A Busy Day!

Well we had a busy day today. The school schedule is very different here and we had children showing up all day. We are going to have to figure out the best way to work the schedule or I'm going to have to learn how to go with the flow more like the Salvadorans. The children still haven't learned how to do that yet though and that is part of the problem. :) The Kindergarten is out at about 10:30 and a few of them show up while we are still working with the younger children. It's hard to keep the younger children on track this way. The children in first or second grade usually get out early and come at 11:30. I make them wait until I've fed the younger ones so they can eat in peace.

The afternoon group, hard at work on a craft.

One of the little girls bit me today. I guess that's part of working with 3 year olds. Gissel is quite a handful and some days she has an invisible switch that gets turned on and she can't seem to handle herself. I was glad she bit me today instead of one of the children (yes, she's done that before). Gissel is very spoiled which is part of her problem, but sometimes her older sister drops her off and likes to hand around for a while and that seems to put an end to Gissel's good behavior. We are going to try this without the older sister from now on. :)  When she's in a good mood, Gissel loves to share, talk, play, and help. She's very smart which can sometimes be her downfall. She really is fun despite her difficult temper. The church has an outing scheduled to the beach this Sunday and Gissel's family was invited. She is very excited that Matia and I will be going and can't wait to play. 

Gissel being angry today.  I showed her a video of herself so she would know what she looked like when she has a fit. :)

Olman has been doing better. There is still a lot of ground to cover, but I'm encouraged by what I see from him. He actually let me hold him for a little bit today and sought me out a couple of times to talk to me and to play. He even came over once for me to pick him up! Yesterday, he brought his table with his food over to me so that I could help him eat. :) He really is a sweet kid, but I think he has so much going on. He is very fussy and his skin is unhealthy. I'm a little concerned that something is making him uncomfortable - an allergy, malnutrition, or something - and that is why he is so fussy. He comes in a very good mood, but he fusses at the drop of a hat. I think he's starting to steal my heart though. He has such a funny way of playing and communicating! He loves playing with cars as always and always wants one in his hand no matter what. 

Olman, sitting in my lap!



Please keep us in your prayers and pray for wisdom in dealing with Olman and Gissel and all of these precious children. I think I had about 22 children today with the afternoon and morning children counted together.  I will sit down and tell you about each one of them soon. Right now I need to go finish cooking the beans and wash the dishes so I  can finish preparing the lesson for tomorrow. Oh yes, and figure out how to get the big red ants out of my kitchen - praise God that ants don't like peppermint! Thank you all for your support. You all are the tools God is using to make this happen and these children need it!

The People Who Help Me

Yesterday elections were held here for the mayor and the senators. It's very different from the US. A lot of people here don't know how to read and write, so they mark the picture of the candidates and the flags of their political parties. The poles closed at 5pm and then most of the town gathered outside the school here where the voting was held and waited for the news of who won. I had to prepare for the kids this morning and for getting up at 5am and so I didn't wait up with them. There were a lot of cars going back and forth - not normal for this small town. Their was a lot of shouting. Mirian (my neighbor) was very worried about me being outside in case a fight broke out. Thankfully, there were no fights, but it they did get to shouting excitedly a couple of times. I slept pretty soundly through most of it. :)

Rosme - he's such a funny little guy!

We had a quiet day with the kids today. School was cancelled because they were putting the classrooms back in order after the election. A lot of people were up late last night and so didn't bother to bring the children today, especially since the other children were home. :) We still had 6 children this morning and 1 lone child this afternoon. It was so much fun to hang out with a small group of kids though. They were very funny today. Anderson and Rosme were particularly enthusiastic about English and reciting the Bible verse today. They were so funny to watch. Rosme is the youngest I have - not yet 3 and he very excitedly shouted out English words today. We worked on colors and he loved saying "yellow!" I went on to blue and he kept shouting, "No, yellow!" They loved the Bible story today. Sometimes I wonder if they are even listening, but today when I asked them about what they remembered from last week, Anderson shouted out, "Adán y Eva!" which means "Adam and Eve!" :) I was encouraged. 

