Day 3

These children are “Jesus with skin on.” They don’t care if you are tall, short, American, Guatemalan, fat, skinny, young, or old. They will walk right up to you, give you a hug, and take you by the hand as if you’ve been friends forever.

We were able to attend church with the community here and it is always an uplifting time of hearing God’s Word.

After church we had lunch and the team split into two groups - one to continue painting the school and the other to sort donations.

I joined the donations group and the rest of my family was painting. The missionary liaison has a list of the needs for specific houses so we laid the clothing out in order and fulfilled their “orders.” Most of what YOU donated is going directly to a child and we will probably see them wearing the items tomorrow. It’s kinda cool. Our team raised some extra funds this year so we will be able to purchase the remaining needs at Walmart before we leave.

I didn’t take a single picture today, but that’s a good thing because I got to spend so much time with the kids. None of them have phones so they are totally engaged and hungry to spend time together.

First, I played some board games with the teenage boys. They are hilarious, high energy and have short attention spans and I love it.

Next, I got to teach a family how to play a board game called Azul. It’s complicated but they caught on fast. New games keep them engaged and seem to help with entertainment during the rainy season.

Then, I visited Casa Promesa which is a girl’s house. I challenged them to do a puzzle that the boys couldn’t figure out…they didn’t have any luck either. Maybe tomorrow :)

Dinner, team debrief, skit practice, and team games were last on the agenda for the day.

One of the most amazing experiences for me this trip is to watch the older teens include Timmy. He’s sleeping in a room with 3 other bros (away from the boring dads!). I asked if they play pranks on each other and he said, “No, we do our Philippians Bible study together.” What a blessing that these teens are discipling Timmy in a way that neither Caleb nor I could ever do. What a gift to us and testimony of their faith.

I need to get to bed now, but I have a quick prayer request. I’m having a problem with bug bites again even though I’ve been doing all of my preventative tricks. This year they are on my hands and arms and I don’t have a single bite on my legs. Kinda strange. They’re pretty painful and itchy so prayers for healing would be much appreciated. I’m being careful to keep them clean and if I get a fever or anything I will get my hands on some antibiotics. It stinks, but at least I’ve been through it so I kind of know what to expect and am not as worried. Muchas gracias!