A Sunday of Worship and Rest

Today we woke up feeling refreshed from a good night of sleep. We attended church at Trinity Union Church (the only English speaking church in a city of 1 million). We were warmly greeted and welcomed. Roger and Isha Hulford led the praise and worship and a young man from Panama, Johnny, taught his first sermon in English. He taught about the attitude of indifference that is so common throughout the world. He reminded us that as followers of Christ we are to reach out to our neighbor and demonstrate the love of God.

After the worship service we headed to lunch near the plaza. In route to lunch we were caught in the middle of a political campaign parade. It was our second glimpse of the passion over political differences in Santa Cruz.

We made it safely to lunch and enjoyed a fun and relaxing afternoon at the hotel. This evening we spent time with Holly Nyquist and were encouraged by our coversations with her.

Tomorrow begins a busy week of speaking and teaching on purity and presenting the gospel and our testimonies. As we continue to meet people we have been given more opportunities to share. The people we will speak with are coming from difficult life situations that we couldn't even begin to imagine. Pray that God will give us sensitivity to what they've been through and the we will communicate His love. After all their only hope is a relationship with the same One who has saved us.

Praises

• Beautiful weather
• We are all healthy
• God has continued to protect us and keep us safe
• Affirmation of our purpose

Requests

• Strength and energy for the week.
• Guidance as we focus our presentations on our audience. We will be speaking to girls that are prostitutes and street people.
• That God will change hearts and save lives.
• For the right words
  
• As we have spoken with several friends living in Santa Cruz we have seen that there is not much value placed on marriage, commitment and responsibility.