The church at Guadalajara, together with Lane and Misse, put together a wonderful Children's day celebration for the community!
Over 50 kids came from the Sports ministry, and at the end of the evening, they got to take home a water bottle
This is a really big deal, because at Basketball practice, the kids had always been sharing the same disposable cup (until Rachel was horrified at the thought of all those germs), and so the kids had been told to bring a water bottle to fill up. Most of the kids didn't own one. Now they do!
We are excited to see the church involved with these kids!
The kids at Guadalajara are doing great and joining in on praying for the refugees:
Lane and Misse, the two girls who run the program, share their testimony of what God has done in their lives--and ask you to join in praying for these kids--and for their dream of becoming missionaries:
The Sports ministry is back at it in Guadalajara on Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays, with tournaments and games on Saturdays. But for the last week of vacation, Athletes in Action and Glory Sports--with other friends/volunteers--got together to do some community outreaches in Carpina, Guadalajara, and Tracunhaem.
Thank you to Rogerio and Soares family for your leadership!
We have not had any blog posts or updates about Guadalajara in 2015, but that does not mean that God has not been working.
Misselana (far left), Lane (left of Rachel), and Maykon (left of Caid) have been faithfully running the sports ministry an average of three mornings and three afternoons every week (3 hours each time).
Guadalajara, an impoverished suburb of Paudalho, does not have many opportunities for sports--the public school is being remodeled, and they currently have no gym, only an open field. The Mayor has commended the Community church of Guadalajara for their contribution to the community.
These three young adults see it as their ministry, and with a missionary mindset, they go about running this program with no financial assistance, and very little outside help. Caid and Rachel have been coming along side to encourage them, and to try to assist where possible. We are excited to dream about the future and see what God has for this community full of children ready to know more about Jesus through sports!
Please pray for the community and children of Guadalajara, and for Lane, Misselana, and Maykon, and the leadership of the church.
We were sad to see the leadership leave in the middle of 2014, but he is doing a great job with his new ministry. We are also excited to see what God is doing through Lane, Misselana, and Maykon, who have continued the ministry.
A poor suberb of Paudalho (pop. 30,000), Guadalajara is located right off of the main road, and so is a more urban location. The community church of Guadalajara has a full gym (sanctuary), and in 2012, Glory sports ministry began there, reaching about 80 children weekly. But mid-2014, the leadership left to minister in another state, ending the program.
(Misselane and Maykon)
(Lane)
But three of the youth from the church (Lane, Misselana—sisters, and Maykon), between ages 16-20, have gone through training with Athletes in Action, and are running the sports ministry three times a week. We are excited to see them grow, and also see how the church leadership comes along and embraces this opportunity.
Since Living Stones is not currently running at Guadalajara, and we do not know when God will move to enable us to, we are calling Guadalajara our Living Stones Partnership, as we will continue supporting and updating the blog so that you can continue to pray.
Glory Sports does a wonderful job with not just meeting throughout the week for practices, but then having special tournaments for the kids to play, meet new friends, and hear the gospel. Here is from the tournament this month:
The young volunteers have done a wonderful job continuing the ministry in Guadalajara. If you would like to see the new ministry of Luizinho, go here.
