Campimento NAVE

Camp is over! We all (kids and staff) had a blast. I don't know how to describe all of the wonderful things that happened, but I can tell you that lives were changed and God gets all the glory!! A team from Oregon came down with the speaker and helped us run the camp. They really enjoyed it and the kids enjoyed the opportunity to get to know many people from the United States. The kids were amazing. They were all excited about camp and (much more importantly) excited about God. The sermons were amazing and many of the kids and the adults were in tears by the end. You could physically see hearts being changed. Personally, I know that my heart and life was changed in many ways this week, and I am much more equipped to serve God because I was able to have this experience.

The countdown.....

The last week of VBS (for me) has come to a close. It's a little bit sad, but the excitement for camp makes up for it. This week we went to two different churches using Kristi's curriculum, and one church that was using their own curriculum.

Suki and I were able to perform our long puppet skit (Cual es tu alegria?) at the VBS here in Huatabampo. This same VBS came to Rancho Provision on Saturday to play in the pools. The kids were really sweet. And I was able to make some friends by jumping in the water with the kids! It really surprised some of the adults that an adult would swim with the kids. In this culture swimming is for children only. Oh well, I had a blast, and I plan on swimming everyday this coming week!

On Friday night Suki and I taught a class in Basconcobe. The class went really well, and the kids were really responsive. Suki did a great job of teaching, and I tried to lead the game, but I ended up needing help. I am not great at Spanish on the fly yet, I still need to practice what I am going to say. After the children's class was the adults class. Suki and I got to stay because Dwight and Kristi were running an errand and had not returned yet. The adult class was amazing. It was a prayer and worship service and you could really feel the Spirit of God there. I couldn't even understand all of what was going on, but I was caught up. It's really interesting to worship when you don't understand the words, but it really brings you back to what worship REALLY is. It is all about bringing God glory, and you can do that in any language. It really was one of my most amazing experiences here so far. It was amazing to see what can happen in a church that hardly has a roof, has a dirt floor, single light bulbs for lighting, and bugs eating everyone up. In the States we would scoff at that and never attend church there. Our churches have to look good, but here they realize (maybe from divine inspiration, or maybe from a lack of anything else) that it is really the heart that matters, and that God moves with what you give Him, and what He wants is us.

On Saturday morning I attended the last half of a VBS in Echijoa. The church has a small balcony and a dirt floor. Throughout the day some youth on the balcony would spray the kids down with buckets of water and a hose. It was great. The kids loved it! They would start chanting for a 'wave' until they got one, it fit right in with Kristi's penguin themed VBS.

5...4....3....2....1....and CAMP!!!! Campimento NAVE starts tomorrow here at Rancho Provision and we are all really excited! The team from Scapposse arrives in less than an hour. The last few days have been interesting, as no one really knows what to expect when tomorrow arrives. We could have anywhere from 15 kids to 100 kids show, and we won't know until they come. I am going to be on the evangelism team. We are going to teach the campers the absolute importance of sharing your faith, and we are going to walk it out right beside them. We are going to take the kids to small towns in our area and pass out tracts as well as doing children's outreach events with games, lessons, and crafts. It is going to be amazing for everyone involved. I am really excited to see what God does in the kids, in the staff, in the team, and in me. I really pray that we show up and that we let Him do the rest. If we can give Him everything we have for a couple days, then hopefully we can learn to do it for the rest of our lives.

Escuela Biblica

Last week all of our work finally got to be displayed! It was our first week of VBS and teaching our Sunday School class. It was fun, but it was also really hard. It is really different from me to transition from being in front of the class in Pullman to having to do mostly background work here. My Spanish is getting better, but it is far from giving me the ability to fully communicate with the kids I work with.

I was able to play with some of the kids though. Suki and I performed our skits on Monday and Thursday at the VBS and we taught the children's class at a different church on Tuesday. I was able to tell the story (of Jacob and Esau) but there were definite times where I said things that may have just been a jumble of words. However, I was able to help the kids with the game and help them with their puzzles. The kids are really sweet and really interested in us. They were excited to have 'guests from far away' come to teach their class, so they sat and listened better than I ever would have expected. Even the adults were excited, I think we had more adults in our class than we had kids! I was especially nervous when I was speaking to the adults, but we had lots of fun dancing and playing with the kids.

