Trip - Day 5, Feb 15

This morning we got to sleep in, but because of the noise I was still up at 7:30. After breakfast we met for a bit then headed off to church. We arrived there around 9:30 or a bit later. We joined them in singing. Which of course was not at all what we are used to. It was really neat to see how excited they are in their worship. Sunday mornings for them is usually the Sunday school, so we went outside and talked a bit about the passage. After 20 minutes they invited us back in. The real interesting thing to note was they wanted to make sure we were comfortable. They brought us chairs and even a bench to sit on. When inside they invited a few of us to sit up front as guests. Throughout the whole service they talked a lot about us and how grateful they were to have us come. They said they have prayed for 6 years for this to happen. I was able to preach a bit on Galatians 6:26-28, about being one in Christ. It was unique using an interpreter. But the people were really receptive to this. The pastor spoke on 1 Corinthians 13 and love with actions. How we are showing love by doing this project.

After church we had lunch. Then we went to these caves a few miles away. It was really cool to see them but we werent allowed to take any pictures. After this we went back to the hotel to change.

After we changed, we went for a tour to see the sugar cane fields. The countryside here is absolutely beautiful. There are a lot of sugar cane fields. We saw how they unload onto a train. They have carts with oxen that bring the cane to the trains. It was really cool to see the fields. We went to Santa Rita to see a church that was built with left over funds. We met the pastor there as well. The church had to use tin that was used, so it has holes in its roof. But they are so thankful for what they have. We also saw in Mano's village a pastor's house they had built.

When we got back we had dinner and then met to discuss the day. We had some good but interesting discussions on the differences and whether or not it means good or bad. The discussion was really neat to see how it challenged people in different ways, and how it stretched others. It was a tiring day, but very educational. It is hard to believe we only have three working days left.