Just One More: 222

Hey prayer warriors! Well, I failed on the daily updates, but I am going to fill you in on all the good stuff and as many pictures as I can to let you know about the week.

For starters, 222 kids and youth gave their life to Christ this week!!! Praise God!!! It was a miraculous week, and I know God was preparing and moving in these kids lives well before the camp to prepare them spiritually, mentally, and emotionally to accept this free gift of salvation. As we continued to pray for "just one more" to come to know God's love and freedom, God answered bountifully! Throughout the four days of camp, we had about 800-900 kids in 4 different communities join us for devotions, sport, fun and love. (oh and the hotdogs and soda as well, I cannot forget that part!) :)

We met about 12 different pastors and were able to speak with them about what this camp is, who AIM is, and what our goal is. This is such a big step because here in the Dominican, sport (baseball) is often looked at as sinful. If you are a Christian, you don't participate in it. This thought process comes from the Dominican baseball league which is surrounded by alcohol, drugs and women. Although there is truth to the "big leagues", one of our goals in AIM has been to break down these barriers and show the pastors how useful the coaches and sport can be to reach kids with the Gospel. Many of the pastors were very interested in the camp and asked when we would come back. Again, God had laid the foundation and prepared these men's hearts for this.

J was also asked to preach last night at a culto. (A culto is a church service.) We started by arriving at about 6:50 to hand out tracts and invite the local community to the culto (and the culto started at "7:00 pm"- Dominican time!) :). Basically the opposite of trick-or-treating... you go to their doors, invite them to the culto, we gave them candy, and handed them a tract. Following this, Raphael started the culto with prayer and talking and simply inviting them out of their homes (also remember, there is no "disturbing the peace" charge here, so it can be outside as loud as you want). Then Checo was the emcee who directed the culto with prayer, singing, more devotions, singing, J preaching, and Pastor Rosario finishing in prayer. Although many people did not come out of their houses for the culto, you never know who you reach behind the walls of their houses. In fact, Raphael shared a story with us:

There was an evangelist who was lying down in bed one night when God spoke to him and said, "Go to this bridge and say, 'Christ saves, Christ saves, Christ saves'." So he went to the bridge in the middle of the night and nobody was there. But the voice said to say, "Christ saves, Christ saves, Christ saves." So he did it, shrugged and walked home. Two years later he went to a church service in the mountain, and the preacher began by introducing a special guest, a guest who had an amazing testimony. The guest began to speak and said, "I was living under a bridge with no hope. When one night, I heard a voice say, 'Christ saves, Christ saves, Christ saves'."

This story reminds us that you never know who is listening or watching you. So, preach the Word and show Christ's love because God may be working in their hearts already.

And just a few pictures to get started: