Amor Grande

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I just got back from Caras Alegres and the monthly birthday party to celebrate all the birthdays of August. It was really fun. At our meeting last week, we had divided into four groups for four games. Seno Ruth and I were together and the kids covered baloons with shaving cream and shaved it off with razors. A little strange, but the kids really enjoyed it- especially the older ones popping their balloons by Ruth or I to cover us with shaving cream. Anyway, the kids moved from station to station, and then, we all had cake, chocolate milk, and the kids got candy. We also sang to all the August birthdays. The kids loved it, and I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to be part of it.

This week, I also visited my first house with the social worker. We visited the mother of two of the kids who I am really close to. Caras Alegres is in Las Rosas which is a little bit up the side of a mountain. The houses of the kids are more than a little high. We had to climb through mud and broken pieces of block. It wasn't raining (gracias a Dios), but I kept thinking of each day when we leave Caras in the rain and the kids hiking through the mud and flowing water from the top of the mountain. The social worker was visiting to assess their living conditions. They have one room with two beds and a couple other little things. Around the corner, there is a little make-shift room with low ceilings on a little cliff next to their house where she cooks. The outhouse is also on this piece of cliff. It is a little scary to think of 2, 6, and 9 year olds playing here. It was a good reminder to me of the need for a safe and fun environment for these kids in Caras Alegres, and it was also a chance to build a relationship with Dona Gloria, who I saw today walking along the road.

I also began working at Nuevos Horizantes, the domestic abuse shelter this week. I really sense that this a place I am supposed to be. There are seven or eight girls from the ages of 13 and 17 in the shelter, and many of them are mothers. They are so loving and just want to sit and talk as they make bracelets to sell for the shelter. Each day, they ask volunteers to plan activities for the kids to give them some structure and outside stimulation. Yesterday, there was an activity with the women too. There is a lot of opportunity to interact with the women and the kids. I love it so much! There was a woman new to the shelter that I talked with for a bit.. she was really timid. She's 30 and has twins who are one month... so pray for Silvia.

Last night, I went to dinner at a comedor (coffee and empanadas for the 2 of us came to a total of 20Q or $2.50) and to church with my friend Ruth from Caras Alegres. She had me translate all of these phrases like "God bless you" and "God loves you" into english because she said volunteers are never Christians. I thank God for her friendship to be refueled a little with his love. The church was very charismatic, and I was really challenged to think about how I worship and express my love for God. I think I will go back for an evening again next week.

This week has been so full, and I am sorry that I keep droning on, but I am going to share one more fun thing! This morning, I finally visited "Bake Shop" in Xela that so many people had told me about. It is a Mennonite bake shop that is simply named "Bake Shop" with milk (mmmm), donuts, COOKIES, yogurt, and different types of bread. I talked to the man working, and he told me that the Mennonite church is about 16km outside of town. They are very conservative, but I think it would be cool to visit sometime.

I'm so thankful to be here and meet and see more of God's beautiful creation. I want to end this blog with a quote I read by Thomas Merton in a novel by Paulo Coelho I am reading. "Amore es comulgar con el otro, es descubrir en el una chispa divina." A rough translation: "Love is to commune with another, it is to discover in the other the divine spark."

Love and prayers!

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Photos

Fiesta
At the birthday party with Andrea and Edgar.. I visited their house this week

Blue skies!
There was sun:)