Day 9: Communities in need

Hola!

Yesterday was quite the busy day! But then again, every day is busy for us here in El Salvador hehe. It was wonderful to visit a community called "Los Lagartos" which is in Sonsonate, El Salvador. The people were very welcoming and the kids had A LOT and I mean, A LOT of energy! We got to the site and were asked to start right away. We divided the kids up into 4 groups and the mothers also wanted to participate.

We had a station with salvation bracelets, balloon animals, juggling and the Chinese yo-yo, story time and group games. It was quite chaotic but God really gave us the patience and energy to serve the people and to serve Him as well. I was everywhere! There was help needed everywhere since the kids were quite energetic and wanted to do the activities we had for them. At first, I helped out with the Salvation bracelets. They were all SO excited to receive them and make them. We had to make the bracelets for the younger ones but the older kids were able to do it by themselves. I also helped pump the balloons (which was quite tiring since I had to do it fast because the other pump broke and all the kids were patiently waiting.. well, a few of them tried to bud the line, but I didn't let them hehe).

I think the day was really fun! It is tiring to be with kids the whole day but it's also very fun. One little girl randomly grabbed my hand and it was such a precious moment. We also gave out clothing and toys, which was crazy since the community is greatly in need. Because of all the chaos, we didn't get out of the community until late after lunch but we went to this very cute park and it was such a lovely place to relax and eat lunch. After lunch, we headed out to the second church and this place was called "Montebello" in Santa Ana, El Salvador.

We had a lot less people at this place and less room (even the path to the church was so small that we had to park the cars somewhere else and walk to the church) but God still helps us to come up with ways to have activities for the kids. The adults had a time of service but we had the kids come out to another space. Since we had less kid and less room, we just had face painting, juggling and the chinese yo-yo and a group game called spiderweb. The kids were so shy compared to the kids in the morning and we had to just push them a tiny bit so that they would participate. After a while, the kids had fun though, still quite but they finally participated. After the adults finished their service, we went back to the cars and we were given corn and also a corn beverage called "Atol de Elote" and it was very yumy :)

The ride back to the hotel felt very very long and many of us fell asleep. By the time we got to the hotel, we were all quite tired and hungry. Since the kitchen was already closed at the hotel, we ordered pizza haha. We always have a time to talk and pray at the end of the day.

I would just like to thank everyone for your prayers and for reading our blog. I can't believe it has been more than a week already! But at the same time, for me, it feels like we have been here for more than a week since God has been doing so much each and every day. I hope that God continues to do so much more this week and that the Holy Spirit really helps us serve the people of El Salvador.

Today, we had the morning off (finally get to sleep a little more!) and we are visiting an orphanage in the afternoon. I think this week is going to be a little less crazy than last week but I hope that we can still do as nuch work and plant some seeds.

May our work make our Father joyful.
"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." - Ephesians 4:30

God bless you,

Laura