The past few days we have been building three houses on an island. We would make an hour bus ride and then take a boat to the island. It was quite the adventure. (But, every day is an adventure here.) Typically, the men would do all of the hard labor and actually BUILD the house, while us girls would put sealer on the house and do games with the local kids. We passed out Bibles and bubbles and all of the important things! The group brought bags of jeans to pass out to the community and it was AMAZING. They had them in sizes and the people would get into lines and get the jeans one at a time. You could just see God working through this team.
Yesterday we walked door to door to pass out bags of rice and beans and pray for the families. This is definitely my favorite thing to do. You get to see all of the different living situations, and every time we do this I am amazed at how many people will live in one house. I am always hit with how blessed I am. I love love love when we are praying for a family, and they start to pray with us. I love knowing that God really is working in them, and we're not just some random gringos giving them food.
Today we took all of the kids and staff from CIPI to the water park. It was a lot of fun to spend time with everyone and let them have a fun day. Most of the kids had never been to a water park before. Days like this make me feel like the people I go to school with are so materialistic and selfish. And the worst part to me is that they don't mean to be. It's just how they were raised. They grew up in a place where having the newest everything means the world. I went from hearing complaints about not having the newest iPhone or the right shoes to hearing people beg for just one pair of used jeans and a Bible.
I also talked to a guy here about the halfway house opening up. They have funding for the first 6 months of rent, and they are just waiting for the government to approve all of the paperwork and stuff, then it will be open for the boys. It is so amazing to hear how they are working down here. I want to find a way to help out more. I feel like this summer has been me seeing all of the needs that need to be met here. But God is definitely present in this country. "Greater things are yet to come; greater things are still to be done in this city."
And, as always, please keep all of this in your prayers.
IT's so convicting to see how subtly materialism creeps in to all our lives; easier to see in others than in ourselves. Mom was sharing last night about how hopeless some of their lives seemed; she couldn't imagine where they'd find the will to get out of bed. I have many thoughts about that, but this isn't my blog! Ha...
ReplyDeleteI love you, I'm so proud of you and continue to pray for you