Sunday: the team from Montana stayed at Imuris for the
morning. We all had church together and enjoyed a time of joining together as
the body of Christ across the nations. After church the ladies made a delicious
meal for everyone. Kent and I chatted with Alejandro and it was nice to be able
to catch up with him. We also talked with an Hermana who is working diligently
to learn English. Her husband is American and only speaks English and she is
Mexican and just started learning English, despite the language barriers they
seem very happy together. During our conversation, the restaurant Palo Verde
was mentioned as being fabulous. We had not eaten there and they decided that
needed to be fixed that day. Plans were made for dinner.
After lunch, some of the Montana team went shopping for food
for food baskets they were creating for people in Benjamin Hill. While they
were doing that, we played a rousing game of soccer with the kids. One of the gentlemen from
the Montana team joined us and it was a great game. In true Kid’s Kingdom
fashion, we had to dodge vans, bikes, and other games while playing.
I was somewhat surprised when our dinner plans did not
change and Alejandro showed up to get us. We loaded into my car and stopped by
his house to pick up his family, (Jessica=amazing wife, Marvin=oldest son, Yoselin and Viviana=adorable twins). Palo Verde is a nicer indoor sit down
restaurant with great food. I ordered a salad with chicken and it was amazing!
I didn’t realize how much I was missing a good salad until I started eating it.
Monday: we had
breakfast, cleaned up, class (we were about to start class, when the
dance teacher arrived and the young ninas and I started to learn a Spanish folk
dance, the girls continued to work on their dance every day for the rest of the
week), games, lunch, and rushed the kids to school. Alejandro and Jessica
invited us over for lunch, so we did not eat with the children and once they
were off we walked over to their house. Jessica had prepared an excellent lunch
and we had some great conversations. They shared more about their time in Bible
college and what God has been doing in their lives. Alejandro wants to be a pastor of some sort but they have not
completed training yet. It is
always amazing to catch up with friends. (All this conversing was done with a
combination of broken Spanish, broken English, and Google Translate)
We then went to another orphanage in the area and I got to
see Jumana! Jumana, with her sisters, was staying at Kid’s Kingdom the first
summer Arielle and I spent in Mexico. It was great to check in on her and see
that she is doing well. She is in kindergarten now and is growing up so fast!
This was Jumana the first summer I met her. I forgot to get a current picture :-(
Monday night Jessica and Alejandro made fish tacos for the
Montana team and all of us at Kid’s Kingdom. They were great! These days seemed
to have focused around food and fellowship.
Tuesday: this was a normal day for the most part only dance
class instead of Bible class. Pastor Mark and one of the other gentlemen from
the MT team finished mudding the wall in our room. That evening the MT team made
hamburgers for everyone and we had a marshmallow shooter war.
Wednesday: this was the sad day that we had to say goodbye
to the MT team. However, before they left they installed a shower head in our
bathroom, fixed the leaking toilet and ordered a sink for our bathroom! Talking
about blessings!!! After they left we set about getting things ready for the
team from Arizona that was arriving the next day.
Here are some of the pictures of the stuff the MT team accomplished in Benjamin Hills
Wednesday evening Kent taught on the Belt of Truth from
Ephesians six. The plan was to teach through the armor in our morning classes
but instead we are going to do it on Wednesday nights. The kids loved the
lesson and the creation of the belts. After church was finished some of the
little girls decided they needed to do my makeup and they made me look “beautiful!”
After my makeover we went to the store and purchased some snack items and then
watched a movie with Alejandro.
They are all wearing there Belts of Truth
Thursday: we started the day by heading up to Nogales AZ to
meet the team at the border and help them with the crossing. Before meeting
them we ate at McDonald's twice (Kent was apparently craving it), did some shopping
at Wal-Mart, and made some phone calls. The border crossing went smoothly.
The team from AZ is from a Christian school, and this was
there fearless leaders 26th trip! This group was eighth graders,
with some adults, a few high school leaders, and a couple college leaders. They
brought a lot of energy and the place filled fast with neighborhood kids and
families to hang out. This group brings food with them and cooks all the meals
for EVERYONE which was a great break for all involved in the normal feeding
process.
Thursday evening, we played a wild game of soccer. I must
admit it was the most stressful game of soccer I have played. There was three
times the number of players (30ish), then probably four times the normal number
of human obstacles to dodge (25ish), fast moving carts/skateboard (3), extra balls flying around, and then
some of the players from AZ (and some of the older neighborhood guys) could
kick the ball really hard. All in all, there was a lot to try and keep track of!
I blocked the ball from hitting my glasses a couple times (the guys kept
laughing at me because I used my arms but I decided I would rather take a hand ball call
than break my glasses again) after all that I wasn't fast enough and my glasses
got bent. Luckily I was able to bend them back into shape. I also managed not
to trip and re-injure my knee so I believe I came out a winner. I have no clue
what the actual score was, I was too busy with everything else to bother with
that. Now this is my perspective of the game, I know most of them loved it,
there is no accounting for taste ;-)
Friday: the AZ team made breakfast and then while they did
their devotions we did class with the kids. Some of them are trying out their
new English and finding it to be helpful, others needed to be encouraged to try
using what they have been learning. The afternoon was filled with playing and
some of the AZ team painted the outside eating and craft area. It is now a nice
bright orange.
Friday evening, we had a talent show. The AZ team brought some
impressive yo-yo tricks and hand walking. Jose and Raquel sang an adorable duet
of one of the local children ditties. There was also a plethora of lip sinking from
all.
Saturday: we had a VBS style kids club. Christopher led
worship and then Kent told the story of David and Goliath while Ruben senior
translated and a combination of AZ and local people acted it out. It was an
enjoyable re-enactment to watch and listen to (Kent and Ruben work well
together as MC’s if anyone ever wants to book an English/Spanish combo J). After that the
children were divided into color groups and sent off with their brave leaders
from AZ to participate in games, crafts, and an English lesson. These areas all
had people from AZ running them as well. After all the children finished their
rotations we met back in the church for a few more songs and closing remarks.
All in all, it went well and everyone worked hard and tried their best.
(I'm having trouble finding pictures but here are some URLs for videos of this time)
https://www.facebook.com/imuriskids/videos/10210279609241488/
https://www.facebook.com/imuriskids/videos/10210173176380733/
https://www.facebook.com/imuriskids/videos/10210170887283507/
https://www.facebook.com/imuriskids/videos/10210170860962849/
In the afternoon, there was a lot of playing! Then the most
glorious of things happened, Pastor Joel put a door on our bathroom!!!!! This
might seem silly but when you are two people of the opposite gender a bathroom
door is a highly valued item. Our bathroom at this point had a toilet, a door,
and a shower head (the plumbing wasn’t ready to take showers yet) it was
becoming complete.
The tiling looks so great and the light fixtures are pretty, when finished this is going to be an outstanding bathroom! Thank you to everyone who contributed.
Unfortunately, that evening I started to have a cold set in,
which made the rest of the evening not as enjoyable. There was a great service
with excellent worship and a time for testimonies. After the service the adults
from Kid’s Kingdom began getting ready for all the Sunday activities.
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