I wrote this blog blog on Jan 20th. We havent had internet, so here ya go!
Random Fact: I am sitting in my tent watching Kiki’s Delivery Service while typing this blog. I am watching it for my nieces’ Kaydence and Kayla; it’s the closest I can get to them at the moment. I am current missing their hugs and kisses. My feet seem to be permanently stained with dirt.
Our first week of ministry was physically and emotionally draining. Pile that on top of missing home, and you get a complete disaster. When Friday rolled around, I was ready for our day off. We headed to the mall to get some wifi and do a little bit of shopping. To be honest, our day off kinda sucked for me. I wasn’t able to talk to or get ahold of anyone I wanted to. So I left feeling even more run down than before I arrived.
My heart felt dead. I snuck off early and spent that evening with my papa before I fell asleep. My heart cried out to him in frustration. I cannot do this journey without him, and at this point I really needed him to revive me. I eventually fell asleep with my papas peace filling my tent. Saturday morning soon rolled around bringing with it another day of ministry, except God had something super special up his sleeve.
We were informed we would be going into a very dangerous neighborhood that the 18th street gang runs. We were hooking up with a missionary that has special contacts within the gang. While in the neighborhood we would run a program for the children. The program would include games, fingernail painting, and passing out toys. My heart jumped when informed of our ministry for the day. The squad planned out how it would run, hopped in a bus, and headed out.
My ministry was helping paint the girls’ fingernails. However, that didn’t last too long. Eventually word must have got around that I suck at painting nails, because soon I had no more nails to paint. Thank You Jesus!
I headed over to the game area and soon found myself playing a game of red light/green light with 10 kiddos. The winners got a toy. By this time, I was with one other gringo and we were relying on my sweet Spanish skills to run the game and keep the kids under control. If you know me, you know my Spanish skills aren’t too broad. However, I did teach preschool to kids who only spoke Spanish, so I managed.
My heart thrives on working with kids. I have found myself missing my job greatly. So, God definitely knew what he was doing.
Allowing me time to play with and love on some kids was God’s way of giving me CPR. On the way home from ministry I sat silently amazed at how great my God is. He knew exactly what I needed when I needed it. All the way home, I kept hearing God speak “I know your heart!” Those two hours of ministry reminded me of why I’m on this race. In feedback later that night, one of my team mates also expressed how much joy she seen in me when with the kids, and how she felt like God was saying Trish I know you heart, and this is all for you
