WEEK FOUR: September 18, 2010
101 STUDENTS!!! If you would have told me a month ago that we would have over one hundred students this year participate in EL RETO, I would not have believed you. This is something that excites me, not that we have "high" numbers, but that more and more students are being exposed to the Truth! Each week we talk about Biblical Principals that can help us in our life. Most of these students have never been to church, in fact, I more than likely will not be able to recognize them in a month. God recognizes them, he knows their heart and what they are receiving. My prayer is that their hearts would be open to the gospel and they would make the most important decision in their life...decide to live for Jesus! WOW!! This is exciting! The next day during the Sunday service we had baptisms. Along with the 5 adults that were baptized, 8 youth were baptized!! Some of them are fruit of EL RETO! Please continue to pray that the students participating would have open hearts to hear God speak to them about their lives. And, for a strong faith in the 13 people baptized on Sunday.
The activities for week four started with searching for Bible verses (which we used in "Under the Scope" for our message). The first team to find the verse got 50 points.
Diana Garzon
From there, the students had to make a penalty shot. They would start in the order their final verse mentioned, "the last shall be first". So, the first team to kick a penalty shot was The Angels. If you're interested, the order continued with Those Who Believe, The Explorers, In Love, The Detectives, and finally The Disciples.
Gollo Hernández
Once they made their penalty shot, they got a message telling them to go to the small lake in Cofradía where José Luís was waiting for them in the middle on a boogy board. One of their team members had to swim out to him to get their next clue. They got their #2 font message in a small bottle; the message said: "At the bottom of the river, there is a treasure. Under the bridge where the people swim. Tied to a rock in a Holy (Santa) place. Search with Faith (Fe) and we'll see what happens." In Spanish it was cool because the whole thing rhymed really well. With the words "Santa" and "Fe", they knew exactly where to go!
Jesús Orozco
One of the team members dove in for the treasure that contained the message for their next activity. They needed to go around town (Santa Fe), asking for chips just like they did last week. Finally, when they were done, they arrived at the Soccer field where they played a series of Capture the Flag.
Julio Hernández
They had five minutes to capture their flag or the game ended in a tie. When there was a four-way tie for second, we had them run down the field and back...the first complete team to cross the line won second place. The finals were between The Angels and The Disciples, and the winners...
The Disciples!
From there, the teams went back to Cofradía for small group time and debrief the activities of the day while we prepared for "Under the Scope."
Candles in "Under the Scope"
The past couple of weeks, I've been trying to be goofy as they come into the solemn room to vote. It's so serious and I've heard that some of the students really think I'm upset! So, last week I wore a baseball cap sideways and this week I wore a full-face knitted cap with my cowboy hat. Every once in a while when I catch the eye of someone, we'll pull them aside and not tell them why until the team leaves. Then, that person and I have a staring competition (I tell him we're playing before hand). It's fun and creates a connection with the students. We shake hands in the end and we let them go.
Here's a clip...
Finally, there was a tie for most votes...Those Who Believe and The Explorers
Here's a quick video of the activities in week #4...
Thank you so much for your prayers! I believe that God is working in the hearts of these young students. He is also teaching us a number of things!
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