El Encuentro

'El Encuentro' means 'the encounter,' and that's exactly what some of our youth recently got to experience: encountering God in new ways...and encountering numerous other young people from all over Central America!  Twenty-two of the oldest boys from Jovenes en Camino and 18 of the kids from our youth group in Mateo were able to attend a fantastic camp last week, thanks to generous sponsorships from many of our Facebook friends.  The camp, called El Encuentro, was put on by the students of the Baxter Institute, whose hard work was evident to everyone involved.  From breakfast to bedtime, the youth were involved in devotionals, ice-breakers, excellent classes, sports, social time, and a talent night.  It was so exciting to see the young people we've grown to love being able to interact with so many other neat teenagers.  
Note: Be sure to ask Bart about the basketball tournament!

The photo quality on the picture above is horrible, because the windshield on our truck interfered...But hopefully you can see how our JEC boys are packed into the back of that pickup.  How many people (plus all their luggage) were crammed into the two trucks??  27!!

Two of our boys sporting their JEC shirts, as they participate in 

a daily devotional with 500 of their newest friends!

We were really impressed with how our boys volunteered to participate in a number of different activities.  Here, Erick (in the grey t-shirt) and Luis (in the black jacket) are pulling their hardest in a game of tug-of-war.

Although they unfortunately didn't win a trophy for their efforts in fútbol, they did bring home first place in the basketball tournament.  

Basketball?!?  In soccer-dominated Honduras?!?  I didn't say it was pretty. :)

md