HALLELUYER!!!

If you have ever seen the movie "Madea Goes to Jail" you will know what I mean by my title of this post. I know it's a really bad movie analogy when it comes to describing what our church gathering was like this afternoon but I couldn't think of any other word (Batchelor, you know exactly what I'm talking about :)

It was absolutely incredible. Everything from everyone bringing items to make up our meal (it was the first time we had asked for others to bring things besides our teammates and our good friends Mierko and Leidy.) It was such a fun sight to see fellow Peruvians bringing items for our Easter feast. John Mark, Justin and Lee did an awesome job planning the service (they even used props for symbolism) and God worked through them to really touch peoples hearts. Alison, Rocio, Leidy and I handled (more like man-handled :) the kids in the park during the lesson and let me tell you trying to teach the story of passover to 5 English speaking kids and 6 Peruvian kids when you don't speak good Spanish, is AMUSING! Good thing kids are more simple minded. Then finally the time for the Easter Egg Hunt came and it was so fun. I tried to use a little "symbolism" myself after the hunt to talk about sharing and what it would mean to Jesus on this day to be able to share with our friends, but once again that whole Spanish language thing kicked in and well, I've just learned to laugh at myself.

All this to say that God was ALIVE today in our home with over 33 people and hearts eager to learn about His story.

I wanted to share one sweet moment from today though there was many. I had asked a guy that has worked for us a few times to come and help with the floors this morning before church. Lee invited him to stay for church and he seemed excited. The people here are INCREDIBLY hard workers and I was so appreciative of his help. After church was over I went to find him so I could pay him before he left and in a soft voice he just said "I can't take your money, what I've seen here today with your family and this church is different than anything I've ever seen. What I heard today was just what I needed and I'm so touched." He was almost moved to tears and for him this day meant so much more than we could probably imagine. This guy works odd jobs in the neighborhood for a living and today was so different than what he is used to. I myself was almost moved to tears. He stayed late to help clean up after everyone and you could just see in his face that he was truly thankful for the day. He would not let us give him anything and he walked away with a smile that was truly priceless. God is good and He IS alive. Enjoy the pics from our day!

Playing "duck, duck, goose"It all looked so easy the first five minutes, then...

The Feast

Eating together

Our Church Family- Oh and please notice the digression of those of us on the outside of the picture

Poor Liam he's the only one not in the picture

All the kiddos. Don't ask me what Maddox is doing...

You think she was excited about the egg she found? Priceless

Angel and his family

Jose, Louis and Alfredo

Here I am trying to talk about sharing in Spanish (notice Lee laughing in the background :)

Meche and Steph

All the guys played "Senor Conejo" A.K.A. Easter Bunny and hid all the eggs

Valentino sharing with Parker

It didn't take long for the kids to find the eggs, they were sprinting!