Our team hit a point of frustration today with the communication barrier. Moises is only available on certain days, so the other days we have to struggle through communicating. We decided that the best way to serve this town is through actions; playing with the kids and praying with the adults. By the way the word of the day is lodo, meaning mud.
This morning we went for a walk around town to pray for the people. Back a muddy road we came to a house made completely of rough wooden boards and a tin roof floating on mud (lodo). An abuelita (little grandmother) waved, “Hola, Buenos Dias.” Then she squished her way through the mud to us in her bare feet and invited us inside. We skipped through the mud behind her trying to stay on rocks or sticks but not being very successful. The very basic house contained wooden beds, a table, a bench, a hammock, and a massive amount of corn for tortilla making. The abuelita started sharing with us and we came to realize that she is Susanna’s grandmother. Susanna was the first one to bring us tortillas the day we arrived and said they were from her abuelita. As I looked around the one room rudimentary house I was humbled by her generous gift. I asked if there was anything she needed us to pray for and she started crying. Abuelita said that she is very lonely, because her three kids left her to go to the city. She has not heard from them, they never visit, and she doesn’t even know if they are okay. Now, she is raising Susanna and another grandchild all by herself. We tried to comfort her as we prayed, but the language barrier once again got in the way. We asked if there was anything she needed help with and told her we had lots of time on our hands. She said no and simply asked for us to pray for her. I left the house feeling helpless. This woman had blessed us with such a great gift and I wanted to bless her and take away some of the pain.
We continued through town and were passing the clinic when the medico (doctor) asked us to come in. He provides free medical care to Cenovia Aguilar and the surrounding communities for free. Cenovia Aguilar has about 2,000 residents and about 3,000 more from surrounding communities are under his care. Medical care and prescriptions are paid for by the government. He drives in from a bigger town and spends Monday through Friday working then goes home on the weekends. Today is Thursday and he had treated about ten patients.
As we passed the school yard the kids started yelling out our names, so we stopped to watch them play soccer for a little while. The P.E. teacher started talking to us; he also lives in another town but works in Cenovia. He was wearing a Patriot’s jersey and an I love Jesus whistle so I asked him if he was a Christian. Excitedly he told me yes, so I asked him how we could serve Cenovia Aguilar. He replied, “Cenovia is a very poor place and many kids do not have food to eat and go to bed hungry.” I asked what we could do to help. He replied, “Pray.” I asked if there was anything we could do in addition to praying. He replied, “Just pray.”
This afternoon Brienna had scheduled to meet up with our friends, the Lost Boys, to go to their favorite spot on the river. When we agreed to follow the Lost Boys, we agreed to go on an adventure. They led us across the stream on a shaky board that creaked and bounced. We climbed over fences that contained chickens and turkeys. Then we came to the lodo (mud). I have never seen so much mud in my life. The path was about 15 feet wide and the mud was about a foot deep. The boys laughed and laughed as we jumped from stick to rock to try to keep our sandals out of the mud. They sloshed right through the mud pausing only to retrieve a submerged flip-flop. The trail continued and we kept jumping and avoiding the lodo. Finally the sound of water could be heard and the river was near, but the lodo got deeper and the rocks and sticks fewer. One by one the Americans fell casualty to the mud no longer able to avoid the sloppy mess. The last 100 yards we gave up and sloshed through the mud while the lost boys started stripping down to jump into the cool river. The boys pleaded for us to jump in and enjoy the beautiful river along with them. We were not dressed swimming so we promised to come back tomorrow. When it came time to leave the boys decided to take us on a trail that did not have lodo. Why did they take us through the lodo field when we could have walked on a nice easy path? They are the Lost Boys, they can’t resist the lodo.
This evening we had our third service for the children and the adults. The faces of the adults light up when we are playing games with their kids and running around like crazy. The children can not get enough high fives, hugs, kisses, and time with us. Brienna, Ryan, and I agreed to walk three sisters home after the service. Marta, Barbara, and Ceci were so excited to have us visit their casa. We brought our headlamps with us, but usually the girls do the walk without a light. (Our headlamps are a hit and everyone wants to see them and know where to get one.) We walked across the town and down a dirt road to a small house. Light shone through the cracks in the wooden boards and a chicken hopped out the door. Marta ran to her mom to introduce us. The house was very basic and tiny considering the fact that four little girls live there with their mom, dad, and half a dozen chickens. Marta, Barbara, Ceci, and their little sister are joyful children. They are quick to help with teaching us words and always have a smile to share. They share wooden boards for beds, have a dirt floor with chickens, and do not have a door on their house. But, they are content. They never ask for money, candy, or toys. They were so delighted just to have a visitor come to their house.
