At the beginning of the month, we had two outreaches and one church event planned as we would be hosting a CCA high school team that week. The first outreach was the Kids Festival. This was open to the city and all families were welcome to come to the church courtyard for a fun time of crafts, face painting, animal balloons, popcorn and games. We had a good turn out and we were able to share with them a presentation of a skit, Bible story, and we made sure everyone knew they were welcome to come back for church on Sundays.
The other outreach was a youth night. This event was not only for the church youth, but it was for their friends and there was an open invitation for anyone ages 10-16. As youth started to come, each of them received a raffle ticket. We began the night with a few games so everyone could mingle a bit and have some fun. Some of the CCA youth led a couple songs of worship and our youth leader from Calvary Motul shared a message. The event ended with announcing the winner for the raffle. A girl won a brand-new Huffy Mountain bicycle! She was in shock! It was such a blessing for her!
"Dinner Night Out" was the church event we hosted. All married couples and single moms from our church were invited to a dinner at-no-cost at Calvary Café. All the tables were set up in the outdoor courtyard for them. Each married couple had their own table with their names written on a plaque. All of the single moms sat together. Each were served a hamburger with fries and a drink of their choice. Having a night out without your kids or going on a date as a married couple is seldom here. While they all enjoyed themselves, their kids were also fed and taken care of inside. We believed they were all blessed and we were happy to do it for them.
For those of you who have been following the story of Perla, a single mom from our church, we have more to update as now we are almost finished. We thank those of you who donated to help us have the funds to bless her and her two kids. With the money that was given, here are the things we were able to accomplish:
wall repairs
new paint all inside
all electricity redone
all new celing lights for each room
new outdoor light
new locks on doors
bathroom repairs (she didn't have running water)
new shower head
new valves
toilet repair
new water tank
new water pump
roof waterproofed
outdoor concrete floor poured
outdoor kitchen walls stucco
outdoor kitchen counter with new sink and faucet
front street wall repaired
front gate installed
front and backyard cleaned up
bulk trash taken away
outdoor kitchen roof (yet to finish)
We were able to help her move in and she and her kids are living there now and everyone is so grateful. We have some before and after pictures below that you can see how much of a difference was made! Praise the Lord that we all get to serve together to bless this family!
Our women's night this month was amazing. We changed things up. As the ladies came in, they grabbed a drink and the food that was brought to share and sat down at one of the group tables. We started the book of Ruth and had a time of questions and group discussions as we dove deep into the Scriptures. The night ended with a time of worship. Three new ladies came that had never been to our church before. When Natalie asked two of them if they had a home church, they responded that they were Catholic. But they expressed that they really enjoyed the night and want to return. They even signed up on the list to bring food next month!