Team G3 & the Evangelical Church

No dull moments this week between visiting groups, Team G3 and the Evangelical Church (Fall River, MA), the Women's Conference at the Thozin church, and everything else happening at MOHI. Wow!!! Here's everyone, plus AJay, Len Gengel, and me on the roof of BLB.

Team G3 helped in various areas of the ministry, including assisting our medical staff in St. Etienne...

In Thozin...

In Fauche...

And in our schools...

Others performed maintenance tasks and turned part of the Gathering Place into a mini indoor soccer field!

We were so grateful for help getting class pictures taken. And love that the kindergarten teacher took advantage of the moment to get pictures of her students in caps and gowns so they can be given to them on graduation day.

Our friends from Fall River enjoyed spending time with students. They did crafts, read stories, played games, and had a jump rope contest.

Although Ana Paula speaks mostly Portuguese, she still made a real impression in the MOHI bakery, teaching us how to make authentic Portuguese sweet bread and fried dough!

The women of the church in Thozin worked hard preparing for their conference, which started Thursday evening.

Rita Pereira, Glenda Morrison, and I shared preaching responsibilities. It was pretty cool to watch how the Lord knit all the messages together and used our different personalities.

I so appreciate the musical abilities and servant attitudes of fellow missionaries Angie Sutton and Angela Parayson. They both helped to lead the worship services and Angela (and friends!) helped to make the church building extra pretty for the special occasion.

Being a kid at heart, I especially enjoyed Sister Rita's message with darts being shot at her heart:

The church's youth dance team did a lovely job at the women's conference this week. We would love to make some new outfits for them. Anyone have any soft/flexible solid colored material you'd like to send our way? The young people are happy to have them sewn here.

The conference ended this morning with a great message from Pastor Carlos Pereira. He summed up into one word what the Lord had been speaking to us all week: Grace - favor that simply cannot be earned.

My husband is so clever.

This is Marvins.

He is such an adorable little guy!

He tends to be rather active in church.

Lex put his phone in Marvin's lap

and he sat in one place for the entire rest of the service.

It was amazing!!!

Dr. Mabou was assisted this week by Dr. Etienne. It was pretty exciting to see both dental chairs being used right after Dr. Jim and Tim had finished the repairs.

Pastor Hakine is diligent at keeping all the vehicles up and running, as well as pastoring the church in St. Etienne!

It was another amazing week! Rainbows always remind me of God and this rainbow did just that.

Lex and I missed our grandson's first birthday party this weekend. It was a little sad for me, but I trust we'll have many, many special moments together. While we always celebrated our children's birthdays when they were growing up, we never really placed a lot of emphasis on holidays in our family. Looking back, I think it was a safety switch for us. We can celebrate anything any day we choose and no matter where we are. I suppose it's our family's missionary lifestyle. So, Alante, you'll get to celebrate your birthday again soon with Papy and Meme! I chose to share this picture of Alante today, because it makes me feel like he's in a hot climate with me.