May 2009
Hello to all!
Did you ever see a child get really excited? Well, if
you are like most of us, you would have been
thrilled to see such a reaction. That is precisely
what happened at Agua Viva when we had
Operation Christmas Child. Many kids were
gathered together for they were invited to attend a
special program. Then, as part of the program
each one received a box that had all sorts of gifts.
The boxes were labeled according to the gender
and age of the child, thus enabling each child to
receive appropriate gifts.
The program was very well done. Becci told the
story of Jonah and the whale, and sure enough
there was a whale like “thing” that came into the
church to swallow Jonah. The kids certainly didn't
want to be like Jonah, who was fleeing from God.
So, there was an emphasis to give their lives to the
Lord Jesus now, while they have opportunity.
Since we were concerned that we might not be
able to handle all the kids well on one day, we
divided the kids up by areas—those on this side of
the river came on February 28th, and those on the
other side of the river came on March 7th. It was
great to see all the kids, and also the fruit from this
event. Then came the time to see the kids opening
the boxes. Some of the notes inside said: “Please
write me ...”, your friend; another said: “we are
praying for you.” Another said, “Please write and
send me a picture of yourself.” So you know what
the bilingual people did while they were opening
the presents, right! We were translating.
We are sure that some of you have helped to pack
some of these boxes on some occasion, which
were provided by Samaritan's Purse. So, thanks
for sowing into the lives of these kids, and of
course; these smiles can't help but stay with us for
quite a while.
May God's blessings be on each of you. Thanks for praying for us, and also for being partners together.
Dave & Becci

The photos
(Left to right, and top to bottom)
~The kids during the program.
~Becci doing the kid's class.
~Jonah just before being thrown into the sea.
~Oops, it looks like the whale got him.
~Happy to receive the special gift box.
~The clowns waiting to help out.