Back from Avenal

Our trip was amazing. I don't know how I can summarize it up for you. I'll just start in the beginning:
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Our ride down was mostly uneventful - it took 16 1/2 hours to make a trip that could have been made in 15, but with 17 HS youth drinking too much pop and three little kids on the trip, it took a while longer to get there.

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We stayed at an Assembly of God church because the church we were working with does not have their own building. The church was small - three separate mobile home buildings. But it was clean, had AC and it was free. The people there were kind to let us use their facility.

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Sunday we attended Iglesia Evangelica de Avenal. It was an amazing service. They meet in the HS auditorium and are outgrowing their space. They are raising funds to build a "templo" of their own. The music was loud and was so fun! Lots of clapping and joy filled the room during worship. The offering son was a dance beat with words something like, "Get your body on the dance floor...if you want to dance..." Pastor Raul preached a sermon (it was translated for us) about loving our brothers and sisters and not letting conflict come between us. It was clear and challenging! The service lasted 2 hours, but went by really fast. Everyone was beyond kind and welcoming to our group.

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VBS clubs were held at the park, Monday-Thursday. We had about 50 kids each time, all were Hispanic except for two boys that came. Most of the kids spoke English, though some of the young ones, who were not in school yet, did not. We had four groups lead by our HS youth. The children were separated by age and rotated each day to a new group. I think everyone had a blast! The biggest group was the 11-12 year olds, which surprised me. Usually that age is "too cool" to come to a Bible club, but they really seemed to respect and connect with our youth. There were quite a few children who accepted Jesus and many who confirmed a faith in Jesus. It was wonderful to watch our HS youth pray with individual children to accept Jesus.

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Each day, after VBS, the women of Iglesia Evangelica served us an anazing meal! We had the yummiest taco's and burritos, and the fresh fruit was excellent! "Generous" is not a big enough word to describe them!

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An unexpected blessing was being able to take showers in the evenings at the homes of the people that attended the church. We went to an apartment complex and split up among four different homes. Each day the different groups would gather back at the vans with stories of generousity beyond anything they had experienced before. Food, treats, family photos, stories, video games, TV... anything the host family had, they were willing to share or give away.

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We were also able to meet a few times with the "jovenes" (JH/HS youth) of the church for youth meetings. Nathan shared a message one evening and we played games together. There were about four HS youth who really connected with our youth. They came to "hang out" and were a lot of fun to be with. The youth leader, Lupe, is considering a mission trip to Oregon!

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The last day of our trip was spent at Six Flags Marine World. It was a fun, hot day to relax and celebrate the end of a successful week. We left early Saturday morning to drive home and got back at about 9:30pm.

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That you to all who prayed for our youth group as we were in southern California. God is truly amazing!

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(Written by Kelsey Ensz)