One of the joys in our first year of living here has been the opportunity to teach Bible classes at a local school here. This year, the school even made Bible class to count the same toward their overall grade as their core subjects like English, Math, Science, etc. We have so much fun with the kids and love watching them learn more about God, how God works in their lives, and beginning to understand the overall story of the Bible as we put the pieces together from Genesis to Revelation. Recently, I (Gretta) got done teaching the 4th grade Bible class and as I was packing up my stuff to leave, I heard the kids chanting and saw they were blocking the doorway so I couldn't leave. It was really sweet and my heart overflowed with joy that they truly want to keep learning about God's Word and have a desire to continue learning.
Our Fishers of Men Sports Ministry continues to go well and we have seen great growth both in the number of people playing on the volleyball teams as well as the people coming to watch the games and support the tournaments. It truly is reaching out to our local communities and bringing people in them closer together. One of the best parts of the ministry is how it is a platform for the gospel. The picture above was taken before one of the women's volleyball team practices. The ladies gathered up to pray together before they started practice and they are becoming closer friends as well. We thank God for how He is using this ministry in so many different ways.
Once Wyatt finishes homeschool each day, he wants to head out and have fun with his friends. Thankfully there are several boys his age that live nearby so they get together and have fun in the afternoons. Recently a friend let us borrow their "paddling dory" (like a kayak but made from fiberglass) and Wyatt and his friend Arlen have been going fishing all over the harbor in it. On one of their trips, they caught a barracuda fish and Wyatt was so excited. This wasn't a very a big barracuda but one of his friends stuck it down inside his backpack and took it home and ate it for supper! It's fun to hear all about their adventures in the evenings too and we are thankful for the many things he is getting to learn about and the new experiences he is having here.
August is also a special month in our family because Sidney's birthday is August 3. This year she turned 15 years old. She decided that to celebrate her birthday she wanted to invite the youth group over for cupcakes and games. So she chose 2 different kinds of cupcakes that she wanted, chips and dip and cokes and she had a really fun birthday party celebrating with her. The kids loved the games we played too and we had a photo booth with props set up for them to take pictures at as well. It was such a fun night full of laughter, fun and food!