Josh Campbell - Day 2

Los dos dias pasados eran algo de los...Oh wait, I don't have to speak in Spanish anymore.

The past two days were some of the greatest of my life.  Although you might have read a summary of what has happened thus far, I would also like share a little bit.

Once we arrived early Sunday morning, we had only a little time to eat and take a nap before the worship service.  From where we were eating, we could hear the worship time of the early service in Spanish.  After breakfast, we went into the service and sang along with the congregation.  It was just an awesome experience when we realized that one of the songs they were singing was El Poder de Tu Amor, our English worship song The Power of Your Love.  Sandi Patty, in her song "Love in Any Language", sings the following lyric: "We teach the young our differences, yet look how we're the same".  That worship service gave the line so much more meaning.  The entire day was such a great experience.

Today, we got to one of the sites where we will be doing the VBS.  With very loud music and beckon, we drew in so many kids!  While the Kims and other experienced Spanish speakers drew them in, the rest of the team started to paint faces or began small conversations in Spanish.  At one point, probably the most common question was something along the lines of "Will you paint my face too?"  Once the program began, we started games of Red Light, Green Light and Simon Says.  It was amazing to see these games conducted with such a huge crowd of kids, played in such a small area and directed completely in Spanish.  Following the games, we sang several songs in English and then shared the story of Daniel in the lions' den.  The children so enjoyed this, that at the end of the drama they shouted for an encore - "Otro!  Otro!".  Unfortunately we had only prepared one, so we continued on to craft time with the face paint and the colored bead bracelets (a means by which the Gospel could be shared).  When we did this, we were mauled!  We were mobbed by well over 100 kids while trying to hand stuff out.  I was almost knocked over and the team ran out of all of its daily supplies.

The VBS experience was amazing!  Everyone payed so much attention, and how the kids all wanted the bracelets was incredible!  I so enjoyed being one of the lead translators today.  When I originally was thinking about the trip I was very doubtful of my skills.  After this experience, I know that God blessed me with a great gift in communicating in Spanish, and I am so thankful.

Con mucho amor,

Josh Campbell