We survived another
day! Hooray! As I am writing this right now in the living room, half of the
team ss with me on their laptops catching up with people (and I suppose
checking their email/Facebook inboxes). The other half is completely exhausted
and has gone to bed. “Wow” you must be saying, “what the heck has happened?”
Well, the good news
is that this exhaustion the happy kind that comes from a full, fun filled day
with the beautiful children of El Salvador. As usual, we began our day with a
delicious and nutritious breakfast graciously served by the hotel staff of Hotel Mediterraneo. At around 7:30am, we
were picked up by David and drove up the mountain to the school with the El
Salvador YFC team (Joel, Tati, Tuti, and Abbi).
The piñatas that the
children made yesterday had only completed the first step and by today the glue
has hardened into a shell. Today we were to teach and help the kids glue on
coloured tissue paper in order to decorate the piñatas. The finished product
would end up looking like the red bird from the popular game app Angry Birds. Armed with cups of sticky
homemade glue, we taught the kids. At the same time and during recesses our
team handed out the salvation bracelets. This again would cause a ruckus on the
schoolyard with hordes of tiny cute kids mobbing those of us that had the
blessed opportunity of handing the bracelets out. The kids were tested on what
each bead on the bracelets symbolized.
The gospel was
presented to these kids in the simple form of five coloured beads: black for
sin, red for the blood of Christ, white for being washed clean, green for
growth in Christ, and yellow/gold for Heaven. Surprisingly enough, many of the
kids were able to repeat the meaning of the bracelets, earning themselves a
nifty bracelet of their own. According to Mr.Day, one girl was even spotted
sharing with he two friends the Gospel as presented by the bracelets. Praise
God for using us to speak into the lives of these kids via these bracelets! May
the seeds fall on fertile soil.
Many pictures were
also taken today with the kids, capturing our precious, precious moments with
them. This would be our second last day with them. Near the front of the stage,
you could see Laura and Amanda sitting happily as they painted the tiny nails
of little girls, all the while holding conversations with them. Joel, David, Karen,
Tuti and Tati were vital translators for us, making sure that the kids
understood what we were saying, both in conversations and instructions. Sara
and Vanessa played beautiful worships songs with their voices and an acoustic
guitar. Mr. Day and Kirsten handed out bracelets to eager children and taking
many snapshots of grinning faces. Natasha had become a sort of mother-hen
figure for the team, making sure everyone had been accounted for. Later in the afternoon
she would be found walking around cradling an adorable baby girl. I myself had
the honor of practicing some breakdance moves with some energetic teenagers!
Some of them were even able to walk on their hands for short distances! The piñatas
we’re finished by the end of the day and some of them were ridiculously well
made. Impressive.
Today the team
functioned harmoniously as each person brought out their talents to serve
others. God is doing great things with this group as we patiently and joyfully
learn each day how to depend on the strength on the LORD. He is neither lacking
in wisdom to teach us well on how to function as the Body of Christ.
Tomorrow will be our
last day at this particular school and we will be going out with a celebratory ‘bang’
by filling up the piñatas with candy and breaking them (piñata party!). Please
pray for us and the energy levels we will have to sustain. Please pray for our safety
as we travel through El Salvador in our glorious white bus/truck thing. Driving
in El Salvador is no piece of cake and I cannot even begin to express how
thankful we are for amazing drivers such as the likes of David and Miguel.
Please pray that we would continue to press into God and persevere through
pangs of apathy and fatigue.
God’s peace and
blessings be with you all,
Winston and Team
No comments:
Post a Comment