**Sorry these pictures are not of Nauta. Waiting for things to download here makes me want to pull my hair out. What do you think, is the Lord teaching me patience?!**
In The Rain: A journal entry on Feb. 21 Nauta, Peru
Lord, you amaze me. I am rendered speechless when I consider your works.
Father, I love how you unified our team to plan Fiesta Con Dios (the name we use instead of Vacation Bible School or VBS). We were all excited and encouraging one another and we were ready for the great day that we had planned out: drama, a memory verse, and 2 stations of games. What could be better! Tik, tik, tik…Rain.
The gentle clack of the rain on corrugated metal roofs almost instantly turned to a thunderous pounding with falls of water gushing from corners and leaf channels. Patrice entered the church where the drama station is (my station) and tells the kids, ‘We had a fun day planned with games, this drama and the bible. But sometimes God has other plans. So instead, we are going to go enjoy the rain. Who wants to come play?’ 30 little faces with chocolate eyes are beaming at her as they are already squirming in their seats. ‘VAMOS!’ And out we ran.
The red dirt of the Amazon ran in rivers of knee deep water. A hill across the street from the church oozed thick burnt orange mud and we watched as Sarah Flynn and some of the kids endlessly struggled up the front to use it as a natural water slide. In the park, [which consists of a concrete court, slide, some teeter-toters, and a structure by the river under which women do laundry] kids, definitely including World Racers, were running everywhere and screaming!
Every few moments, if I wasn’t doing it myself, there would be little feet flying through the air as World Racers gave vueltas (airplane flights). To my right was a place in the roof where two opposing slants converged and the water funneled together. This created a three foot wide gushing shower. This shower came in handy as the kids decided they wanted to have a mud fight!
Mud was flying everywhere! Even if you thought you were paying attention a clod-sniper would somehow get you unexpectedly across your back. ‘Man down! Man down!’ I yelled pickung up a little boy like a football and running across the concrete puddle with him. Soon the mud was broken down by the rain and the repeated throwing of the same handful and it turned into rock throwing. The game quickly ended after that. hah!
We ended that day singing songs as a huge group of about 125 kids and 25 Racers. Then we had the kids break back into their colored groups (blue, green, red, yellow) and had them each make up a group cheer. Now whenever we walk the streets little collections of kids can be heard yelling ‘Hello!’ Followed by their team’s color cheer.
What a day! God, you unified us in the planning stages, then took that plan and showed us what could be even better.
The things you do, God, always are.
