We're back!
I know I didn't keep up posting very well towards the end of the week. The days were packed full, and the internet wasn't working well enough for me to post anything even if I did have time to write.
But I have time now, so I'm going to try and back track to let you all know how the last part of our week went with the girls. For the moment though, I'm exhausted from traveling. I'll put some stuff up occasionally throughout the week for those of you who are interested.
Our flights back went smoothly, and we all made it through security and customs without any issues despite being a very tedious process. Our first flight left Belize city at 1:30 Belize time, 3:30 local time. Our second flight from Miami was scheduled to leave at 8:15, and we all made it in plenty of time to re-check our bags and go through customs and security for re-entering the US, but the plane didn't actually take off until about 9:30. The captain said there was a broken taxi light that needed fixing, and then we had to wait in line for the runway to take off. So after sitting on the plane for an extra hour, we finally made it back to Reagan National by 11:30. By the time we finally got all of our checked bags (which all came through just fine) and left the airport, it was past midnight. With the two-hour drive to the church to unpack and re-shuffle bags, we didn't made it back to our homes until about 3 o'clock. Even then, most of us made it to church the next morning.
Consequently, I'm nearly falling asleep even as I write this. You'll hear from me again soon, though.
Sunday, July 6, 2014
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Day Five: VBS day two, and Team Outings
Our second day of VBS went smoothly. We had about a hundred kids come, which ended up being about 25 more than the first day, but not nearly as many as we were initially expecting from the numbers Paul gave us. The theme verse was Romans 8:38 -- "And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love."
When we got back we were all hot, tired, and ready for lunch. After the meal we had our team meeting about some issues we've been having through the week and what we were planning to do for the afternoon. A group of us wanted to go to Dangriga to watch the World Cup match between the USA and Belgium, and some of us wanted to go swimming out in Blue Hole.
I went with the group to Dangriga.
To be fair though, we weren't just going to watch the game. We were also picking some items up that the team needed from the grocery store next door. But Tim Howard is the best goalie ever.
The Blue Hole group enjoyed doing a bit of caving and wading in the watering hole. They took lots of pictures for the six of us who didn't go so we could enjoy the experience vicariously.
No matter what group we were in, we all had to be back to the house in time to prepare the spaghetti dinner we were going to eat with the girls. We prepared all the food down in our kitchen and then brought it up to Hosanna House. Everyone enjoyed the food and fellowship!
Because the afternoon had been so crazy full, we didn't have time for team devos after lunch, so we came down early from activities with the girls so we could have our own devotions. We talked about the story of Esther; what her calling was, and what her obstacles were. Instead of splitting up into smaller groups though, we stuck together as a team to discuss the story due to time constraints.
When we got back we were all hot, tired, and ready for lunch. After the meal we had our team meeting about some issues we've been having through the week and what we were planning to do for the afternoon. A group of us wanted to go to Dangriga to watch the World Cup match between the USA and Belgium, and some of us wanted to go swimming out in Blue Hole.
I went with the group to Dangriga.
To be fair though, we weren't just going to watch the game. We were also picking some items up that the team needed from the grocery store next door. But Tim Howard is the best goalie ever.
The Blue Hole group enjoyed doing a bit of caving and wading in the watering hole. They took lots of pictures for the six of us who didn't go so we could enjoy the experience vicariously.
No matter what group we were in, we all had to be back to the house in time to prepare the spaghetti dinner we were going to eat with the girls. We prepared all the food down in our kitchen and then brought it up to Hosanna House. Everyone enjoyed the food and fellowship!
Because the afternoon had been so crazy full, we didn't have time for team devos after lunch, so we came down early from activities with the girls so we could have our own devotions. We talked about the story of Esther; what her calling was, and what her obstacles were. Instead of splitting up into smaller groups though, we stuck together as a team to discuss the story due to time constraints.
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Day Four: VBS and Painting Projects
I woke up this morning to torrential, tropical down pours. I say it in the plural sense, because they never last very long. It's like someone is dumping the ocean onto us through a sieve, in thirty-second intervals. It never drizzles. There were at least four of these over the course of last night.
When I finally got out of bed, most everyone else was already up and getting ready for VBS. Mornings are usually pretty relaxed, with everyone getting breakfast whenever they want. But since today was the start of our VBS program, we all had to be ready to load up in the vans by 8:45.
