Rough start to the month but even through things stolen, my Ipod breaking, and my hand getting closed in a car door, things have been really great this month. My ipod is fixed and my hand was miraculously fine just had to make my ring round again but I was AOK! WE are blessed to be living with and working alongside of Team Kaleo! Love them! We are also blessed to be working with IncaLink again this month. And if you haven’t checked out what they are doing in the southern half of the world check it out by clicking here!
When we got here we were reminded of the 4 things that IncaLink challenges their teams with. They are:
1) Choose your challenge
2) Be Here Now
3) Choose Joy
4) Give 110%
So I’m now sitting in the girl’s room after getting home from ministry and I am torn between passing out and blogging. But I’ll choose my challenge of writing this while listening to the music of the city of Trujillo float through the window. And I’m not just talking about the Spanish radio that has been playing (since 7 this morning) but also to the orchestra of the yellow taxi cabs whose horns vary from the normal beeping honking but also some little ditties and some have sirens. Some have strobe lights too (For Katie: Yes I did ride in one and Yes I did dance along to the Spanish rap music that was playing) The taxis race and zigzag and sometimes play a little game of tag with the busses and other cars they share the road with. There are many busy intersections and not many traffic lights so there are some close calls but for the most part and we can’t exactly figure out why… the system works. It’s in these taxis that we make it to and from our ministry site in Florencia, a well known bad neighborhood in the city of Trujillo, everyday and a lot of thanks and prayers to God that we get there safely.
And that’s kind of how our ministry has worked too. We’re not exactly sure how we are supposed to be doing things since most of the time it’s a challenge to find our contact. But he always shows up when we have big questions or is called in. And we’re not exactly sure why we are painting little miniature chairs and tables an obnoxious shade of orange that I loved… until I was covered in it because the paint was so watered down we weren’t sure how it was ever going to cover. But it did. And then we got told what was going on. For the past week our 2 teams have been building a wall behind our church to make classrooms for the children of our neighborhood. The chairs and desks we have been painting are for these classrooms.
So building walls and painting (chairs, desks, bookshelves, pillars, walls, and outside gate) of the church and also being able to go there on the weekends and wander around the neighborhood inviting kids to a Sunday School type of program handing out flyers and maybe a little candy bribe. We invite them to “weekend school” as the flyer says but telling them it is a “fiesta para DIOS!”. It is fun and a little challenging at times when the age group is 3-12 it sometimes turns into “catch that kid” but it seems like a new program and that church and I am stoked that this is where their hearts are. When we go around we hit up some of the local parks and playgrounds, but one playground always gets to that soft spot in my heart. There are swingsets and teeter totters and a big concrete slide! But the seats to the swings have been taken off and now all that’s left are the metal chains. And the teeter totters and missing that vital bar on which people sit and teeter tot hard to do it without that. So to be building a place where kids can go on the weekend and party for God whatever you want to call it is really exciting no matter how rough it gets at times.
More to come, thanks for joining and for all your prayers and support!
They really are felt and I wake up most nights praying for you guys back home too.
Miss and Love you!
Megan
