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.