against some of the groups! While a lot of us have not played soccer competitively, we have our size on our side which is helping provide a great advantage. Plus I think the kids are having a lot of fun getting to play against the crazy Americans!

During the game yesterday (06/29/11) of USA vs. Grupo Cuatro, we tied the game and decided the winner through penalty kicks, but somehow we needed nine or ten (we lost count) penalty kicks to decide the winners--USA, of course! Both teams would make their shots, then both teams would miss their shots, and this combination continued on and on. I think the referee was ready for the game to be over, and we were all shocked and extremely entertained by the situation! Shout out to Dennis, who doesn't play soccer, for kicking a rocket into the goal during the shoot out! We all went crazy! Another shout out to Matt who has to be one of the fastest people I have ever seen! He can make it to the other end of the field before any makes it past mid-field--He has definitely been a key player on Team USA!

Capillo, Chapel!

I wanted to share with everyone about last night's chapel service. It was incredible and the Holy Spirit was definitely moving among us. The presence of God filled the place! After jamming to some awesome worship, (go KP!!!), a student shared his testimony. He shared how he was shot in the chest by a local gang member when he was just seven years old. He explains that he was hanging out with the wrong crowd, at the wrong place, at the wrong time. He recovered completely and gave his life to Jesus as a result of that phase in his life. Praise Jesus! The boys listened intently as he, now 13, described a new life and a new group of friends. We also had a testimony from one of our group members. Mark was bringin' down the house making the boys laugh about some moments of his childhood. But bottom line, these two testimonies stirred something in the hearts of many boys. When the gospel was presented and an invitation to trust Jesus as the personal Lord and Savior, 14 boys stepped forward!!! Amen and amen. The USA team then did some serious laying of hands and praying over these precious new brother's in Christ. It was an all out party in there as we ended with one more rockin' praise song. And...get ready, it's only Tuesday. These boys will be in a constant relationship with their mentors and mentors' churches when they go home, but we wanted to list their names so you could pray personally for these young believers.

Marco Galvez, Denis Franelsco, Mynor Flores, Johan Flores, Alberto Figueros, Jose Andres Carrillo, Byron Reyes, Josue Ramos, Kevin Alexander, Fernando Morales, Oscar Torres, Marvil Galvez, Donaldo Pereira, Federico Aguilar.

Your prayers are greatly appreciated as you follow us on this journey.

Soccer Drills (06/27/11)

Here are a some pictures from the day...some narrative about events of the day to follow later!

The soccer balls are ready for action!

One of the boys running through a drill, cheered on by Jenny.

Jenilee teaching one of the kids during drills.

Some of the youth running through drills. Jon is in the left of the picture with tall black socks on.

One of the teams gather together waiting for drills to start.

Are you tired? (06/26/11)

The first day at El Faro went great! All of the teams have arrived at camp except for one team who will be arriving tomorrow. The common phrases of the camp thus far are "How are you doing?" usually followed up by "Are you tired?" when their response to the first question is not loud enough. (All in spanish of course.)

Even though some of us are working through language barriers, bonds have already started to form between our NCC team and the youth. Some of the kids are jokesters and a little more outgoing, and some are still a little quiet but hopefully will start to come out of their shell soon. But if one of the kids or teams get out of line--going down to the beach without permission, etc--you are cheered on by your peers as you perform your assigned push-ups. During one of the push-ups assignments, two of the guys from NCC went up with the kids and knocked out 50 push-ups with them! Talk about bonding.

We were also able to play some games with the kids throughout the afternoon, and then closed out the night with some worships songs and opening statements by the Champions in Action team. Once the kids learn all of the songs and the week progresses, I cannot wait to see how the Holy Spirit will move and work during the worship time. Its going to be amazing!

A view of the water from El Faro.

Boating? (06/26/11)

As much appreciated by all of us, our bus ride to El Faro was uneventful minus the beautiful Guatemalan landscape! We got off the bus in Puerto Barrios, Guatemala and loaded into two boats to cross the Caribbean Sea to cut down on travel time to El Faro so we could eat and prepare for the kids arrival.

"We're taking a boat!"

We were all so excited until the rainy season greeted us at the docks. [Insert dark clouds, winds, huge rain drops, thunder, and lightning.] We waited for most of the storm to die down before we left, but because it was still raining, our drivers we gracious enough to provide us with a huge black tarp to cover ourselves with as we splashed through the waves. Unfortunately...the tarps were not as effective as we would have liked them to be. The log rides at most amusements parks had nothing on this boat ride. We all ended up SOAKED!