For a year before our family headed to Paraguay for a 12 day ministry trip of sharing the Gospel through juggling and magic, a small church in Gorham, Maine, pitched in and made 700 "wordless bracelets" for us to use once we got there.  These are bracelets with different colored beads to represent different components of the Gospel message:

Black = the stain of sin on the hearts of all

Red = the blood of Jesus paying the punishment for our sins on the cross.

White = our hearts being washed clean from sin by Jesus' sacrifice

Green = new life that comes once we start following Jesus

Gold = eternal life in heaven, made possible by the death and resurrection

These bracelets were a huge hit in the two Paraguayan cities where we performed in August.  Kids, teens and adults were all eager to receive one after our shows, and many of the kids and teens were able to use the bracelets to tell the Gospel back to us, so we know the message got through.  We even created an illusion to lead into the distribution of these simple bracelets.

Last night we had the opportunity to go back to White Rock Baptist Church and report on our trip and especially thank them for the bracelets they provided.  After a delicious harvest supper, we did a mini set of six illusions (including the aforementioned one we created in South America), then we shared slides and stories from the field.  This posed a unique problem last night, as I brought the wrong laptop with us!  Our slide show that we've been using in churches was on a computer at home.  I quickly set up in the entryway where I could tap into a neighbor's unprotected internet, and recreated our power point display!  Nonetheless, it was a nice evening at WRBC, It was especially fun to let them know how much their efforts meant to literally hundreds of people they'll never meet this side of eternity.

We also learned that their pastor, our friend Jonathan Marshall, will be leading a trip from their church next month.  They'll be doing teaching, preaching and, for lack of a better word, consulting with churches in Siberia!  We will be praying for them and hope their trip is as much of a blessing as ours was.  I look forward to hearing their report when they return.