Today was a very special and exciting day! We were able to actually get a chance to work on our job sites for the first time. For this trip I am working with preschoolers (ages three and four) in the community of Mata Gorda. Our day started with a bumpy ride over to the school, which is about 5-10 minutes from the El Callejon community. When we arrived with our site leader Yohana, all of the kids were in the community/church room singing songs. As soon as I saw those kids through the doorway from outside my face lit up! They are so beautiful and so precious, and I was so excited to spend the next couple of weeks with them. After Yohana led them in a few more songs and prayers, we split into classrooms by grade. Yohana has the four year olds and our other site leader has the three year olds, but she has a substitute right now so we spent the day with Yohana and the four year olds and it was such a sweet day! We helped them with learning how to write their names, we got to spend time out on the playground with them swinging and climbing trees, and we got to paint with them too. The day definitely was a long one, and my patience was tested a ton, but it was so good. I think the hardest part for me is not being able to understand what these kids are saying to me! There is a definite language barrier, and it is a bit sad when they are trying to tell you something or ask you a question and you simply cannot understand them. However, even with that we are still able to have fun and help them. Love knows no bounds, and it has no one language. I’m praying so much on these kids and for our time together to be good and pleasing to the Lord! It’s going to be a wonderful trip.
-Priscilla Shin
Today was a lovely day. I am working at the women’s social work site in El Callejon with Zoey, Brittany, and Sam. When we got to the site, we began by going through our schedule for the day, and Daisy (the woman who runs the social work site) prayed about how we can plan the day all we want, but ultimately our goal is to follow what the Lord has planned. We had a Bible study this morning with the pre teens and we talked about not repaying evil with evil. Then we walked around the small community of El Callejon for a while. It may be considered a poor community, but the environment is so very sweet. Everyone knows everyone, and it truly seems like a family of about 400. After lunch, we had a short siesta, and then had a Bible study with the chiquitas (the younger girls). We talked about keeping peace as long as it depends on you and played games. Altogether, it was a very sweet day and we got to experience a very special bond that exists in the El Callejon community.
-Shiloh Jan
Check out the video from today!