Our Week in Matagorda

Week 2 is complete! We were only aboue 20 mintues away from the base, but felt like we were farther. In outreach, you learn to be ok with being dirty, letting dirty hands touch you, opening your water bottle for dirty mouths to drink from (realizing that you won't get a drink until you clean that bottle). You also learn to not rub your eyes or put your fingers anywhere near your mouth, wear bug spray (I have 95 bites on my legs as payment); if you had a nailbiting problem before, it's now gone. This week, we went into a public school and (literally) took over one of the classes (at the teacher's insistance). We didn't have any instruction, really, just "teach whatever you want!" We did a Bible story and some English. The teacher enjoyed the English lesson more than the kids, I think. :) We were there two differnt mornings, and then a 3rd we did a mini presentation for them. In the afternoons we split into small groups of 2 or 3 and went to visit people in their houses. This was such a crazy experience in different ways. We would ask them about their lives, tell them about ours, and possibly talk about Jesus (if it was a good time). We were mostly there just to love people and experience time with them. There were so many sad stories, so many hurts, so many broken lives. We prayed a lot this week, both with the people and in the house we were staying in. One morning in particular was really cool. We had just finished breakfast and devo time, David (my leader) told us that the plans we had had for the day were not going to work out. We all sat down, prayed for a while, and compared what we had recieved from God. We decided to go clean some houses for people and pick up garbage around the community. Later, some of us washed the hands of some of the kids and clipped their fingernails. They were so excited! They didn't want to touch anything. :) One family in particular was very poor, and we bought the kids sandals. One little boy was so happy that as soon as he put them on his feet, he shot out the door and started running home to show them. :)We did street presentations pretty much every night, just in the main areas people hung out. One night, we went to the Haitian part of the community and were planning to present in front of the "colmado" there (a very small, grocery store-type builing); however, it started to rain. We ended up just all cramming into the colmado, talking and just hanging out. At first, only the people who could communicate fairly well in French/Creole were inside (the rest of us were in an attached garage), but by the end, almost everyone was inside, a mix of French, Spanish, and English. Some of the guys learned a little bit of Creole, and I ended up with a sleeping 4-year-old on my lap. The night ended with the rain stopping and all of us outside, singing our national anthems (Haiti, DR, and the US) in our own languages. It was a beautiful night. We were all friends, no prejudice, no barriers. There was that connection for the rest of the week (and is hopefully still there). God had sent the rain to accomplish more than a presentation ever could.

First Week of Outreach!

I have returned to my own bed (safe, whole, and sore) after our first week of outreach. My team of 9 other people went to Santiago for the week, Monday afternoon until Friday after lunch. We worked with a school and did VBS-type activities Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning and afternoon. Each evening we walked to different communities and invited people to come to presentations we held in the street. These usually consisted of dramas and choreographies along with a testimony and mini “sermon.” Afterwards we spent time just talking to people and listening to their stories and praying with them. I really enjoyed those times. Wednesday and Thursday morning we picked up trash in the streets – it’s amazing how much one curbside corner can smell!! I actually didn’t mind it too much, our team knows how to work together and make things fun. We enjoy each other a lot and it shows in how we interact and work on projects. We were staying with a pastor and his family, and since they usually had a service on Thursday night, we helped and ended up doing half of the service. It was really cool to see people that we had talked to earlier in the week come to the church and interact with the people there. One Haitian guy came, and Jose translated the service into French for him (God knew what he was doing when he put Jose David in the DTS!). This man’s story is heartbreaking: He was in Haiti at the time of the earthquake, in a house with the rest of his family. When the earthquake hit, everyone but this man was killed. He watched the 5 people closest to him die, right in front of him. He was injured, so he was placed in a hospital in Port au Prince, but was later transferred to Santo Domingo, then to Santiago. He now works in construction, but has a hard time sleeping at night because of nightmares and heart/chest problems he now has (from debris crushing him). He is searching for God and is very open to the gospel. He touched our lives with his attitude and lack of bitterness. Everyone on our team is looking forward to the Haiti outreach even more! Friday morning we all went to “The” monument in Santiago; we had a time of intercession and prayer over the city. It was an amazing view! There will be pictures up on Facebook as soon as I can get them up. It was nice to feel useful for once – during class, I don’t feel like we actually DO much. We now have a week of class, and then 3 weeks of outreach!!