I have learned plenty of new dances here! Of course, they are all to Spanish songs, but some will easily cross over to english, so I'm excited to be able to bring that home. Suki and I danced on stage most of the days for the VBS to help the kids learn the songs. It was fun. We are helping out at a different VBS this week, so I'll be a pro by the time I leave!

This weekend we went to the last congreso of the year! Kristi was teaching skills and heart to 25 Sunday School teachers in Los Mochis. It is really cool to see these men and women get excited about this. Most people (here AND in the States) see sunday school, and children's ministry in general, as something that is supposed to keep the kids busy. Provision ministries is down here giving people the material and the inspiration to see children's ministry as a way to change lives, even when the kids are very young.

I am most excited to come home with a heart for God's people that has grown in more ways than I can count. Everyone I meet help to teach me a little bit more about God's love and how He wants me to apply it to my life and to those around me.

Thank you for all your love and prayers.

It's been a busy week!

This has been a really busy week!! Suki and I have finally finished up our puppet show project! We wrote the skits and spent plenty of time working on the Spanish. We are really lucky to have people in the office that are willing to help us. It is especially nice for me, since my Spanish needs work. Ruben worked with us all afternoon on Wednesday practicing the skit. He helped us out with proununciation and accent. On Thursday we began recording it. Kristi decided that we should record it so that when we do the skit in front of the children tomorrow we will know that they understood it. It was a little intimidating for me to record, especially because that would mean I would have to sit and listen to myself talk.

After the skits were complete we set out on different projects. I am writing a booklet on ideas for working with preschool children. It's a fun project and finding the ideas was pretty easy. I am going to have help translating the booklet and then I get to design it. I'm really excited for this part, it

will be a new adventure for me!

Friday were were able to celebrate independance day. It was really nice to be able to stop and celebrate an American holiday the American way. We went into Navajoa and saw a movie. I was really excited that I understood what was going on almost all of the time. Then we came back and had barbequed hamburgers, potato and macoroni salad and potato chips. It was really fun and the sunset was amazing. It was really cool to have a relaxing homey party.

Starting tomorrow things begin to pick up again. Suki and I are going to be helping with a VBS a f

ew days next week, and we are teaching a childrens class on Tuesday nights. We also have one

last congreso this weekend. I'm excited for this week, but I am also really nervous. I am going to be pushed and stretched in so many new ways. God is really working on my heart this summer and it is so good. I am really excited to see all the things He does through me and all the ways He can work through me this summer and in the future. I really pray that I can use every opportunity I have, and not miss anything. I really pray that I can make even a tiny difference in the life of a child this summer, because a single difference in the perspective of eternity is absolutely priceless!!!! Please keep this week and these children in your prayers.

God Bless

Fiesta!

On Tuesday we had a party to celebrate the end of the 2008 tour! My first fiesta in Mexico was fun, but it was also a learning experience. I am slowly learning small cultural differences such as how high you fill drinks and how you greet guests. It was fun to play with the kids and to meet new people (even if I didn't say much to my new friends...).

On Wednesday Suki and I began plans for our puppet show. At next weeks VBS we are going to present two skits that we have written. Writing the skits, translating them, and practicing the Spanish has taken a couple days. It will be fun to present them next week, but a little scary as well. Working at the VBS will be fun. I'm excited to be able to have time to develop relationships with the other teachers and the students next week. It will be one of my most challenging, but rewarding experiences since I have arrived.

The Experience

I have really enjoyed my time here in Huatabampo, you can really see the hand of God in this ministry. It is such an amazing feeling to know that I am really doing something.

