"When word reached the apostles in Jerusalem that Samaria had accepted God's word, they commissioned Peter and John to go to Samaria." (Acts 8:14)
We started the day today with a devotion that challenged all of us to step outside our comfort zone to accept the word of God and live faithful lives that others can see. This morning began with the usual trip to the radio station to hear Kim, Kent, and Owen present messages about God's love in their lives and the promise of God's love in the lives of the listeners.
Our first journey this morning was a trip to Pascuala where the men came prepared to paint one of the houses built by Because We Care Ministries, but, as with Tom Sawyer, some of the village boys came quickly to do the painting for them. These are houses built by the ministry with the understanding that the villagers take responsibility for building and maintaining their homes in the manner of Habitat for Humanity's "sweat equity" concept. Though we did not prepare a meal for the villagers, we did hand out bags of food to each family. There are 29 homes currently in Pascaula which were built by BCWC Ministries with a 30th home waiting for funding.
After lunch, the team took another long trip to Guacimal accompanied again by the doctor. The doctor saw as many villagers as she saw yesterday. All of the children receive parasite medication along with whatever the doctor feels will help individual issues. The team prepared a meal for the village–everyone seemed appreciative and polite. There were the usual activities with the children and more food packages were passed out to each family.
These trips into the villages are long and dusty, but we receive more from the experience than can be imagined: "Then they will reply, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and didn't do anything to help them?' Then he will answer, ' I assure you when you haven't done it for one of the least of these, you haven't done is for me.'" (Matt 25:44-45)
