Invitations, Rain, and Prayer

Today is our first full day in Ciudad Victoria! We split into two groups this morning to invite people to the two Kids Clubs we are hosting Monday through Thursday. We are working with two churches here, Principe de Paz and Monte Calvario. My group took the 15-passenger van to Monte Calvario, where we set out to find kids in the neighborhood we could invite to the Kids Club. It went really well; despite our group's slight grasp of the Spanish language, we greeted people, told them about the Kids Club (with the help of flyers), and made balloon hats and animals for the kids we saw! We got back in the van to leave for lunch around 12:30. Since it has rained a lot in the past few days, all the (dirt) roads were very muddy. Our van became stuck in the mud. Some men from a nearby church came over and helped push us out, which was awesome! We went around the block to try a different way out and got stuck again, but got out...but then we got stuck again and this time it was not good. By this time the lighthearted air we had brought to the situation was starting to wear off and we were becoming worried. We couldn't see how we were going to get back because there was only more mud ahead. Our group disagreed about which direction to try next and tension began to rise. Soon after, Aaron's asthma began to act up. A couple of the teens reminded us that we needed to pray and prayed immediately over Aaron. Before long, Aaron improved. Just a few minutes after that, a man drove his pickup truck toward us to help us out. With some deliberation, he was able to pull us out of the mud with his truck and skillfully guided the car through and out of all the remaining mud! Two hours after the time we started, we arrived at the Pastor's house for lunch. We are praising God for his faithfulness and for teaching us about unity, faith, and perseverance in prayer. To echo the youth, "Prayer really works!"