After the baptismal service, we went back for the church for a few minutes and then we headed back to where we were staying. It was nice to get a break to rest for a little while. We really hadn't been at our "motel" during daylight hours since we had been there. The Pacific Ocean was calling.....the only trouble was snakes. Yup. Snakes. There is a reef that is close to the beach and we saw two different types of snakes swimming around. I don't want any part of snakes on land...much less in water. Luckily for us, there was an alternative. There were raft type gazeebo things that could be rented that could take us out past the reef where it was safe to swim. We were all over it. Menvil, Aaron, Randy, Mickey and I decided we were going to swim and we talked Joel, Bobby and Bobby into riding out there with us. Now, the way this thing worked is pretty simple. There is a rope that is anchored out in the ocean and to a tree on shore. The rope runs right through the middle of the raft and you simply pull the on the rope to drag the raft out into the ocean. They had a guy on staff at the "resort" and this was his job. He rowed around in a little boat and when somebody needed to go in or out he'd row right over and start pulling on the rope. I don't know what the job paid but I could see myself with a job like that. We, of course, were in a hurry to get out there so we helped pull.....I think he would've rathered us just sit down....LOL. It took 5min or so to get out there and then he tied us off and headed out in his little boat. Man, if felt good to get in the ocean. We jumped off the raft like a bunch of 7th graders.....well....except with less energy and bigger splashes. I even put Mickey on my shoulders and flipped him backward off the raft into the ocean. I wish we'd gotten a picture of that.

This is a picture of the raft and the little boat the guy paddled around in all day. That's Mickey in the green shorts.

In this picture, Bro. Mike and Pastor Primo are leading the 23 out into the ocean to be baptized.

Here is another view before the service started. I ended up watching the whole thing from that rock above Bobby's head. (the guy in the blue shirt)

Baptism

As I said in my earlier post, Bro. Mike announced that there would be a baptismal service down at the ocean at 2pm. We had some time to kill between church and the baptismal service so we hung out at the church and talked and caught up with each other on how things were going. It was a much needed restful time. We made our way down to the ocean as it got closer to 2pm.

The actual spot where they have baptisms is about a half mile from the church and it is gorgeous. There was already a crowd gathered when we got there. Most were on the shore but some kids were already swimming and most of the younger kids that made the walk with us jumped in the ocean right away. We probably waited around for 30min so everyone that wanted to be baptized had time to show up. There were 23 people that showed up.....some were teens and some were pushing 70. It was cool to watch Bro. Mike and Pastor Primo lead them out into the beautiful Pacific Ocean to be baptized. There's just something about being out in God's beautiful creation for a service like this.

This is a picture taken before the service. As always, you can click the picture to make it bigger.

This is a picture of the ladies accepting the communion set for our church. My mother-in-law is the first lady on the left that's holding the steering wheel which was also presented to our church. Charmaine is such a blessing and has a true heart for missions. It's so cool to have in-laws that you enjoy being with and experiencing things like mission trips with.

This is Bro. Mike preaching with Pastor Primo translating. The two ladies with the red skirts on are the worship leaders.

Sunday morning service

I got up on Sunday morning so excited about the day. I knew that church was going to be special.....I just had that feeling. I couldn't wait to get to the church and get the day started. Pastor Primo had asked Aaron to teach sunday school for the teens and Joel to teach for the adults. There isn't room in the church to have both classes so the teens met outside under the tarp where the program had been held the day before. I stayed in the adult class and listened to Joel's lesson. Pastor Primo translated for him and I thought it went really well.

After sunday school, everybody tried to squeeze into the church for the main service but that was impossible. The church was overflowing with people standing all around the outside. I started crying before the service even began. I could feel the spirit there so much that I was overwhelmed with emotion. It was cool to say the least. The service started with singing and we sang. I bet we sang 15 songs and they don't stop between songs. They just keep right on going. After the singing, Bro. Mike preached the message with Pastor Primo translating. An alter call was given and several came forward to accept Christ.

Pastor Primo wanted to have communion like we do at our church in the states before the service concluded. He and some of the ladies brought out a beautiful communion set that was hand made out of some type of hardwood. This was another one of those defining moments of the trip. Bro. Mike started talking about communion and what it means and then asked Aaron, Randy, Menvil and myself to come up and serve communion. This was my first time serving communion. I can't explain what I felt at that time. I can't find the words and if I could they wouldn't do justice in describing that moment. Just know that I had to be very careful not to make the crackers soggy with tears. After communion, they proceeded to present the communion set to our church. Emotions were high because this was no ordinary gift and I'm sure it was a gift that came at a great sacrifice to the people of the church.

After that, Bro. Mike announced that baptisms would be held at 2pm down at the ocean and with that we dismissed for lunch.

This is a view from a little farther back. There were several people behind me and to my right when I took this picture.

This is a picture of the teens before their skit. Some of them knew American slang and it was so funny to hear them use it. Aaron and I had them using "yes yes y'all" before the week was over. Toby would be proud.

another skit

some kids doing a skit to music

Saturday afternoon service.

Shortly after lunch on Saturday, one of the ladies gave me a program for the afternoon service that they were going to hold for us. Honestly, I didn't think much of it and kept on working because I knew time was getting short. As we were working on Saturday, I noticed that our fellow native workers kinda drifted off one by one so my curiosity about the afternoon thing was rising a bit. I guess around 2pm (I didn't wear a watch all week) those workers started showing back up at the church all spiffy and cleaned up. Tons of kids had made their way to the church as well and they were all dressed up too. We could tell something big was up so we quit working and tried to find a place in some shade to view the program. It was obvious they had worked very hard and were anxious to show us what they had been working on. I started to get a guilty feeling for having wanted to keep working instead of watching the program. I remember looking at my program at about this time.....there were 27 things listed in the program. 27! There were songs, skits, scripture reading, and a couple of devotional type things. I'll admit...my first thought was that we were going to be out in that scorching hot sun for-e-v-e-r (it was held outside). Sometimes I can't believe my own selfishness and pride. As the program got started though, those selfish feelings were quickly removed and I was just plain flat blessed. These people that we had come to visit had worked so hard and were so sincere that I don't think one could've attended that service without being blessed. The kids put on skits that were just as good and maybe better than some skits I've seen in services in churches all over my area and they recited chapters of the bible in English. That's right....chapters. In English. That just floored me and at the same time humbled me. I can't recite a whole chapter in my native language, much less a second language. The adults joined in the skits too and both the adults and kids sang songs.

The good thing about having 16 freak show Americans as guests is that it draws a crowd. Even though the program seemed to be geared toward us, there were several in the community that showed up to watch the program. So, a non-threatening program that's held outside and not in the church along with some freaks to look at made for a good time to share the gospel. Bro. Mike shared the gospel message with Pastor Primo translating to close the service and about 20 people came forward to surrender their lives to Christ. Man, it was so cool. Just a great great service.

Still more to tell.

I still have more to tell about the trip....tons more actually. I haven't posted lately because I've been so busy. We went to Atlanta the weekend of Feb 25th to Supercross and then last week I was in training in Nashville on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and then on Saturday, we went to Indy to another Supercross race so I've been on the road a lot lately. I promise to post more about the trip though so stay tuned.