Portsmouth Christian - Guatemala Trip - Day 3

It is Tuesday morning, and the group is moving a little slower today because of the soreness in the muscles from a hard day at work and play yesterday.  They are excited and nervous about a new adventure at Amparo, so it is going to be a great day. 

We ate breakfast, followed by our devotional time in the book of Philippians.  We spent time in verses 3-11 of chapter 1, where Paul mentions his prayer for the Philippian believers.  We were challenged to pray as Paul did for the kids today as we served them.  I love to hear the kids talk about God’s word.

We headed off for Amparo and arrived there around 9:00.  We unloaded our suitcases full of school supplies, candy, balls, activity equipment, etc. and prepared for a day of excitement.  Amparo is a school with 228 students – half of which attend in the morning, and the other half in the afternoon.  The kids ranged in age from 4 – 17, with most of them being younger than 12.

The team broke into groups of 3 and spread out around the campus.  Andy worked with Phil and Pooch (a maintenance guy) working on making grates for the drainage system throughout the play area.  The rest of the group went into classrooms and did whatever they could to help teachers, help students, play with students, and whatever else was asked of them.

They were involved in sharing their testimonies, feeding the students, working on school work with the children.  They played soccer, hop scotch, jump rope, clapping games, duck-duck-goose, chase…  whatever they could to connect with the kids.  This group is doing a wonderful job of loving the kids well.

During lunch we encouraged each other, shared stories of events that had happened today, and shared ways to help each other interact with the students.  The kids had great ideas to engage the students during the classroom time without interfering with the teacher.  I was impressed with their ideas.

In the afternoon, many of the younger kids were taking naps, and it was wonderful watching our ladies put the kids to sleep as one after another fell asleep in the girls arms.  The kids are so cute – especially when they are sleeping!

As the day drew to a close, we said “Hasta Manana” to the kids and hugged and kissed them goodbye. 

We returned home and had about an hour and half before dinner.  During this time, kids showered and cleaned up, played some games, and just hung around – that is until Andrew jumped in the pool with Lauren.  (And I had nothing to do with it…)  I don’t know how, but Devon was prepared with the camera to catch the event. (okay, I had a little to do with it…)  Anyway, many of the kids jumped in the pool and they enjoyed splashing around in February – pretty unusual for a New Englander, huh??

Dinner included 10 guests – the Eisners, the Wilson’s, and Pete and Kim Lafakis (AMG workers).  We had a delicious dinner of meat and potatoes, and a cookie for dessert.

Dinner was followed with a recap of the day as the kids shared the lessons they learned today and how they were used by God.  This is by far my favorite time of the day.  To hear people talk passionately about serving God is what this ministry is all about, and it is my desire to see them take these patterns home with them and expand their ministry to the people they love at home.

After the recap, we had work to do.  The team surrounded 2 six foot tables and made a massive amount of wordless book bracelets.  They will be handing them out later this week.

Tomorrow is more of the same – Amparo all over again!  The kids are excited about doing it all over again.

Thought for the day:  This one comes courtesy of Andy Hallbach.  He shared an incident with Phil today when Phil was sawing one of the metal bars.  A young man was watching intently, so Phil allowed him to put his hand on the other side of the hack saw and together they moved the saw back and forth cutting the metal bar.  At one point, Phil removed his hand, and the boy tried to saw without him – but didn’t move the saw at all.

The thought…  God is much like Phil’s example.  God is doing the work, He is just kind enough to allow us to put our hands to the work to be part of what He is doing.  If He stops working, no work gets done.  It is He that is doing the work, and we are just “along for the ride”, but what a great ride it is.  We get the pleasure of being first hand witnesses to His greatness.  What an amazing place to be.  When we think we can do it without Him, He will often remove His hand from the work to show us that our efforts are futile without Him, and no work can ever be done without Him.

God, help us be reminded that the work that we do is done only because You are the strength behind the work.  Help us to lean on Your understanding that we might know how to move and what to do, but be ever conscious that it is only through You that anything is every accomplished.  Thank you for allowing us to be part of what You are doing.