Friday

The bus picked us up at 8:00am from the hotel and we were on our way! After arriving at the church, we "hurried up and waited" - that seems to be a common comment among us. In this culture, as many of us know, it is very relaxed and not so rigid with time deadlines, etc. Not a bad thing - perhaps we could all learn from this as we go through our daily tasks. The ladies of the church prepared a fantastic breakfast of arepas along with coffee. Coffee is either served negro (black) or con leche (with milk) and very sweet. After breakfast we split into two groups. One group stayed at the church and prepared VBS materials for a craft along with three of the children helping. Some the guys (and Judy!) prepared the wall in Juvenal's office to prepare it for a final coat of plaster - quite a dirty job! The other group went out to a field about a mile away to have a sports camp - led by our Coach Shaun. To give you an idea of this field - picture dry,dusty, full of glass and rocks, lots of garbage debris beyond the field and extremely windy. To say "windy" is an understatement - imagine at least 25 mph wind constantly with dry dirt blowing in your face. We did not see many children at first and really only a few joined us that morning. We finally figured out that a lot were at a party at the school. Still, we played "kicky ball", football, jump rope, badminton with hacky sack ball. Kyle was the best outfielder as he continuously ran into the garbage dump area for our foul balls! Alyssa taught the local boys how to hold and throw a football, Rachel and Joseph both wiped out as they slid on the dry dirt, Janet and Rhonda were the water girls, Stephanie played paddle ball, Brian coordinated a game with some of the older girls, and Steve figured out that if you don't kick the ball real far then you don't have to run the bases in the heat! Then, we made the journey walking back to the church, taking in the look of the neighborhood on the way back. For those of you who have never been here, imagine rows of concrete block-style "houses", holes in the them, open windows and doors, occasional electrical wire hanging dangerously low, a tank of water in the back or on top of the house. Our lunch at the church consisted of paella, potato salad, and fried plantains. Very good once again! After that we just hung around and played with the children, finished some of the wall preparation. Around 4:00, the VBS program started with the children performing for us. It was very festive with music and some minimal balloon decorations.Judy and Janet did the lesson based on Jesus feeding the 5000 with bread and fish and then handed out bracelets they had made with a fish and bread. Part of our mission is to teach some English so the children learned those words too. After VBS, we returned to the hotel to quickly shower and then return again to the church for the worship service at 7:30.