Sunday First Full Day

For a day that was not especially full we found ourselves rather busy. Everyone mentioned that despite the bar music and heat, that sleeping was rather comfortable, especially after the electricity came on and brought with it the fans.  The morning was planned for organizing and after that we just hung out with some of the young people and played games with kids.  The games with the kids ended up with an impromptu VBS, Alex and Greg led some songs and then Jeff shared a brief lesson about creation.  In the afternoon we spent more time enjoying kids and seeing old friends.  Then the welcome ceremony where the leaders of the community groups each said a special word of welcome and thanks to our group.  The meeting was led by Rochel, a young lady who is teaching in the Amo Program (a kids Bible class) and is studying to be a teacher.  We were greeted by the presidents of the Community Association, the Mother’s Group, the Youth Group, and the Agriculture Association. The warm greeting we received from the community was echoed by the FH Staff led by Kelvin, Cesar and Carlos.

At the welcome each of us was able to share our gratitude to the community.  Holden did an especially good job of speaking to the whole group at the welcome.  He really put himself out to the kids his age and younger.  He and Corianne spent the day with 1 to 4 kids on their hands.  They are highly popular with all the kids.

During the morning we were able to learn how to play Dominican dominoes.  It’s a very common for everyone to play here.  It’s a 2 on 2 game with only 7 dominoes each.  Maybe we can continue to play this with the young people here and continue to build relationships with them.

This evening we had a church service, opened in music by the church and then some songs led by our interpreters Alex and Nathan.  We were invited to sing a few worship songs in English.  Then Jeff preached.  His message spoke of God’s intentionality in creating us.  We were created on purpose and for a purpose.  That is to love, treasure and enjoy God. The group was not as large as we would hope but we praise God that his word was heard clearly.

Tomorrow brings us to the beginning of our work project.  We will be building a house from the ground up starting with digging the foundation then cement and a few courses of blocks.  We expect a number of community members to be working with us all week.  Hopefully we will build some excellent relationships with the other workers and the family who we are building it for.  Pray for this project and this family.  There had been talk of us building the foundation for the building that will house the new water filtration system, but the family we are building a home for is in extreme need.