Existing in a new culture is a really different experience for me. The language barrier is one thing, but there is a completely different style of life down here. Last Saturday Dwight and I went to Navajoa to look for a part for the washing machine. There are no yellow pages down here, so even starting was interesting. We found one store pretty quickly but they did not have what we needed, so we asked where we should go next. In the Mexican culture it is considered extremely rude to not help someone when they ask, however it is seen as 'not helping' if you don't know how to help. This leads to people giving directions when they actually have no idea. Dwight and I got a great view of a portion of Navajoa as we followed directions. :-) I have also ran into many people believing I am much much younger than I am. I have this problem a little bit at home, but most people here say they think I am about 13, one lady said she would believe 15 if she stretched. It is a little funny to try and convince people that I really am almost 20.

Learning a new culture (and language!) is challenging, but I would not trade one minute of it. Today I was able to attend a Sunday School class at a local church. The kids were really sweet, and a couple came up to talk to me. They found my accent and my choppy Spanish funny and they were interested in who I was, and more importantly, why I couldn't talk. Even though I only said a handful of phrases, I really had fun just being around the kids and their teachers. It was a really good feeling. I get to work with this same church next week during their Escuela Biblica de Verano (VBS). I am going to put on a puppet show and be an assistant. I am also going to begin teaching a class on Tuesday nights. I'm really nervous for both because of my lack of confidence in my Spanish, but I'm really excited as well.

This week should be fun, and it looks like it might be my last week of 'normalcy' before I launch into the world of VBS and teaching. This summer is bringing more than I ever imagined!!!

God is so good!

The First Week

Hey guys!
Provision Ministries is a ministry that provides curriculum and materials for the local churches, and the specialize in childrens ministry. My first 'job' here at Provision is to create one of the childrens books for the book of Luke. The main job is to copy/paste the Spanish version from the internet onto a word document and divide it into the specified sections. The kids will read one section a day during the week and a lesson on sunday.
The next step is the clip art. As you can see by the book on my lap, I have a few to choose from. It's fun, but can be a little aggravating at times. I'm enjoying it though. After I finish this I get to move on to making puppets and games! It'll be fun.
I'm really excited to work with the children in the camp and during VBS. It should be TONS of fun.
I hope this explains a little bit of what I am doing down here at the moment.
God Bless
Tani

Isn't God Good?

My first few days in Mexico have been amazing! It has been great to see, and even be a part of, the wonderful things God is doing down here!
My trip went really well, better than I ever could have imagined. It was the grace of God for sure. The lady next to me on the airplane was a huge blessing! I was frightened and anxious about my trip, but when I spoke with her she encouraged me and prayed for me right there on the plane and she even gave me an offering! It was such a great feeling to see a perfect stranger care so much.
After I arrived in Phoenix I hopped on a bus and rode twelve hours down to Navajoa. Almost as soon as I got off the bus we had to pack up and leave for Culican for a 'congreso' where Kristi spoke. I had a blast. The congreso was centered on teacher training for Sunday school teachers. It was really neat to see so many people get excited about teaching the children! What better way to serve the Kingdom than to help raise up a generation for Christ?? The children who will have these men and women as teachers are really blessed.
I was able to connect with a few people, despite the language barrier. My four years of high school Spanish and one semester of college Spanish are certainly not enough. It has been frustrating at times, but people are really patient with me. One part of the congreso was practicing telling Bible stories with visual aids (much like the felt boards we're all used to). Because of numbers, I was paired with a gentleman who spoke English a little better than I spoke Spanish. It was really fun, he told the story in English and I told the story in Spanish. I have a feeling many of my words were pronounced and conjugated wrong, but it was still exciting. It is really interesting to watch people speak to me when they know I do not understand. I was attempting to talk to two girls about my own age, but when they would see I could not understand they simply spoke louder. It was funny, it doesn't matter how well I hear if I don't know the word. It is a steep learning curve down here for sure, and I am hoping that my confidence in speaking grows more than anything.
I start my first full day today, and I am excited. I really want to be able to work and be a blessing to this ministry. I'm praying that I can be, regardless of the language barrier.
Thank you all for your prayers and support and prayers...and prayers. I am incredibly blessed and I know I would not be here without you.
God Bless