I hope everyone recognizes the SNL reference...
Anyways, this weekend has been great! On Friday, Anna and I were able to wake up late and spent a while sorting clothes that we brought to the homeless ministry that night. Since our schedule and all of our ministries are weekly, I have been able to see all of our ministries since arriving. Experiencing each ministry has given me so much more confidence while serving. I know where to go, how to help, and how to approach people.
Saturday is our children's ministry in Los Galpones. Like the homeless ministry, this time around was even better for me than my first visit. I still see the same yearning for love. Two boys particularly stuck out to me. One young boy kept kicking the soccer ball as hard as he could, sometimes into others' backyards, sometimes into others' faces. Later, however, he asked me to play soccer, and when I said I had to help somewhere else, he insisted that I played (so I eventually did). The other boy was a teenager who tried to be rude while we were playing soccer, but by the end when we were cleaning up, he put the last chair up on the table for me. You see, they try to push our love away, but we remain persistent. Sooner or later, they realize we offer genuine love, and they want it!
At night, we went to a new youth group meeting where we will be going for the rest of our time here. Because I have been here for over a week, I thought I had experienced everything in our weekly schedule, but this meeting was a wonderful first-time experience! The worship was so great. They were all songs I had never heard before (there are a lot of songs here that I know in English but have been translated). The people are so kind. Instead of just saying hi, they stayed and got to know us. Because our usual interpreters were not with us, I got to practice my Spanish a lot! That resulted in a few extremely embarrassing moments, but they are memories that Anna and I will not forget! Let's just say I mixed up "de nada" which means "you're welcome" with "de nata" which means "cream."
The main worship leader was particularly welcoming. He knew a lot of worship songs in English, so we all went on stage to the piano after the meeting and sang with him! It was sooo much fun. We were all singing and harmonizing, and I even got the chance to play my harmonica finally! Later, he asked us about our churches back home and how we realized our callings to come here. We were one of the last ones to leave, but our time still felt cut short! We cannot wait to return next week :)
Praise God, my understanding of the Spanish here has been improving significantly. Prayers for time efficiency would be greatly appreciated so that I can be in the Word daily and continue updating this blog while maintaining a healthy sleep schedule. Thanks again for everyone's support!! Please send me any prayer requests if you have any!!
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