Anderson pouting because we won't let him fight over the balls. :)

The children are just full of all kinds of fun and keep us laughing all day! They definitely keep us on our toes as well, but we love every minute of it! I want to tell you all a little bit about the people working with me. Gloria cooks for the children. She prepares a snack in the morning and then lunch. She makes the tortillas with the masa that I bring back from the mill every morning. Gloria is married and has a girl who is 9 (I can't remember or even spell her name right now - it is very different) and a boy who is 7. The boy's name is William and he will be coming to the center for a couple of hours in the afternoon. The children are very sweet and Gloria's husband, Tonio, is a carpenter. He made the table that I have in my kitchen right now. Gloria is a good cook and she's really good with the kids. She's always making sure they fill those little tummies as full as she can get them. Gloria joins in the fun with the kids whenever she's not busy in the kitchen. :)

Gloria helping Rosme finish his snack. 

Matia is the one who helps me with the children. He also helps me with the finances, grocery shopping (I think I would get lost in Gotera without him :), setting up phones and internet, bringing in children, and cultural concerns among many other things. Ah yes, and he rescues me from scorpions. :) Matia speaks and reads and writes English very well. He helps teach the lessons to the children and is very good with them all and especially the difficult ones that are higher maintenance. He is on top of all of their tricks. ;) Matia also has experience in teaching, accounting, and knows practically everyone in Meanguera. He has been a huge help. It has been fun working with both Matia and Gloria because they both love the children so much. 

Matia with Olman, one of our more difficult cases. :)

Celso usually takes me to Gotera once a week to buy food for the children. Gotera is where the market is and where the biggest grocery stores are in Morazán. Pastor Roman has also been a huge help and is always available whenever we need him. Mirian, Sara, and Chila who live across the street always save me a spot in line at the mill and help me when it's my turn to mill. I could be here all day talking about people who help me! Everyone pitches in and keeps an eye on me. :)

We are working on getting an area set up outside the house with a fireplace, a mill, and a stone for making tortillas. Cooking corn takes up a lot of gas from the stove and cooking it over a fire is much quicker. I usually have to wait in line for a while at the mill in the morning, so we bought a hand mill. I think the tortillas taste better coming from th hand mill too. I'm starting to get finesse with my taste in tortillas, haha. They are not all made the same! I will take a picture for you all when it is set up so you can see the mill and the stone and how it works. It is a very neat process and each step has a distinct purpose. I'm still learning all the details to cooking the corn - there is always so much to learn! 

Keep us in your prayers!  Pray that God will work in the hearts of these little children. These children need to know Christ's love. There is a lack of love and affection in many of their homes. I'll tell you more about them later! Thank you all so much for your support and your encouragement! You all are a special gift from God to me. :)

They are Precious!

Mauricio - I love his little smile. :)

We have really been enjoying the children this week. I think Gloria, Matia, and I are all tired when the children head out after lunch - they keep us busy, but it's worth it! Some of these children have some really sad circumstances. Mauricio (in the picture above) lives with his aunt right now. His mother works far away and isn't home much. I don't think his father is around at all. Mauricio has such a sweet little smile though and he loves to be held. He has to show us every little thing that he does and his whole face lights up when he gets excited about something.

Some of these children are really walking a long way to come to the center. We do not have enough money to pick them up and drop them off back home yet. These little 3 and 4 year olds are walking about 30-45 minutes one way! Poor little Jonathan is probably about 40 minutes away and he walked all that way yesterday with a 101 fever! Jonathan's father is not around and his mother takes care of him all on her own. I think that she sometimes just really doesn't know what to do with him. It takes so much effort to get a smile out of Jonathan. I finally got a smile today when we played ball for a little bit. I think he is still a little overwhelmed by all the newness of what we are doing. When we feed him, he eats like there might not be any tomorrow. His family is very poor, so that's probably a reality for him.

Jonathan - he fell asleep in my arms. The poor little man was not feeling good that day.

I have a lot of things to tell you all, but I need to go finish cooking the corn and preparing the lesson for the kids tomorrow. Keep praying for us all. One of the new little boys that I have - Olman - is a particularly hard case. He also has no father in his life and his mother is very young and has another little one at home. He seems to have a hard time understanding us and doesn't speak very well yet. He's also very rough with pretty much everything. I'm not sure all that is going on there, but I would really appreciate prayer for the challenge that he brings us and for him to experience Christ's love through us. 

Olman - he's always wants to have a car!

The Fun Has Begun!

We've been having a fun week! As much as I feel at home here in Meanguera, there are still a lot of new things for me, but it's been fun to learn. I get up at 5am to go to the mill so we can make tortillas. I'm still not used to the disc that swirls in the middle of the mill and I'm not brave enough yet to stick my fingers in it like everyone else does. I haven't figured out whether or not I will lose my finger if I try it, but they don't seem to have any trouble.

