Last Tuesday, I(Bess) shared our experience with the touch of the H*ly Spirit through worship singing and the morning devotion. This time, it was at the end of the program activities at 6:30pm that we all were touched being one in the body of Chr*st through foot washing. Supplied with two large basins of water and four towels, all of us herded ourselves in David's and Bess' room for the ceremony. Mari and Bess did the honor of washing the feet of our three Indian sisters (the other had gone home) while Eugene and David washed the feet of our eight Indian brothers.
Mari read J*hn 13:12-16 about washing one another's feet as exemplified by the L^rd. Then, Mari and Bess alternated washing and praying for blessing upon the sisters. In the same way, Eugene and David did the same thing. As we were nearing the end of the foot washing, Pr*m signaled that they would do the same thing towards us - the music teaching staff.
It was very heartwarming and endearing that, the 15 year-old Sw##tie, youngest of the sisters who recently accepted the Lord last Monday, washed Bess' feet. This young lady was demonstrating that her new life in the L^rd was taking effect. Earlier as Bess was washing the youngest sister's feet, she was in tears to be served and loved in this manner.
In one of the teaching team's prep meetings while still in Los Angeles, Mari was thinking of a way to encourage our Indian brothers and sisters who had been laboring in the name of the L#rd with much persecution. How can we serve them so that they can be refreshed in going back to their ministries? This thought had been brewing in her mind until today. All of us were richer in soul and spirit because of this. On top of all this, as mentioned before with Bess, our Indian brothers and sisters volunteered to wash our feet. What a beautiful experience of being One in the Body of Chr*st as the L^rd intends for us His children, obeying His command to "wash one another's feet"!
In fact, this morning anticipated what was to be our grand finale in the afternoon. Some of us were bursting with laughter while having breakfast in the cafeteria enjoying one another's company. No one was hurrying up to go to our next schedule. Our being relaxed led us to appreciate our morning devotion in Eccl*siastes 2:12-24 regarding the importance of taking one day at a time. We still went through our normal activities of the day but we were more at peace in implementing them.
From 9-10:30am after the morning devotion, Mari, Eugene, David and Bess were able to plan for the graduation program to be held this coming Saturday morning. Eugene was given the responsibility
to do the graduation program to be submitted to Tim when he comes back.
From 11am to 11:30am - David taught the final lesson on rhythm which involved syncopation and triplet; in pitch - different scales including the chromatic scale; demonstrated singing a round song. He asked them to identify a mystery song notation to see if our Indian brothers and sisters would recognize their national anthem. They were able to clap the rhythm, but did not recognize the song. When they sang the melody with the solfege, they started to recognize it. They also requested to sing a song from last year called Lamb of G^d for the graduation ceremony. Many of them kept the music scores for this piece. Also, some requested to sing "The L*rd Bless You and Keep You" from last year saying that they really loved the song, especially since they sang it surrounding the audience. Unfortunately, we were out of time to prepare this piece, but plan to include Lamb of G^d for the closing ceremony.
From 11:30 -1:00 pm - Eugene and Mari rehearsed the VBS songs with motions, Do L&rd, In His Time, Shine on Us, He Knows my Name, Lamb of G^d.
After lunch from 2pm-4pm- Mari went over the B#ble stories and the skits to be used for VBS especially with the Hyderabad team that Mari would coordinate. The Bangalore team cut craft materials.
AT 4pm-6:30pm - cutting the craft materials.
Praises:
1. For the beautiful experience of foot washing that encourage our souls and spirits as the Body of Chr^st
2. For the morning devotions that stir our spirits
3. For a sense of camaraderie among us teaching staff as well as our Indian brothers and sisters
4. David is able to bend so that he can put on his socks by himself & able to bend while sitting during the foot washing
5. Eugene's throat is a lot better today so that he can lead the singing during the rehearsal time
6. For the wonderful experience of foot washing and the breakthroughs that occurred.
Prayer Requests:
1. For traveling mercies for the Hyderabad team as they travel this Saturday afternoon for a 14 hour train ride.
2. For the VBS program in Hyderabad and Bangalore next week for five days - cooperation and camaraderie of the VBS staff, favor in implementation of the program, sufficient materials for all the participants, stamina and strength for everyone especially Mari, healthy bodies.
3. For the graduation ceremony this coming Saturday morning - that the music program participants would feel that they learned something valuable that they can use in their ministries; for being encouraged in their walk with the L^rd; that they feel refreshed after going through the B*ble passages and interacting with one another.
4. For enabling our voices to sing and effectiveness in talking (testimony and message) to people during the 5 days of serving for VBS and in visiting ch*rches.
5. For the L*rd to supply the material needs of a brother who lives by faith working full time in the ministry, and is suffering the difficulties of rejection by his family because of his faith and caste.
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