Hey Friends and Family,
Thank you for your continued prayers. Today was a great first day with the kids in the feeding program and our work day. We got up early and arrived at the church where we are doing the feeding program for the week at about 8:30 AM. We helped serve the kids, approximately 100 of them. I was so impressed with our students and the way the jumped in to serve and began to interact with the young kids. They would say hello, ask them their name and give them hugs. Some of the Mexican kids were shy at first, while others wanted to be held and hugged by everyone! Eddy Hooper taught the kids how to greet each other by pounding their fist together.
After we helped feed the kids, we began our short VBS. We sang some songs which they really enjoyed. They were dancing and clapping and singing loud, followed by a puppet show that made them laugh, despite our poor spanish skills. After the show was our time with the students doing a craft. We pre-made a bookmark for each student with the words "Cristo Te Ama" (Jesus Loves You) on each bookmark, and then brought decorations for them to decorate their own bookmark with. Our students got the kids into groups and worked with five or six students each, showing them how to decorate the bookmarks and hanging out with them. It was beautiful to watch the sea of kids and our students jumping in and loving them and hanging out with them.
Libby Palmer doing crafts with kids:
The students mix with the kids:
Megan Adams did a wonderful job sharing with the students at the end the message that 'God loves them and wants to be with them' I was so impressed with the way that each of our students loved the kids, whether they spoke Spanish or not, and the incredible attitude they have had today. Your prayers for our strength and good health have been felt and we are all still doing well.
Daniel Lee blowing bubbles for some kids:
After VBS and a short lunch, we broke off into two groups and began the manual service part of our day. Our first mission was to mix and pour concrete for small 10 x 10 brick houses for the floor of the house. We didn't have a bus or van for our stuff that we had brought for the day, so we took everything with us to our work sites. One site had the concrete mixer, and a lot of strong and energetic guys and girls and they finished their concrete floor in no time and with style! The other group mixed their own concrete by hand, and poured it. After the first group finished, they came with the mixer and helped finish the job. Everyone was willing to job in and it made the work light. We finished WAY faster than they had planned so they gave us two more work sites. After a lunch of oranges, bread with cheese and gatorade, we dispersed to two different sites again and began preparing to pour more concrete. The houses we worked on at the first sites were both roofed, the second sites were not...and it was time for the afternoon rain. We came back to the hotel quite muddy, but excited and with a sense of accomplishment. The markets are alive and their is music and shops. We are preparing to go to the bank to exchange our currency, then back to dinner at the same restaurant we ate at last night, since no one got sick.
The neighborhood where we are doing our work:
Taking a rest after some hard work:
Please pray for our students as they continue to experience a new culture, that God would continue to use us to show His love to these kids that so desperately need it, and of course, for strength and good health. Tomorrow will be our final day of VBS, we will give an invitation to the kids to ask Jesus into their life, do a little shopping in the afternoon, then return to the church for a worship service. God is continuing to work in our hearts and granting us a spirit of unity and love. Thank you so much for your prayers, they are effective and encouraging.
In Christ,
Oaxaca Mission Team
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