September 17, 2012
-
FIESTA for village- Mexico Independence Day
Paco and I were shocked to discover
that the 
majority of the village never does anything 
special to celebrate Mexico Independence 
Day, on 
September 16th. This major national holiday usually just passes them by as any old day! We immediately saw the opportunity for an evangelistic outreach event to touch the whole community: a Mexican FIESTA night
hosted by the church for the whole village! 
Not only would it be a time of healthy family fun, but also a moment to share the true message of freedom in Christ as we celebrate our freedom as a nation! The whole church body
participated excitedly in the party- each 
member preparing either a game or food 
stand for the 
carnival-style event, and helping decorate the 
auditorium. It was beautiful to experience the unity of 
the whole congregation working together to show Christ´s love to the community! The games were a blast!-a dart-throw, coin-toss, cake-walk, bobbing-for-lemons (in flour), fish pond, horseshoes, face-painting, and balloon figures. Kids, youth, and even adults went back
and forth between games winning candy and balloons and covering themselves in flour! Pastor Sergio led hilarious contests on the stage which had the whole audience riveted- a best Mexican yell contest (among children and youth), and the Chile-eating contest (the winner actually ate 10 roasted chilies!). The food stands were very professional- with a selection of nachos, menudo, flautas, or sandwiches, and a side of popcorn, chips, or gelatin, and icepops for all. It was a true carnival!Paco delivered theevangelistic Bible message on true freedom with a passion directly from the Holy Spirit, and one of the older ladies of the church, on her own accord, found and shared a Bible verse on freedom in Christ with the entire audience! With that true freedom in mind, Sergio led the group in the traditional Mexican “grito de independencia” (independence yell) in unity as a village.
So many people arrived! We had planned for 120 people, but almost 200 people crammed into the church that night. As Paco and I passed out food tickets, we prayed repeatedly that the Lord would multiply the food miraculously so that each person would eat. Though we ran out of food tickets and had to make more- every single person ate!! I still cannot believe it. We were left without a single chip or cup of water, but everyone received food.
The whole village seemed joyful with the party. The village´s makeshift youth band even set up outside the church to add atmosphere to the event. And, God was impacting lives with his love and unity: the very next day, four new faces appeared in the congregation for church service. May the Lord continue to guide our church to touch the lives of all of Boca del Rio!
