My favorite/most impactful memories from the month were the little things that I just CHOSE to do. To build relationships. To be intentional in bringing joy to those around me. To take advantage of opportunities.
A little background on ministry:
K-6 grade public school, Santa Teresita.
We were the first people to ever volunteer there.
There were times where we felt like we weren’t making a difference because we weren’t actually teaching English, or sharing Bible stories or whatever. However, we were reminded that we were paving the way. We did the ground work and laid the foundation for future teams.
-Choosing to ask to participate- The first few days our school was preparing for Independence day festivities. I stepped out and asked if I could help with cutting out circles (had no idea what for..) which led to us helping create batons and other crafts for their parade over the next week.
-Choosing to run- They asked us if we wanted to run in the schools ‘running with the torches’ and we cheerfully accepted the offer. It was one of my favorite days. We packed into a bus with at least 100 children on it (ALL blowing whistles at the same time) and then ran back to the school with them through the city with face paint and bandanas.
-Choosing to play frisbee during recess (or during class time… It’s good for the soul)- I brought my frisbee to the school every day for recess time. The first day no one really knew what it was (or just didn’t want to approach me about it?) but by day 2 kids swarmed when they saw us and the first thing they’d ask was when we could play. It became a daily way for me to connect with the kids and bring genuine smiles to their faces.
-Choosing to play Futbol- because of frisbee I didn’t get to play a ton of soccer but when I did it was fun to just be competitive and play with the kids in something that they truly LOVE. It’s also fun to watch them giggle when I mess up (or accidentally hit my teammate while she wasn’t playing-sorry Court) or stare in awe when the Gringa has some soccer skill (:
-Choosing to dance- More Zumba ya’ll! It was SO FUN. Senor Kelly is the P.E. Teacher for the school and her class (at least while we were there) consisted of blaring dance music and the kids did a whole routine to it. One day I just decided that I didn’t want to watch so I asked her if I could join her class. That one second of boldness led not only to one of my favorite memories of ministry, but it earned a lot of respect from the students that came in handy later in class.
-Choosing to race in the rain- The joy on the kids faces when they saw that I was willing to play with them even in a downpour was so cool.
-Choosing to be goofy- We chose to do the Hokey Pokey as one of our lessons to teach directions and body parts. I chose in that moment to own it. Even if the kids weren’t loving it, they would by the end because I was convincing them that it was okay to be goofy. They bought in, and it was SO FUN.
-Choosing to stay 2 more days- My triad for the month was given a lot of flexibility in ministry this month. We were leaving Chimal on a Wednesday so we considered just finishing ministry the Friday before we left so we could check out other ministries. I really felt like we’d spent the whole month looking at other ministries and hoping to be able to visit instead of focusing on our ministry and making it the BEST it could be. I told my team that regardless of what they chose to do, I was staying through Tuesday. I didn’t feel like we were finished. Eventually the others in my group chose to stay too and those last two days were super fruitful. We were able to just have fun with the kids, say our goodbyes, be intentional with teachers and I was able to pass out my goodbye letters and verses. It was a simple decision, to stay or go, I chose to stay, to press in and to invest and the Lord was faithful. He gave us all closure, joy and just a fun few days!
I am learning that life is choices. You get to choose what kind of life you lead. You get to choose what kind of impact you have. You get to choose to just survive or thrive. Life really is what you make of it.
Ministry. Community. Work. Trials. Suffering.
Fun. Difficult. Adventurous. Safe.
Take a second to look at your life. Are you content? If you are, cool, choose to press more in to the Lord, He’ll show you places to grow and learn since no one’s really made it until we’re at the pearly gates. If you’re not, cool, choose to press more in to the Lord. He’ll reveal to you places to choose to press in to. He can show you where you can choose differently than you have in the past (And help you to do it).
Choose in to an abundant life.
Dad, I’m fine (;
Also, if you want more pics/vids from the month, they’re coming! Promise! Our wifi’s just not cooperating with youtube (:
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