I had a fun experience with a scorpion in my suitcase a couple of days ago. I wasn't quite ready to do battle with a scorpion by myself yet, and like any good girl, I called Matia to come and get it for me. :) 

We have a very fun group of children right now! They usually start showing up about 7:30 and are here until about 12pm. Right now, we have only started with the children who are 3-5 years old and are not going to school. Next week, we will have some children, 5-7years old, in the afternoon for a couple of hours. The group we have right now is a little shy. They are not ready to really sing yet. They just look at me and giggle, but I think they will start coming around soon. A few of them actually spoke some English words today! At first they were too shy to try. Anderson is particularly good at saying the Bible verse. :) 

Ezequiel, he's a very serious and shy little guy, but he's always enjoying himself..

The children have been very good so far. I think they will be more of a handful later on when they shyness goes away. Right now we have 8 who are really enjoying the center. One child never came and another little girl's mother didn't want to leave her daughter crying. :) Pray for these children - Anderson, Josue, Jonathan, Gissel, Dayana, Rosme, Ezequiel, and Lorena. I'm really enjoying all their different personalities and I will be telling you all more about them soon!

Dayana having snack with Matia. 

We are just a little unsure about singing here. 

Anderson - he never misses a beat!

In El Salvador

It's late and I'm pretty beat today, so this is going to be short. I'll write more later. I have been back and forth and everywhere since I got here to get things set up - furnishing the house, buying supplies, talking to children's families, finding employees. Matia has been wonderful and has gone with me everywhere and helped me do everything that needed to be done. We will start having children come on Monday. They are all very excited, parents included! I can't wait to get to know them and see how we can help them. I've added some pictures of some of them below. Pray that these children will know God's love and pray for wisdom for me and the staff. Good night for now!

Ezekiel. He's a little shy. 

Gerson (front) and Anderson (back). Anderson will be coming to the center and is very excited!

El Salvador Here I Come!

I am so excited to be headed to El Salvador very soon! I really miss my little children and my friends there. It feels like I am finally going home. I am even more excited to be able to see and participate in what God is doing in El Salvador!

Who wouldn't miss this? :)

It is exciting to step out in faith and see what God will do. He doesn't always make things happen like we expect Him to, but if we can let that go and just wait expectantly for what He will do, it is a neat experience. Oswald Chambers says,  "It is not service that matters, but intense spiritual reality, expecting Jesus Christ at every turn. This will give our life the attitude of child-wonder which He wants it to have." It is hard sometimes not to worry about what will happen, will we have enough funds, what will we do if we don't, how will all the numerous details come together, what are we forgetting, etc. Trust me, I've asked myself all these questions. Then someone reminds me that it is not my capability and strength that makes any of this happen. I am grateful for the people that remind me that the burden is not mine and help me rest on His strength. I often try to put my own limitations on Him, but that's silly. God is bigger than all the details.  "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21. There is no limit - I can't wait to see God's hand at work!

Keep us in your prayers and come and see and participate in what God is doing in El Salvador! We would love to have you!

Melvin

Melvin is going to be a star student some day! He has a shy, quiet personality, but was so much fun to work with and he loved learning! Melvin got along very well with the other children and hardly fought or disagreed with anyone. If we were running around, he would usually just watch us and laugh at us. He preferred not to run, but sometimes joined in in spite of himself. Melvin loved to do crafts! He was also very studious and always paid special attention to learning his Bible verses and English words and he enjoyed the Bible stories too.  It was fun to watch him quietly take everything in and then hear him talk about it later and see how much he was learning!

Melvin practicing greetings in English. Just look at his smile - he loved it!

Melvin enjoying his snack with Brayan.

Melvin became good friends with Brayan which was very funny because their personalities are so different. I always heard them making each other laugh about the smallest things - so much fun to see! Melvin loved everything he did with us and on our last day together, he asked when we would be able to have class again. I see him often when I go back to El Salvador for visits and that is always his first question to me!

Melvin lives with his parents, older sister, and younger brother. His sister would often come and play as we were finishing our activities for the day. His brother joined us for a few days too. I will write more about him later. My prayer for Melvin is that he will continue to enjoy learning and from a young age, use that eagerness to learn for God's glory. 

                      Melvin playing legos with Guillermo, Juan, and Fabian and practicing colors in English.