Day Two Post

This morning started bright and early. Our devotion, lead by Mrs. Kim Farabee, we talked about how important it is when we go on mission trips to share our experiences and our excitement with others when we go back home, so that we might make it contagious for others to want to start participating and sharing the same excitement with us. After our discussion, we had a wonderful breakfast, and we were ready to head off to the nursing home to start the day’s work.
On our arrival at the nursing home, we broke into two teams, some painting the front wall around the nursing home and others raking leaves and clipping branches and moving them to a pile. As the morning went on we diverted into going and talking to some of the residents and seeing what they were up to for the day. Yesterday some of the women at the nursing home were looking for something sweet to eat, so we went out and bought Oreo Cakesters. They just loved them when we handed them out today. Amanda (one of the older ladies) ended up eating two packages of them! We were worried that she might get sick, but she insisted on eating them.
After we found a place to stop for the day, we cleaned up and loaded up in the van and went to Pizza Hut for lunch. We enjoyed having lunch together and talking about the day so far. Afterwards, it was time to start setting up for the first day of Vacation Bible School! We were all so excited—and a little nervous—to see all the children for the first time. Soon after we got there the kids started coming in. They all came right up to us and said hello and gave us all hugs. It was exciting to see how open and welcoming they were to our being there!
To start off VBS we had a little bit of singing. It was very upbeat, and even though it was all in Spanish and we had absolutely no idea what was going on none of us could stop ourselves from dancing. We had so much fun watching the kids jump around and praise God. After the music we had a small devotion with everyone led by Pastor Jonathan. He did a wonderful job. Then we had each of the different age groups split up into smaller groups in the classrooms outside of the main chapel.
Just as we were getting started a pretty good size rain storm came along; the wind was blowing, it was lightening, and some groups had to go back inside. My group, the 9 and 10 year olds, was one of the groups inside; they were running around having a wonderful time. I realized it’s hard to get a group of 25 children to sit down so you can explain something when you do not speak their language! I think it is about time to start learning some more Spanish!
Today’s Bible story was on creation and how God created everything. We mainly focused on how God created them as an individual. We had cardboard cut outs of people, and we let the kids decorate them however they wanted to. All of us were amazed at some of the children’s artistic ability. They did very well. The main focus of the dolls seemed to be the “ojos” or eyes. Everyone wanted a pair of the “crazy eyes,” which is what we call them back in the States; we couldn’t get them on fast enough.
After the craft, some of the ladies in the church had prepared a meal for the children to eat. It was shocking to see how fast these kids ate their meals. I wondered if some of them had eaten at all that day. However, the children are the happiest children you will ever meet, and they are appreciative of whatever they receive.
We ended up having 170 children, 27 church staff, our team of 9 plus 4 translators; that’s 210 people! We were very excited about how many children were there! If there are too many more that come, I don’t know how we are going to feed them. But if it is God’s will for them all to be there, then He will make a way for them all to be fed.
Well, after the kids went home for the day, we loaded up to come back to our hotel. We enjoyed another fantastic meal prepared by the hotel staff. We went over the day and talked about everyone’s experiences. We are all having a terrific time and enjoying the new friends we’ve made. We’re excited about a new day tomorrow!!