I can´t believe today was our last day. On one hand it came so fast, on the other, my life back in the US is a vague memory. (I do remember I have two sons and a cat at least...) Part of the team went to Flor again. Leamarie spent the day working with the teachers there. (I haven´t seen her yet to tell her this but one of the boys spoke during the program the children put on for us at SBV and thanked her for teaching them math!) Margot, Jan K, Dorita and Julio spent the day with the La Cantera ladies. They had a wonderful day at a park up in the mountains. The ladies played and laughed which was a real treat for them
The rest of us went to SBV to finish painting Cottage 3. Remember yesterday when a little girl stepped in Minta´s yellow paint? Well, I poured yellow paint all over my right foot while trying to fill my paint pan. I am no longer allowed to do that. We got almost all of the cottage painted. There is just a little left for the next team to do. There is an outhouse triplex and the one on the far right is reserved for the teams. The children use the other two. Nuff said. So the other day the children were lined up to walk to the local store, called a pulperia. It sounds like pu-per-ia. Keith and I were standing there when the teacher asked me if we wanted to go. I turned to Keith and asked if he wanted to go to the pulperia with the kids. He looked at me in horror, NO! It turns out he thought pulperia meant bathroom! So, from that point on, our private bano was called the ¨Pooperia¨ Minta painted the name on the door today.
While we were painting, I happened upon a truly adorable sight. It was bath day for the little bitty girls. Their caretaker puts them in what we use as a storage bin filled with cold water. In they go to be rubbed and scrubbed. I walked in their room and there were 8 naked tiny girls playing until they were dressed by their caretaker. They could not have been cuter. The tiny boys were sound asleep in their cribs. As the mother of boys, it filled my heart to see these precious lambs sound asleep.
Great news for the St. Aidan´s folks! The windows for Cottage 3 arrived and are being installed! Thanks so much to the St. Aidan´s parish family for this wonderful gift.
The children put on a program for us. They sang some songs with great gusto. The teenagers put on two dramas. They were amazing. In the first one, Reina and Xiomara acted out the abuse so many of the children suffered before coming to SBV. The emotion on their faces revealed they were reenacting their own experiences. Then Paty, dressed as Jesus, came in and rescued Xiomara, the abused child in the story. Reina then explained the drama to us saying that they had all left their horrible pasts behind them and now look forward to a bright future because of the power of God´s love. Needless to say, there wasn´t a dry American eye in the house. Suyapa, a 9 year old girl, tearfully gave us her testimony. She described her life before coming to LAMB. She had no food, had to beg to get anything to eat, and had no place to sleep. Now she has all these things and so much more. She is Anne´s sponsored child. Anne was a puddle. These children are so eloquent in expressing how a life can be changed through the love of God and the people who serve Him. I feel so humbled by them all. Their strength and resiliency despite all they have suffered is truly an inspiration.
Tonight, our last night as a team, we had dinner and then celebrated Eucharist with Keith and Julio as celebrants. Our wine was sparkling grape juice! (Christians do not drink alcohol because alcoholism is a problem here. This was the wine Erika bought us to use!) Suzy and the head of the LAMB guest house joined us. It was very moving to share this with everyone. This is a very special place filled with unbelievable people. I feel so blessed that I am returning in April. My hope for all readers of this blog is that someday you have an experience as wonderful and miraculous as this.
Thank you for supporting us, praying for us, and following our antics this week.
Demos gracias a Dios! Thanks be to God!
Little Tatiana and Jocelyn
The children singing to us
Anne Suyapa and her brother Carlos
Our Pooperia!
Jocelyn and me - she is so precious. Always has a huge smile on her face.
Bill painting - no spot too obscure to paint for him!
Windows in Cottage 3!
Marie and Karen painting the green room.
Suyapa giving her testimony with Suzy translating
Roofing the school. The worker is standing on the beam with no scaffolding or any other safety net. Where is OSHA when you need them?
Precious lamb
