Today was another amazing day as we bonded with the children while the men helped build and prepare a foundation for a new home. The weather was amazing ( not a surprise) and the landscape on the drive to the village was mesmerizing. We continue to be wowed by God's blessings showered upon us. When we first arrived Chuck (Carlos) led our devotion. He did a wonderful job talking about the Israelites being led out of the desert to the promised land. Then our men went to work with the men and leaders of the village mixing concrete and leveling it, which altogether was back breaking work.
Elizabeth prepared a great gospel message for the kids about how Jesus loves the little children. The kids took a cut-out of a little girl or boy, or a picture of Jesus with the children to color. The five NCC students then taught the children the song "Jesus Loves Me" in spanish!
The polaroid camera was also a huge hit. Katie Kovac took pictures of the children and handed them out for them to keep. The girls loved posing with all the little children( at least 40 in all) and a multitude of them received at least two each. We also found a fun craft for the women to do. Mandy, Lisa, and Nancy worked really hard so the women could make little bracelets and not worry about their babies or children.
After we wrapped up our crafts the team and the village headed down to a big grassy field, their "baseball field." Baseball in this country is a "man only" game so Ryan and the men played baseball while the women entertained the children with games like red rover, duck, duck goose (pato, pato, ganzo), streets and alleys, red light green light, soccer, sharks and minnows, Mr. Fox and more. Nathan our translator was fabulous at explaining a lot of the games we played. It went way too fast for our team. Soon we were saying goodbyes and "hasta luego", which means see you later in Spanish. The kids had to cram into the inside of the truck while the adults rode in the back. Finally we made it back to the bus. At the end of every day the team plays a game where we share our roses and thorns. Roses are beautiful or fun things that have happened and thorns are things that plucked us out of our comfort zone or were hard. Here are some Roses:
Roses:
Katie (Carlson): "I felt like a celebrity whenever the young girls would fight over who could hold my hand! I eventually made them take turns!
Elizabeth: "There are so many it's hard to choose from. I would say my biggest Rose was seeing the joy, attentiveness, and enthusiasm in the children's faces as I shared how Jesus loves them."
Nancy: My biggest rose was how dynamic the activities of the morning turned out to be; how the women, the men, the boys were all involved."
Mackenzie: A giant Rose for me was how I told this sweet little girl Tatiana my name. A couple minutes later she tugged my arm and said"Mackenzie?" That really touched my heart.
Katie (Kovac): Seeing the older people from last year; the leaders of the community.
Jeff: Mine was working with the men to lay the foundation and feeling like we were all connected and working toward a common goal.
Abby: " My rose was playing soccer with the boys. It really helped Caroline and me to connect more with the boys"
We can't wait to head back to the village tomorrow for our last day. We would love prayers and thank Jesus for providing such unity and love between us despite the language barrier.
No comments:
Post a Comment