Wednesday...By Linsey

How majestic is our God, and what a testimony He has given us all in this place.

The children here attend church both on Sundays and Wednesdays (in addition to morning circle time daily and afternoon bible studies on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday). On Sunday, we were so blessed to hear team-member Mark Holland's sermon on how much God loves us all. He spoke to the children telling them of belief in Christ as a bridge to life eternal.

On Wednesday, team member Greg Elder continued that message telling the children that they are not only loved by Christ, but that they are beautiful, regardless of the past, of what may have been said about them, or how they may see themselves. Christine Edwards, who has added so much to the trip with her music ministry, accompanied both sermons. But, on Wednesday, she had prepared an extra special message.

Collecting pictures throughout the week of children here at Emmanuel, Christine created a video to Mercy Me's song, "You are Beautiful."

What started as giggles across the congregation as children caught a glimpse of a well-recognized face or two soon turned to quiet tears as they read the lyrics in Spanish on the screen and began to receive the message. At the end of the video, Greg called anyone to the altar who was ready to profess their faith and receive Christ.

No one moved.

Christine had almost finished her song on the guitar in the still church when the first child stood up and approached the altar. And then another. And another.

Four girls led Cheri Orr by the hand to the altar and asked her to pray over them as they received Christ. These four were girls Cheri had ministered to both this year and last year when she came to Honduras, and here they were together, praying in a group and crying as they received their Savior. Likewise, one of our student team members, Ashby Kernea, was led by two girls to the altar. Ashby prayed in English while the Honduran minister translated her prayer over the girls.

By the end of the night, somewhere between 14 - 18 youth professed their faith, received Christ, and accepted their Lord and Savior.

Afterward, many other youth who had completed a class, like confirmation, were dunked in the baptismal pool as each received the sacrament.

Witnessing such a beautiful moment was powerful and emotionally exhausting for the entire group. Our bodies may be tired, but our spirits are renewed and remain strong as we head into another day.

Yours in Christ,

Linsey and team Honduras