Wow, they say time flys when you are having fun and apparently that is so true!!! It is so hard to believe that I have been in American Samoa for over 10 months and I have spent today, packing and cleaning the house, getting ready to fly back to the states in 7 days....but, enough talk about leaving here (can you tell I am in Egypt, swimming in de Nile?!!!!)
The end of school came quick as well, but ended really great!! All my students passed, but more importantly, found they way into my heart and memories and will remain there for a long time to come!! They were all very special (some in sweeter ways than others...ha,ha...but special just the same)!! 8th grade graduation here is a pretty huge event!! I was very honored to be the keynote speaker for this years ceremonies and really didn't realize just how much those crazy 8th graders had come to mean to me until I was putting together my message and began to reflect on all the many lessons I had learned from them this year!! I pray for each one of them as they begin this new journey of life!!!
On the same night as 8th grade graduation, some of our summer missionaries arrived. Sarah Andrews had arrived a few days earlier and Bekah Shearin and Patrick Miller arrived that night. Jenn Hydrick and Brandon Haywood would arrive Sunday night along with Sam's (the nurse that lives on campus with us) mom from TX!! Let the summer ministries begin!!!
We started off the first week with our joint VBS with Tafuna Baptist and Happy Valley Baptist. It poured the rain for days and we were not able to walk the village around the church like we wanted to, but in spite of the weather, we averaged around 85 for the week. Many nights, the children would walk to VBS in the rain!! Talk about humbling!!! The week went great and we invited the middle school students back the next week for another round of bible study and fellowship!!!
In the mornings of the next week (which was this past week), we were at a small Baptist church about 15 minutes from campus called Faleniu (think....Fa Lay New). This little church literally sits in the middle of a mormon community. On Monday morning, we passed out flyers for VBS in the village and prayed over it and for the VBS that would start on Tuesday morning!! God certainly heard our prayers and we had over 50 kids every day. We would arrive anywhere from 20-30 minutes early each morning and they would already be sitting in the church, in the little wooden pews, ready to begin!!! We all absolutely loved our time there this week......literally the sweetest kids I have ever worked with in my life. And they ranged from K all the way to 8th grade!!! And the middle school kids sing the VBS songs and do the dances as much, if not more than the little ones!!! I love it!!! On Friday, Brian came and did an evangelistic emphasis during their Bible story time (especially with the older ones) and he really poured his heart out to them, explaining who God is, what He did for us and how they can spend eternity in Heaven. Afterwards, several of the 6th, 7th and 8 graders prayed to receive Christ!!! I was privileged to speak with two young men who made that decision. One of them, was sooo excited and happy. I kept asking him was he sure and did he understand what this decision was and so on and he just kept smiling and saying yes, yes, yes!!! Please pray for this young man as he has made a decision that will not be very popular with his family and community!!! The evening bible study with the middle schoolers from our first week went really well also. At the end of it, one young man had given his heart to Christ as well!!!
As we look ahead, we will be doing some service projects in the community this week of the mornings and another VBS in the evening time!! Please continue to pray for our team of summer missionaries as the girls are working hard with VBS and the boys are working hard at their football camps and getting geared up for the big camp that will be beginning at the end of this week. They are all doing such an incredible job of building relationships and spreading the love and message of Christ with the people of American Samoa!!! And even though I may be swimming the above mentioned river, I do realize that my time here (at least for this go around) is coming to an end and my heart is so very heavy as I prepare to say goodbye next Sunday night!!! Please pray for me in this matter and that these last few days would be spent sharing His love and leaving behind His legacy!!!!
Love you all!!
Serving together,
Larry
