Saturday

Got to sleep in Saturday in Palenque while the village folks were up early working on Reading Instruction.  In town we were invited to Pastor Jesus' house to have breakfast at 10:a.m.  We had something that looked like a fried pie but had taco meat in some and chicken in others and were covered with lettuce.  We had some kind of colored drink that tasted like watered down Kool-Aid.  We visited he and his family about 1 hr. then were off to where the tent was set up to work with the children at 11:00.  Gracie Hatten taught the curriculem about the 7 days of creation.  Some 25 or so children colored the pictures and answered questions over creation.  In between lessons Thomas Bowes did some biblically based illusions for the children which really intrigued them. While this was going on, RA and Martin went to order Pizza to feed the children, only to find out that the Pizza places don't open until 1:00 p.m. and they are not prepared to cook multiple pizzas like the US.  They normally sell by the slice.  After visiting multiple Pizza places, they managed to come back with 4 Pizzas and the Pepperoni Pizzas were more expensive than the Supreme Pizzas.  The children were so excited about eating Pizza and Pastor Jesus' family provided the drinks.  While waiting for Pizza, Gracie had the children memorize scriptures over the lesson.  We had a bag of candy, Barbies, small cars, and sunglasses.  Depending on how many scriptures were memorized determined how many prizes the children were allowed to choose out of the bag.  The children memorized anywhere from one to five scriptures each.  We were very impressed.  We had one young girl, Maria who was quadriplegic, she had no use of her hands or feet and legs.  Her cousin carried her everywhere they went.  She was tall and slender for her age and was almost as big as the cousin who carried her.  We inquired with the family as to if she had gotten any therapy.  They told us that she went for awhile, but then it got to be too much of a hassle.  Her aunt brought her to the children's teaching and as we talked with her, she said Maria's parents had left her with grandparents and came to the US.  She was keeping Maria on Saturday as the grandparents had gone to prison to visit their son.  This was a very sad situation.  Maria only has use of a broken down wheelchair when she goes to school.  She is very pretty and smart and memorized the verses.  Judy Gauntt was great about helping her color the pages, which Judy put the crayon in her hand and moved the page up and down so that she could color.  Judy also helped her memorize her scriptures.  Gracie fed her pizza so that she could eat like the other children.  They also brought her back for the evening service.  R. A., Pastor Jesus, Gracie and Sonny went and visited several other Pastors who had churches in the Mayan villages between services.  We spent time discussing their needs and praying with them and talked about what we might could do when we come back next time.  Some of these villages had never seen white men.  There is a big need for glasses, shoes, some clothing, spanish bible and educational instruction in basic reading skills in Spanish.  We did learn that there is a bible college in the area.  We met one individual that teaches there.  We also met and prayed for one Pastor that works in the educations system that has offered to work with RA to teach him Spanish and to get him access to schools in and around the Palenque area.

Later that afternoon at 5:30, Pastor Jesus invited us once again to eat with his family.  This time his wife and mother prepared Mole with chicken.  It was very delicious and we had coke to drink... (What a treat).  At 7:00 as a rain storm moved in, we started our church service under the tent.  Sonny and Arlene led the congregation in a chorus in Spanish, then Judy Presley gave her testimony.  Judy Gauntt also gave her testimony and sang a song in Spanish and played the keyboard.  Then Pastor Jesus' music leader led more singing, then Martin preached, then we finished the "Life of Christ" movie.  It was a wonderful emotionally refreshing service with many people being blessed.