Our Last Work Day: Adios Amigos!!
Today, was our last official work day. We had our final day of VBS at Escuela de Los Angeles. We always arrive as the kids are having a morning recess. Evidentially, they can buy popsicles and other snacks because they are always eating them when we come. The children greeted us like rock stars when we got off the bus. They run up and give us hugs all around.
 |
Minor as Paul |
Today, we had another lesson about Paul. In this lesson, Paul is put in prison again and he is brought before King Agrippa. Paul almost persuades the King to become a Christian. Again, the interns did a great job reenacting the story. The children went to their classrooms and we divided up among the classrooms and the students decorated crowns that had been donated by Burger King. They glued Psalms 24:10 on their crowns. Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty--he is the King of glory.
Since it was the last day, Minor Perez had presented each of us to the students and had them say our names. One of the male teachers said some very nice words thanking us for coming and spending our summer vacation with them. He wished the interns success in their studies. We all walked around saying good-bye to all of the classrooms. It is very interesting how the school systems’ in Central America welcomes the church to come in and work with the schools.
This is a picture of Wilson who was in the third grade classroom that I worked in. Donna Waldron, the missionary, (I have been spelling her last name wrong.) mentioned him last night. If you look at the picture you may notice that he has a facial deformity. They think it was caused by an abscessed tooth that was left untreated. It had eaten into the muscle and bone of his jaw and cheek. That think they have gotten it, but they are wanting to take him to the capital to make sure they have gotten all of the infection because it not, it could go into the brain. Donna said that the mother just doesn’t get how serious the situation is.
I also want to share about this little boy that I noticed standing on the edge of the school watching the songs and skits. He was very small, so I thought he maybe wasn’t old enough to go to school. When all of the children were working in the classrooms, he was in the courtyard with Brandon Mann. Someone had given him a coloring sheet and he was sitting in the courtyard coloring quietly. I asked the missionaries about him and they told me that he was 8 and he used to go to school. They had asked him why he didn’t go anymore and he told them that his mom had taken him out of school. The missionaries said that more than likely meant that his mom couldn’t afford to send him. School is free, but the parents must provide the special white shirt, blue pants and brown shoes, as well as school supplies and often materials for the teacher and custodians. This unfortunately is very often the case in Honduras!!
I would like to share another story that Donna told us about. She said that there church has really grown in the two years since they planted it. They started with about 30 members and they now average anywhere from 200-300 on a Sunday. They have about 75 children who attend Sunday school. Many of these children come and they don’t know where they live or who their parents are. Donna oversees the Sunday school program and ends up being the disciplinarian. The children get a warning and if the behavior doesn’t improve, then they have a consequence. A little street boy named Lester was disciplined and he was to be kicked off the bus. The soft-hearted bus driver felt really bad, but Donna said that Lester couldn’t ride the bus even though Lester showed up at the bus stop. It was 5 minutes before time for church to begin and a taxi pulls up. They see Lester get out of the taxi and pay for it with his own money. He hollers “Hermana Donna” (Sister Donna) and runs and gives her a hug. Donna said that Lester knew she loved him and cared about him. Children usually do appreciate structure and boundaries whether they realize it or not.
I have really been impressed with Mission Upreach and the work they are doing here. The commitment that missionaries must have to live and work far away from their homes is truly to be admired.
http://www.missionupreach.com/Site/Home.html (more information about Mission Upreach and their work) We are staying one more night here at Hotel Elvir and then we will travel to see the ruins at Copan tomorrow. I may or may not have a post tomorrow because we will be spending the day at the ruins and then traveling on to San Pedro Sula.
Until next time!! xoxoPJ
Very interesting!
ReplyDelete