God is moving in San Lorenzo

Hey Guys!

These past two weeks have been jam-packed with ministry and adventures! We have still been working in San Lorenzo with One Way Ministries and we have been learning so much about these families and how they live their lives! We made tortillas with a mom, we saw a dad making boots, and we were able to create more and more relationships!

Last Tuesday was the best day of ministry yet!

On Monday we visited a mom and her daughters and we got to hear her story. We laughed together and we cried together, it was such an amazing time to be able to love and encourage this mom! She enjoyed the visit so much that she invited us back over on Tuesday for lunch together! Who would’ve thought that a single mom who has three kids to provide for and lives in a small house would invite five white guys over and make a meal for them. This shows how much of an impact that One Way had made on her, that she appreciated our ministry so much that she wanted to give back and make us a meal. She was so generous with all she had and it was so cool to be able to eat with her and hear more about her story and tell her about our families, and our lives too.

After that lunch, we went to soccer practice that day and we split up the girls with the girl missionaries, and the boys with us and our host asked us to lead them in a devotional! We only had five minutes to prepare it, but we decided to teach them about being a man of God. We chose this topic because we have seen how many of them don’t have good dad’s and we want to encourage them so that when they are older, they can be good dads for their family. We all spoke about different ways to be a man of God. After we asked them if they knew Jesus and had him in their hearts. Sadly, some of them said no, so we explained the gospel, they all prayed and accepted him, and we talked about what it meant to be a Christian and a follower of Jesus. So that day three of our boys accepted Jesus as their Lord and savior. That was so cool to be a part of, and to see the joy on their faces and they all asked for Bibles as well! We will continue to be with these boys and be able to encourage them and mentor them as they start this faith journey!

Later on that week on Saturday, they all had their soccer championships and we went and supported them and they all won either first second or third place and got trophies so we were able to cheer them on and watch them win! Soccer is a huge part of their life and so it was cool to be a part of that for them. Before the tournament started, we had a devotional and a worship time with the kids, so it was cool that the kids honored God before they played!

This week, one way was taking a break so we went to Ministry with some of the different girls teams and did crafts at a school. We did manual labor and moved trees with machetes and saws to fix up a retreat center up in the mountains. It was cool to see what other teams are doing as well here and how the Lord is moving in every ministry.

We still have around five weeks of ministry here before we head over to South Africa so be praying for all of us as many of us are homesick and longing to be home for the holidays. Pray that we remember why we’re here and that this life isn’t about us or our preferences, but it is about spreading the word of God and showing others the love of Christ.

Please continue to pray for health of our squad and safety for everyone!

Once again, feel free to reach out anytime to me via WhatsApp!

Miss and Love you all!

Jackson Schlesinger

BIG photo dump from the past two weeks!

Enjoy 🙂