I'm not really finished processing what happened and what God was teaching me. Honestly, the trip was very different from what I thought, and the orphanage left several of us sensing a dark spirit lurking there, so I've had some difficulty putting it all together.
For now, here are some pictures and info from each day of the week. Warning - long post ahead.
The girl's dorm where we stayed had a concrete roof with steps up to it. Since my internal alarm clock was set to "early" (thank you, Elli), I spent every morning up here, watching the sun rise over the mountains and spending time in the Word and prayer.
(these two pictures were taken at 180 degrees from each other, so you can see we were surrounded by beauty and majesty!)
Tita, Mary Margaret and I enjoying a cool morning on the roof.
Tuesday
While the older men drove into town to pick up water bottles and paint supplies, the rest of us did our first VBS with the kids. Maddie (in the upper right corner) is fluent in Spanish, so she was our go-to interpreter.
The craft that day was decorating frames with their picture. These were a big hit!
Wednesday
The kids were all at school this day, so we traveled to an indigenous people group where a missions church had just been planted a year before. They still spoke an ancient Mayan dialect and wore traditional outfits. We shared communion with them and then enjoyed their cooking. Best coffee and corn tortillas I've ever had!
Then we traveled to San Cristobal, which is the cultural center of Chiapas. We saw a few old churches and shopped at a local market. I'll get some pictures of Elli in some dresses I bought for her.
After San Cristobal, we drove to Canyon del Sumidero and took a boat ride on the river. This was stunningly beautiful, and we got to see crocodiles and monkeys!
Maddie, Claire, Tita, and Mary Margaret
Yes, we were this close!
See those tiny black blobs... spider monkeys. Yes, I know it's hard to tell, and you'll just have to take my word for it!
Thursday
While the guys painted one of their dorms, the girls did another VBS with the kids. I was so proud of my students, because they came up with their own little skit about the parable of the seeds and acted it out in Spanish! Then we helped the kids decorate their own seed pot and plant a seed.
For now, here are some pictures and info from each day of the week. Warning - long post ahead.
The girl's dorm where we stayed had a concrete roof with steps up to it. Since my internal alarm clock was set to "early" (thank you, Elli), I spent every morning up here, watching the sun rise over the mountains and spending time in the Word and prayer.
Tuesday
While the older men drove into town to pick up water bottles and paint supplies, the rest of us did our first VBS with the kids. Maddie (in the upper right corner) is fluent in Spanish, so she was our go-to interpreter.
The kids were all at school this day, so we traveled to an indigenous people group where a missions church had just been planted a year before. They still spoke an ancient Mayan dialect and wore traditional outfits. We shared communion with them and then enjoyed their cooking. Best coffee and corn tortillas I've ever had!
Thursday
While the guys painted one of their dorms, the girls did another VBS with the kids. I was so proud of my students, because they came up with their own little skit about the parable of the seeds and acted it out in Spanish! Then we helped the kids decorate their own seed pot and plant a seed.
Later that afternoon we tye-dyed t-shirts. This was the favorite activity by far! Everyone, old and young, wanted their own t-shirt, and the girl's house mom even brought down a pile of her kids shirts and onesies to dye!
Friday
Our last day we did another VBS about prayer in the morning. All of the kids loved decorating the foam hands and crosses.
We finished off the week with an elaborate scavenger hunt, which was so much fun for everyone involved!
Okay, if you even got this far, I'm sure you're quite tired of this post by now, so I will end now. Plus I'm out of pictures. :)
1 comment:
Thanks for sharing about this beautiful time! What an adventure.
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