We are in the middle of summer here in Uruguay, which is a great time to have special events aimed at reaching children. During the school year, some families are busy with soccer and other activities on Sundays. We are thankful for how the Lord blessed us with reaching many new children in January. Reaching the children first can be a door into reaching the rest of the family. Our desire is to reach the adults as well and to train them to serve the Lord in whatever capacity they can. Please pray for wisdom for us to know how best to do that.
Day of the Wise Men
January 6 is known as “The Day of the Wise Men” here. Of course, this is based on the day when three gifts were brought to Jesus by the wise men. It is a great time to explain the true meaning of Christmas to a secular culture. This day is even bigger than Christmas for most families, and children will generally receive their nicest gifts on that day. I printed invitations for that day, and we spent hours inviting children to church. On January 8, we celebrated that day with games, competitions, Bible songs, a lesson, and, last but not least, food. There were around 50 in church, with 10 being visitors. There were 4 salvations as well! Praise the Lord for the good day He gave us!
Vacation Bible School
The highlight of the summer for the ministry we are helping in is VBS. We decided to have it on January 26 & 27 for about four hours each day. I was able to print some invitations, which were passed out in several areas near the church. We planned to have activities, such as a water-balloon fight, a swimming pool for the little children, games, and then snacks and a gift bag at the end. We taught lessons on the life of Samson. They were calling for rain during VBS a few days before, so we prayed for God to hold off the rain. Most of the side roads in that area aren’t paved, so when it rains, it is very difficult to walk to church. Praise the Lord that it did not rain at all during VBS! On that Thursday, 61 people came, with 13 being children and teens from the area where our family is visiting. I told the teens who came with me that if they brought a visitor on Friday, I would give them a prize. The next day, 3 teens brought visitors. There were over 90 people in church that Friday! We were able to bring 21 people from our area—the most who’ve came from there! Friday was a little crazy, especially since there were fewer workers and far more children than last year; but, thankfully, everything went smoothly. I had the privilege to teach the teen class. Most of them are very new to church, so I taught them a little about how to find verses in the Bible. It was such a joy for me to see them following along in the Bible. In total, over 40 children and teenagers trusted in Christ to save them! Praise the Lord for how He blessed! Please pray that these children would continue to come to church and that we would have the opportunity to reach their parents with the Gospel.
Thank you for giving and praying so we could reach these precious children and teens with the glorious Gospel of Christ!
Praise
- Over 44 salvations!
- Many visitors in church!
- Fruit from our area!
Prayer
- The teens and children to be faithful to church
- Open doors to reach the parents
- Christa has had a lot of pain in her hip the last week due to the pregnancy. She had to stay in bed for two days, but she is able to move some now.
Your missionaries to Uruguay,
Tim, Christa, Ethan, Evan, and Emmalynn Simmons
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- Teaching the teens
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- Alex and Maero came for the first time on January 8, and they are coming to the teen activities as well now!
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- The group from the first night of Vacation Bible School
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- Playing games with the kids on January 8
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- Christa’s class during Vacation Bible School