Dear Brothers and Sisters,
May 21,08
Greetings in the precious name of Jesus! Right now, I am sitting in Ieeja
(the place where we conducted the VBS) and we are so excited how the Lord
worked all the details out for us to come here, the funds needed to conduct
the VBS and the safety of our travel as well as the safety of the children
during their travel in the HOT sun.
“GO FOR IT”!
As we were planning this VBS (in Ieeja), it was so awesome to see the Lord’s
hand in so many things! We basically, stepped out in faith, knowing that you
all are standing with us and praying for the Lord’s leading! As we kept
planning, different ones of you (our dear friends) kept informing us that
you would like to help with the expenses! We felt so blessed and felt the
Lord leading us to “GO FOR IT”! So we got everything packed up….our
transportation was a bus, and two jeeps! We have our team of like 40 people
as we also had a wonderful group from the IGO Bible school in Thailand! We
were planning to leave around 7 p.m. to get down here by Sat night so that
we would have time to get things a bit organized!!! Well, THIS IS INDIA and
we did not get left until 3a.m. We still made it in time to get things set
up and try to get a bit of sleep!!!
J
1st
Day…..CHALLENGE…1,187 children
Good Morning, everyone up…it is time for VBS in Ieeja! Remember, we were
anticipating 800-1,000 children…so we thought by the last day, we may have
1,000. We were at our guest house and as the children started coming….they
kept coming and coming and coming! They came by bus, jeep auto rickshaw,
tractor and so on! Oh, the children were everywhere! We had to put up an
extra tent real quick because it wasn’t sufficient! This is only the first
day and we had so many kids….how many, well, we waited…Sam had a general
session…singing, object lesson, and more singing before they were divided
into their classes. When we got ready and tried to divide them into their
classes….this was a CHALLENGE! Have you ever tried to get this many children
to their right classes! Another CHALLENGE! We had brought along a sound
system but it wasn’t enough for that many children to hear….so Sam was
pretty much shouting…Another CHALLENGE!
Finally, they were all in their classes and the teachers were trying to get
everyone situated…with 75-175 in each class….the teachers also had a
CHALLENGE!
When everyone was counted ….it was close to 1,200 and this was only the
first day! Since these children came from somewhat of a distance, and maybe
½ or more came without breakfast, we felt like we needed to give them some
food so that they would not faint on the way home! Some of the children were
already getting faint, before they even got the meal that we had prepared!
Try feeding 1,200 children….another CHALLENGE! Through it all, we were so
thankful for your prayers and support to help us be able to share the Love
of Jesus with these dear children….even with the CHALLENGE!
2ND DAY OPPORTUNITY…1,418 children
Up and ready for another day of VBS! Even if we try to get there first….the
children always beat us! They are all excited to come…when our drivers would
go to pick them up, they didn’t even want the vehicle to stop, the children
wanted to get on while it was moving and for them to keep going so that they
could get to the VBS sooner! They didn’t want to miss a thing! We
tried a new sound system today, but …..well….it was still not too good…so
Sam kept shouting! But we took this as an opportunity to share the Love of
JESUS! Sonya, Jason and Jamima up on stage to do the actions for the
songs and helping to encourage the children that even though they are young,
they can still do something for Jesus! They took this as an opportunity…even
though it was very HOT! We had 100 and above degree weather for these three
days! We had another wonderful day of singing, lessons, crafts, fun,
fellowship, and much more! It was a GREAT OPPORTUNITY to be with these dear
children and Sam also took time to train the Teachers, so that they could be
more effective in working with the children in these different villages! It
was a Wonderful Opportunity!
3RD
DAY…..EXCITEMENT….1,524 children
Wow, This is already the third day and soon it will be time to have to say
good-bye to these precious little ones! The children were up early and to
VBS on time today also and well…today…imagine close to 1,500 children….What
excitement ran through the tent as Sam would pull out another object
out of his bag, start singing a song that they really liked, had someone
come up on stage to help him with a little program or when Sam and David
came out on stage dressed in some typical Indian garb for telling a story!
Another great day filled with excitement and the children did not
want the day to end! They wanted us to keep doing the VBS for another week
or two…Praise the Lord…that through it all…the children were able to learn
Bible verses, songs, hear Bible stories as well as other stories that taught
good character; they felts touched by the Love of Jesus!
Our team did a wonderful job and we are so thankful for their willingness to
serve the Lord…to let others know…the LOVE of JESUS! WHAT
EXCITEMENT!!!!!!
THANKS for your prayers and support to make this happen! Please continue to
pray for these students and their teachers, that they would keep learning
more and more about Jesus! If each one…reaches…one…IMAGINE…EXCITING!!!!
The Guntis
