A-chu-chu-wa

That's about all that is left in my head right now. A-chu-chu-wa means about as much in Spanish as it does in English. Absolutely nothing. But it's a great song to sing with kids before VBS to get them laughing and involved. It had me out of breath by the time I was done leading it. I learned this fun song in Costa Rica when we were doing VBS in the different schools. Jennifer, the preacher's daughter, led all the songs and the kids, as well as the gringos, loved this one! It's virtually impossible to explain it without showing you, but trust me it's great. You could compare it to Father Abraham, except it doesn't have any Biblical meaning to it.

This morning we had ham and cheese omelets for breakfast which were delicious! Also, some potato wedges and toast to go with it. It was the kind of morning where you wake up and know you need coffee with a lot of sugar. So you go and put your sugar in a cup and start filling it up with coffee. But you discover there's hardly any left and you see a dispenser beside it that you assume is more coffee. So you go to fill your mug and find out it's actually hot water. That's when you know it's going to be one of those days...Let's just say I dumped out my cup and decided it wasn't the kind of morning I needed to drink coffee. Thanks to Brett Mitchell I drank SPARK instead. Tyler Gist led our devo this morning and spoke about how we can either make a difference or not. It's our choice.

We all spent the entire day at Didasko, an orphanage about an hour away from the mission house. It was a great day spent with the kids and a lot of work was done, too. A small group left early this morning so that they could get a head start on the construction part of the day. The first bus to arrive at Didasko carried the VBS team. We unloaded our supplies off the bus and began setting up in the classroom they had prepared for us. When we arrived, we were given word that many of the children did not come to school today because their teachers were gone to a conference or something. So I was a little disappointed we weren't going to have as many kids, but it was nice to know things were less stressful because we had a small group. We ended up having 40 kids instead of 80 and they were a great group. We started out by singing some songs with them, in Spanish, and then moved on to our skit. The skit we performed covered the conversion of Saul on the road to Damascus. Our actors did a great job and a big thanks to our last minute narrator Jenna Hostetler since Michelle didn't make it in time to translate for me. After our skit, we split the kids into 3 groups had them transition between 3 stations: games, cards, and crafts. I'm not really sure what games they played but I know the kids loved them. The cards they made were for children in the hospital if we make it back there before the end of the trip. I thought this was a great idea (thanks to Brianna Steffy for it!) so that the children can encourage someone else and give back. The craft we had for them was a foam boat and it went with our second skit we planned on doing to wrap up VBS, but lunch got in the way and painting after that. All in all, I think everything went well and everyone said we did a great job. 
Those who were not involved in VBS spent their day painting, painting, and some more painting. Even though I did VBS for almost 2 hours, it felt like I painted the entire day. Okay not everything we did was painting, but there sure was a lot of it. Our goal was to repaint the entire playground and the new tower we built for the new slide we added today. They also worked on replacing the roof on one of the platforms of the playground. Unfortunately, the rain hindered us from finishing everything, but we came really close!! I think a small group will be returning tomorrow to do the final touches on everything. 

Tonight, Jeremy Myers spoke to us about how there is one baptism. And he was definintely right when he said that it was the most important lesson on "one" we would hear on this trip. It is through that one baptism that we have one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, and one God and Father of all. It takes baptism for us to receive these "ones" and be a part of them. 

I can't believe how fast this trip is going! It seems like just yesterday this group was coming in at the airport and we're already thinking about our last few days of work. Tomorrow is split between 3 teams. The first is a final construction team who will be building in a location near one of the proclaimed "death" houses. We're hoping for the best but expecting the worst. Then another team will be heading back to Mololoa to help in the feeding center and digging out the daycare. The last team will be going to visit the special needs orphanage in the morning and breaking down food in the afternoon. There are lots of opportunites to serve in many different ways tomorrow. This trip truly provides a variety of ways to get people out of their comfort zones and shows them how to reach out to those in need. I would add some pictures for you guys, but after seeing Josh's photography mine will look like I took pictures of the inside of my lens cap compared to his works of art.

As the trip is winding down, I know we are all starting to become weary souls. Exhaustion is setting in and our comfortable beds at home are sounding better and better. But this verse is a reminder that God can work through us even when we are weak.

"And He has said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.' Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong."
2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Our work here may be making us physically and mentally weak, but God has the power to make us strong so that He can use us for Christ's sake. It is great having that reassurance to get us through each and every day left on this trip

In Him,

Leah