Pastor Alfonso was heading to the la Roca of a small town near Rio Lindo and invited me to join him for the afternoon. He had a few different food and clothing items to give away, and he knew I´d been wanting to spend some time with different Sunday schools. The church was lovely. It was basically a large carport with plastic chairs, and it had a great view of the mountains and pretty flowers. The air moving through was also a nice treat! I´d bet it isn´t too fun in the rain, but on a nice, sunny day it was perfectly comfortable. La pastora preached for a little bit, and then Pastor Alfonso said a few words. Later Mari went up to talk to the children, and she called me up to join her. It feels so silly, but I was a little nervous to get up and talk to the children. I guess something about microphones makes me nervous, but that´s a part of my comfort zone I´ve learned to push quite well since being here. Someone told me recently that if you´re not at least a little nervous public speaking, you don´t respect your audience enough. I´d never thought of it like that, and I find it comforting!
The kids and I talked about God, the wonders of His love and the marvels of His creation. Afterwards we passed out some paper and crayons* and everyone got cozy to draw some of their favorite things about the world around them. Some of the kids were really creative! It was fun to wander through the group and share in all their excitement. I even got to break out some chalk and some of us drew on the cement. I love getting to be a kid again, and really enjoy when I get to meet new groups of little ones. When we were finishing up our drawings Pastor Alfonso and Mari started handing out food and a few different options of clothing to some of the women. He even had some pretzel m&ms to give away, and those were pretty popular. We sat and chatted with the pastor and his family for a little while after all the families had gone. His wife led Sunday school, and he and a guy from church were busy applying paint to the columns around their new church space. They said they´d been meeting inside their house, and were pleased to have been able to build a separate place to worship with their congregation.
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| This little lady was all worried Pastor Alfonso would mess up her hair, and he had a great time trying to get that hat onto her head. Too fun! |
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| Mari was patient and sweet with each girl, trying to make sure they got the best sizes and best clothes for their personalities! |
*Thank you to everyone who has helped support me along the way. The donations of art supplies allow me to do things like take boxes of crayons to little children who love to color, but don´t have any art supplies at home. --I guess now I just need to come up with a way to make your own paints and crayons, and take being a hippie to a whole new level! Some of the kids were too cute trying to return the crayons when they were done with their drawings. I will do my best to recreate their hugs for you when I get home, because they were pretty great. Also a big thanks for anyone supporting me spiritually. It isn´t always easy or even feasible to send a package down here, but I feel your prayers and appreciate them more than I could express.
