village arrival

hello everyone!

i'm writing to you at the end of our first full day in the village. we arrived yesterday afternoon with few complications on the drive. we had to wake up at 4:30 in the morning because 3 team members took a bus to the village along with all 22 of our bags. God was so merciful to us and allowed the bus company to handle all of our bags for only $30. absolutely incredible!
the bus arrived in the village about an hour after the rest of the team who came on the mango tree minibus. we were greeted by a lot of children who were anxiously awaiting our arrival. as we drove through the village kids starting calling out my name and as you can imagine my heart swelled with joy at seeing them all again.

we took the team to see the mango tree and it's in even better condition than when we left. the employees have done an incredible job keeping up with everything. they work really hard!
last night we spent several hours around a campfire with over 20 children. we sang songs and danced and enjoyed getting to know each other. it's so wonderful having a team member who plays guitar. our worship times have been so sweet and it continually draws us back to the presence of God. when we woke up this morning you could literally feel God's spirit in our camp. it was so peaceful.

we spent the morning with the village at a big welcoming ceremony. there were speeches and dancing. it was a great time of hearing how things are progressing in the community and very encouraging. the women's sewing group has been busy making beautiful bags that we hope to take home to sell. we need to get them some more sewing machines though! there are a lot of women in this village who want to participate!

this afternoon the team is hanging out with some of the youth from the village. they're playing soccer and sharing testimonies. i came to town to get more water for the team and to send this update.

God is doing really good things. there is a great annointing on this team for ministry and we're only at the beginning of it! keep praying for God's eyes to see those in need around us. just this afternoon we prayed for an elderly man in the village who is often drunk. he ate lunch with us and we prayed for him. at the end of the prayer he was crying like a child and his countenance had completely changed. it was amazing. pray that the work God started will be finished!
tomorrow the guys will start digging trenches for the new water system for the village. in the afternoon we'll be spending a few hours at the local school doing a vacation bible school with 120 kids. we're excited about this opportunity to speak into their lives!

thanks for the love and prayers. keep sending them our way. we've only just begun!

love,susan