So, I’m realizing more and more just how much I love lovin’ kids.
Today our teams helped with “crowd control” outside the dental clinic in a small village called San Luis. While the dentists were treating people, we made the color bracelets with the children and told them the story of Jesus!
Several of them knew about Jesus, so they helped teach us how to tell the story in Spanish! For the little time that I was there, I really enjoyed time with the children, especially watching some of our guys playing freeze tag with them!
However, most of the day only a few World Racers stayed to assist the dental team. I ended up going with Forrest and a few others back to the village that their workshop is: El Tesate.
During my first day in El Tesate last week, I felt very much like a visitor; like I was watching an informational video on what life was like rather than really being here. I walked around with our crew, got to see a home that Forrest and Carol helped build, and now have helped build a few water filters; but it wasn’t until today that I really felt a connection to the people.
Forrest had two different families that had water filters that were cracked. So, we went and installed new ones for them, and brought the old ones back to repair later to send back out somewhere else.
The first family we went to I fell in love with. 
Meet Cindy!
When we first stepped in the home, Cindy and the mom were both a little uneasy about these 5 strange white people coming in with Forrest. But, Cindy quickly warmed up to me when I began asking her questions. J She asked her mom if I could come with them (I had NO idea where they were going at 
first). Her mom had a bucket of corn, so I soon found myself leaving my team working on the filter and walking down the street with them to the local tienda. They paid a small fee to use a corn grinder to make tortilla dough! It was a really cool machine, where they just put the corn in the top, add some water, and it comes out this perfect dough in the bottom that the mom scooped out and put back in her bucket! 
So, when we got back to the house, she showed me how to make tortillas. It’s a whole lot harder than it looks! I have much more respect for the ladies who have that skill!!
I had a blast attempting the art, however! She also treated me to this little bag of “coco ice,” which was frozen coconut juice and was DELICIOUS! I’m so blessed by these people’s willingness to give, knowing how little they really have.
Cindy and I had a blast running all through the house. I sort of felt bad since the rest of my team was working on setting up the water filter… but I knew I was there for that little girl!
We played with her toys, played tag, took LOTS of pictures, and I carried her around on my back up and down the street (that about killed me by the way… I’m going to blame it on the altitude). Eventually I told her I was muy cansado, and we took a siesta on the chairs.
J Then she brought out the coloring books and several of us colored some pictures!I’m not exactly sure what happened today, other than I really felt a bond between us. I’ve said hi to lots of people, and taken photos with several kids on the street now, but my heart really clung to her. We actually had time to talk, even with what broken Spanish I knew! She actually helped me remember several words and phrases, which was very handy!
I’ve had this fear of the language barrier for some time now. Well, maybe not so much a fear, but an uncertainty about how to get around it sometimes. I’ve walked the streets of Antigua, and made small talk with lots of people, but I’ve found it so hard to know where to start sharing verbally the love of Christ. I know sometimes all it takes is a smile or a simple act of love; a prayer on behalf of the person I walk by. God’s made the power of prayer more real in me this month, too! 
BUT, I’ve finally gotten a chance to build a relationship (outside of our awesome contacts), and it feels great! I’m excited to visit her again, even though it might only be one or two more times. Pray that the Lord gives me exactly the right words to say to share His love with her!
The other family we visited had 4 daughters who drew us all pictures- they were really sweet too! We didn’t have as much time to really talk or bond,(or maybe it was the fact that I actually helped with the filter this time… J ) but I did have some fun looking at their drawings and giggling with them a little bit. J
Their names were Lilian, Marta, Bianca, y Alba.
Thank you, Lord, for blessing me with the opportunity to share in several little girl’s lives today. I’m beyond grateful for the love that you have for them, and even more thankful that you’ve chosen me to be a light of your love to them. Remind these little girls how beautiful, precious, and special they are! Continue to guard their hearts and minds, and always be the source of their joy. Your undying, unwavering love is the most precious gift I could ever give them. Thank you for treasuring me, Father, so I can treasure your children, too. I love you!
