The last 2 days have been full of happiness and sorrow. The joys of completing the task that we had set out to do was muddled with the sadness of having to say goodbye to the new friends and “family” we had developed. (I felt this more in conjunction with the team than the people of Guatemala, since I will be back in Las Vistas in just a few weeks).
Friday we started as we always did and had a wonderful discussion in Romans 3. Paul uses legal arguments in Romans, and this text was a classic. We enjoyed looking at the fact that we are all guilty before God only because we know the rest of the story. I tried to encourage them to read our text for the day as if that were the end of the story. What a sadness we would have if we realized that we are guilty and have no defense for a Holy God. Praise be to God for Jesus who took our guilt and sin on the cross and freely gave us His righteousness.
After devotions, we headed off to Las Vistas for one last time. We had practiced music for the morning presentation las night, but again we practiced in the car. When we arrived at the child care center, we began setting up for the “show”. We put up the projector, connected the amplifier, and got ready for kids to come.
Every child that came in that morning received multiple hugs and kisses from the team. I met them all at the top of the stairs before entering the church. It is so cool hugging these kids and loving on them. They long for it. They LOVE it.
When they were finally seated, we began the powerpoint. Their pictures, yes, themselves, their friends, their teachers, all on the big screen. They laughed a lot – it was a joy to watch. Then we began singing with them – a song the team taught them, and they all sang loudly. I was moved. Then we had a couple of new songs for them (I put the words on the screen), but they knew the songs, so they just sang along. It was so cool. The team loved it. The last song we sang was in English, so they read along and tried to sing with us – it was amazing to see them glorifying God in their language and in ours.
We then presented shirts and gifts to the teachers and the staff. They really enjoyed the gifts, and the kids clapped for the teachers. I don’t think these teachers get that kind of praise often – it was good for them. Finally Angelo got up and shared the gospel with the children (in Spanish). He did a great job, and the kids listened attentively.
Eventually we had to get back to work finishing the wall, cleaning up the complex, giving the children “dulces” (candy) and saying goodbye to everyone. Again, it was fun, but it was hard for many to say goodbye. Most of the team members (if not all) have chosen to sponsor a child from Las Vistas. It is thrilling to see them realizing that they can have an impact on the life of one child.
We headed back to Thelmas to pack and get ready for the evening time together. This is by far my favorite time of the week – the time when the team blesses each other by telling them how they have seen God work in the others the past week. This team was no different, and the words of encouragement just flowed from member to member. For almost 3 hours (although we were interrupted by the Wilson family for a while) we talked, shared, cried, laughed and encouraged one another.
Saturday we leave for home very early in the morning, so we were hoping to get to bed before 11. Didn’t happen – I was up until 1:00 moving the pictures on flash drives for the team. They had just under 8 gig of pictures and video. I hope they enjoy them for years to come.
Flights went well on Saturday for me, however the team was stuck in Dallas for about 3 more hours than they were supposed to be – don’t know why God allowed it, but maybe someday we will. As we parted ways in Dallas, we had a time of prayer and last minute words of encouragement. This is not the last time I will see this team – they are a great group of brothers and sisters in Christ.
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