To start the day off, we grabbed our sandwiches, gear, and set off for our very last day of VBS ministry. We arrived to the smiling faces of children at Iglesia el gran rey, and instantly I was sad that we had to leave, despite the oppressive heat and humidity. We unloaded our sports equipment and the children promptly lost their minds at the prospect of our dusty hula-hoops and jump ropes. We played with them for a while, and then the session began. A small girl who had perched on my lap cowered in terror when the infamous gorilla sprung out of the shadows during the skits, but thankfully there were no crying toddlers this time. Everything went very smoothly, as our team made the whole lesson run like a well-oiled machine.
After the craft, we went outside and played soccer. However, most of us Canadians whipped out our phones and started taking rapid-fire selfies with the kids. The goodbyes were long and drawn out, as each tiny kid wrapped their arms around us and gave us multiple fist bumps and high fives. I was pretty sad to inevitably watch them all scamper back up the dusty streets to their homes one by one. After our lunch break, a handful of the older kids and others returned for the youth ministry portion of our day, in which I was given the opportunity to share my testimony! We paused our games of soccer to pray and share my testimony, which was good to get off my chest in the end. After a while, we all piled back into that beige van and drove away from the church for the last time.
Most people in the community were attending their church services tonight, but Pastor Marco’s church have their evening services on Wednesday. The service the previous night was very good, with awesome music and a testimony sharing time, in which Ashley and Shay got to share their stories. Kent then preached with our amazing translator Leslye’s assistance while the rest of us went downstairs for children’s ministry.
Back to today. After we cleaned up the church we drove away, hit up a grocery store (Soriana), and then came back to Agua Viva. When it was time for supper, Kent handed me the keys to our van to let me drive down to the dining hall, because the walk down is like crossing the Sahara. We all piled in, and I got to drive a thrilling four hundred meters to the dining hall. Everyone thought I would crash the van, however, I dispelled those preconceived notions by being the best driver ever! After our delicious supper of burritos, we came back to the quad to cool off on the balcony, debrief about our two weeks, share our highlights and what we learned, pray, and plan for our weekend in the Los Angeles area! Currently, we’re still hanging out here, listening to Riley and Ashley argue over baby names.
Thank you for keeping us in your prayers these past two weeks! The most difficult part is over, so prayers for energy over this weekend while we enjoy LA would be most appreciated. We will be leaving tomorrow around noon Winnipeg time and it will be a long journey to LA with the wait at the border. We will try to post an update on this blog and photos on our Facebook page during the weekend when possible.
Abbey (with additions and edits by Kent)
emergeyouthministry 