Honor thy father and mother...............

The teaching this week on God's commands has been well-received, and it seems for many to be a brand new idea, the first time they have ever heard these concepts! Yesterday's verses were to honor thy father and mother, and to not commit adultery. So many of these kids come from dysfunctional situations and it is hard for them to grasp the concept of honor and obedience to a parent who is either absent or ignorant. The abject poverty is a contributing factor, but the lack of God's Word in homes is what is so striking. There is a marked difference in the average villager and those that are faithful to the mission church, where they receive sound doctrine. The character quality was "obedience", and focused on heeding the instruction of God first of all, and of authorities.

The evening message, with a good Wednesday night crowd in addition to the campers, was about purity, expounding on Jesus' teaching on adultery, and the need for purity in heart, mind and body. This culture is very physical, so while they seem to understand the principle of purity of heart, they do not "connect the dots" of what steps they can take in a physical sense to guard their hearts, minds and bodies. The concept was clearly presented, and perhaps a few will take the challenge to be different and to be examples in this area.

We had a great day yesterday with all the other activities - English classes, musical fun & learning, painting T shirts, water relays and games. One interesting note is that the kids seem to LOVE the music -- and it is all from the Majesty Hymnal! Though they grew up with and are surrounded by the merengue and reggae (very loud African origin music), they seem to thrive on the melodious style, and actually can hear the words they are singing. We are repeating the songs over and over, so when they go home, they will be singing, "The greatest command of God is to love you Lord..." and "Obedience is the very best way to show that you believe". We are teaching them in Spanish of course, so that they fully grasp the message. The songs each day are reinforcing all the other things that they are learning.

We ate -- as usual -- rice, rice and more rice. I think we have had rice every day in various forms, mangu, yuca & beans. The protein for the day was 2 meatballs -- and that is generous! Most of the villagers have very little meat in their diets, and are blessed if they have beans or any source of nutrition beyond the carbohydrates. They are blessed to have abundant fruit - mango, banana, pineapple and others.

We are off to another day - and praising God for what He is doing. The Dominican leaders are seeing a difference in these campers, and our prayer is that through discipleship and further training, they will see new mature young leaders come out of this camp who have a heart for God.