The first half of the outreach is already finished! We have been here in Puerto Rico for three weeks, and have three more to go. God has been moving like crazy, in the team and in the activities that we have been participating in. We are majorly blessed to be staying at the YWAM base in San Juan, where the leaders are old friends of Chris and Johanna (my leaders). We have had some busy times and some times of rest, but in everything we can see God moving. Sometimes I get frustrated when plans fall through and churches cancel, or we just don't have a lot of activities, but I feel that God is teaching me that it is about seeing how he is moving in every situation, even when we are not necessarily being intentional about sharing the gospel. For example, we went to do some washing at a laundromat, and ended up sharing about the love of Jesus with the owner of the place. Or we end up chatting with the kiosk owners at the beach, or the cashier at Walgreens. And that's what it's really about, learning how to live a life like Jesus, how to be available at all times to share what God has done in our lives. Even the days that we spend at the beach, God has being speaking to me how much I still doubt that he wants to bless us, that it doesn't matter how much or how little "work" we do, he still is for us and in love with us. If we could only know his ways, maybe the crash of the waves would look different to us. Maybe the hardships and challenges of our lives would have another perspective. Maybe the frustrations and the setbacks we see in or lives would have a different effect on how we live.
Nonetheless, we have been able to connect with a group of churches called Catacumbas here on the island, and have done several different things with them. We had the opportunity to work in the school run by one of the churches, to sing and sane and drum for them, do face painting and balloon animals, and teach some of the older guys some body percussion rhythms. With the same church we spent some time in a government housing neighbourhood to serve food and do some performances. I had a chance to pray for a little boy who stopped by with his mom. I was explaining why we were there, and she was so excited because her son has a missionary calling over his life. So we prayed for him and his mom, and they stayed to chat for a while. It was such a real way to see how we need to invest in the next generation, to not only be an example for them, but to cover them and protect their calling as well. With another church, we performed at a Christmas fair outside one of the baseball stadiums here, and had some good conversations about the real meaning of Christmas, and the hope it brought us. As well we have had several street evangelism times in the evenings (because it is just too warm during the day) and met some really amazing people, and were able to share things we have learned and experienced with God, and just bless the neighbourhoods we were in.
These next three weeks we have some more activities planned with different churches, but as well we are preparing for the festival of San Sebastián. The streets of old San Juan will be full of people, music, partying, and a lot of need. We are going to be hosting a "pre San Sebastián" where whoever wants to join us will come for workshops on evangelism through the arts. Then for the 4 days of festival we will be in the streets during the evenings, performing and hitting the old town with everything we have, and sharing the love of God with anyone we can.
Things to pray for:
-safety for the team, especially during the festival
-breakthrough for the island and for us
-favour of God in the areas we will be going to
-the YWAM base in San Juan
Thankyou all for you love, support, and prayers!
