We serve a big God

Greetings,

When we last wrote, we had just started doing the cooked food distributions in the barrio where we work. So, for the last 7 weeks we have been learning what will work best. In fact, we are still in a learning process and will probably be in one for a long time, so we thought we would share with you some of the things that we have learned so far. 

First of all we thought that we would start with no more than 15-20 children and quickly found out that God had other plans in store. At our first week of feeding the children, there were about 20 children, but after that first week we jumped up to 45 children and have been feeding that many ever since.

The first week  Cindy did the cooking of the arroz con polllo (rice with chicken) and the children really didn't like the way that Cindy cooked it. It seems when we cook rice in the states we use more water than they do here, so the rice was a lot softer than they were used to. However, the next week some of the local ladies that help us decided to do the cooking and the children liked it much better. This was really an answer to prayer since we really wanted the locals to do the cooking. Not because Cindy didn't want to, but because Cindy knew that she cooked differentt  then they are used to. 

Next we had to learn what was going to work best with this many children. We quickly found out that if we showed them a short Bible story on the computer it would hold their attention longer than just trying to tell them a Bible story. We then ask  them questions about what they learned by watching the story. At first, they were not very responsive in answering questions, but as the weeks go by the children are starting to respond more and more. 

We also found out that they love to color. So we have a coloring sheet that goes with the story. This is where the children love to show us what they can do. Since we have children from the ages of 2-13 the sheets are very different. The older children take a lot of care in coloring their sheets and then the younger children just scribble, but they are so happy when they are doing this simple activity. 

Lastly, we learned that it is best to play with the children first instead of at the end. Since children have a lot of energy it is a great way to get rid of some of that energy and then they will listen more to the Bible Story.  They love to do relay races, so we are now having to come up with creative relay races. This is a lot of fun for us and for them, but since it is now raining every day we are having problems getting the races in. We meet together on a small porch so it is not possible to do the races there, so please pray that we will come up with more creative ways to play with the children in small places. If you have any suggestions, we would love to hear them so please email them to  us

Next Step

Now that we have started the children's program we feel that God is saying that it is time for the next step.  Because our hearts are to reach not only the children in this area, but the teenagers and adults as well, we will start to visit some of the homes of the people that don't go to church and live in poverty.  We will be working with the local pastor in this area, and we will start by letting them know that God loves them and thinks that they are special. Our first visits will be accessing their needs and to see what is the best way to help them. We will most likely start with giving them a gift of food.  We will be visiting with them weekly and sharing some of the Good News in the Bible. We want them to know that we are visiting them because God sent us to them..  We really would appreciate your prayers as we get ready to take this next step. 

Lastly, we need your prayers for a big dream that God has given us. We believe that God wants to plant a community center in this area and we are praying over the timing of this and where the center should be located. 

As you can see God has given us a very big vision for this barrio. With this vision comes the need for more resources then every before, but we know that if He tells us to do something, He will provide for all of our needs. If you would like to give to any of these needs you may do so here and make sure Thalheimer-missions is in the "Choose where to direct your donation" box. Also in the "Other" put what area you would like.

 WIth God ALL things are possible. Matt 19:26.

Lots of love and Blessings,
John & Cindy