By the time we reached the church, there were already some kids there waiting for us to start, and it was only 9 o'clock. We set up some songs and tried to get them organized into groups as the rest of the kids trickled in. Eventually, we had it set up so that there were four groups: The Eagles, the Flying Squirrels, the Bats, and the Hummingbirds. The groups weren't very even, though.
During the course of the day, the groups rotated from station to station. The report I heard from the group leaders sounded like we had the usual crew of kids who were really enthusiastic about learning, and the typical group of trouble makers. Kids will be kids, but hopefully we can maintain a little more control tomorrow.
Since working with little kids is so exhausting, we all came back and crashed after lunch. Wendy said she felt like a migraine was coming on, so she took some medicine and laid down during team devos.
For our devotions we read Isaiah 6:1-13, about how Isaiah was called to an unknown task, and yet still volunteered. The task ended up being an impossible one: calling the unwilling Israelites back to the Lord. We talked about how Isaiah's situation contrasted with Moses' that we read the day before; how while Moses made excuses about not doing his job, Isaiah felt unworthy to do his job. They're very interesting stories, I suggest you take the time to look over them and come to your own conclusions.
After team devotions, I took some down time to work on the blog while the rest of the team went up to the house to hang out with the girls and work on painting projects. We painted two of their rooms: one of the girls' rooms, and one of the boys'. We were able to paint two coats in the girls' room, but we weren't quite finished with the boys' room by the time supper was being served. While we were painting their room, Isaiah and Mikie came to visit with us and keep us entertained with their antics. I got Isaiah to sing the Belizean National Anthem for me, but he told me he would only do it if I sang my national anthem, and I had to go first. I got through about two lines before he stopped me and told me it was his turn--that boy has quite the personality. You can't help but love him, though.
Devotions with the girls after dinner were a little more chaotic than usual. I left early, needing some down time to write up the day's activities and generally just needing some space, but I was told later that they were having some issues with authority figures and deciding what game was going to be played. Please pray that we will all learn to work well together and put our differences of opinion aside.
Glitches and issues aside, we had a good day. :)
When I finally got out of bed, most everyone else was already up and getting ready for VBS. Mornings are usually pretty relaxed, with everyone getting breakfast whenever they want. But since today was the start of our VBS program, we all had to be ready to load up in the vans by 8:45.
By the time we reached the church, there were already some kids there waiting for us to start, and it was only 9 o'clock. We set up some songs and tried to get them organized into groups as the rest of the kids trickled in. Eventually, we had it set up so that there were four groups: The Eagles, the Flying Squirrels, the Bats, and the Hummingbirds. The groups weren't very even, though.
During the course of the day, the groups rotated from station to station. The report I heard from the group leaders sounded like we had the usual crew of kids who were really enthusiastic about learning, and the typical group of trouble makers. Kids will be kids, but hopefully we can maintain a little more control tomorrow.
Since working with little kids is so exhausting, we all came back and crashed after lunch. Wendy said she felt like a migraine was coming on, so she took some medicine and laid down during team devos.
For our devotions we read Isaiah 6:1-13, about how Isaiah was called to an unknown task, and yet still volunteered. The task ended up being an impossible one: calling the unwilling Israelites back to the Lord. We talked about how Isaiah's situation contrasted with Moses' that we read the day before; how while Moses made excuses about not doing his job, Isaiah felt unworthy to do his job. They're very interesting stories, I suggest you take the time to look over them and come to your own conclusions.
After team devotions, I took some down time to work on the blog while the rest of the team went up to the house to hang out with the girls and work on painting projects. We painted two of their rooms: one of the girls' rooms, and one of the boys'. We were able to paint two coats in the girls' room, but we weren't quite finished with the boys' room by the time supper was being served. While we were painting their room, Isaiah and Mikie came to visit with us and keep us entertained with their antics. I got Isaiah to sing the Belizean National Anthem for me, but he told me he would only do it if I sang my national anthem, and I had to go first. I got through about two lines before he stopped me and told me it was his turn--that boy has quite the personality. You can't help but love him, though.
Devotions with the girls after dinner were a little more chaotic than usual. I left early, needing some down time to write up the day's activities and generally just needing some space, but I was told later that they were having some issues with authority figures and deciding what game was going to be played. Please pray that we will all learn to work well together and put our differences of opinion aside.
Glitches and issues aside, we had a good day. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)