Two VBS weeks

These past few weeks have been very busy. Abraham and I moved from the house we were living in while the owners were in the States to the apartments at Puebla Christian School for a brief stay. Lord willing, we'll be moving into the seminary apartment this coming Saturday. It will be my fifth place of residence this summer, but as far as we know, we'll be staying there until Abraham graduates from seminary in a couple years, so that is a blessing!

Four afternoons a week, for two hours each time, I have been teaching English to a varying group of children. Two of the boys will be in my fifth/sixth grade class this year. They are going to have to work very hard, as their level of English is quite low. Besides those two boys, the current class list has nine other students.

On Monday of last week, the vacation Bible school at Dios es Amor began. More than two hundred kids attended, and the church campus swarmed with young, energetic youth and the church volunteers who lead games, sang songs, held crying babies, cooked, cleaned, taught lessons, lead groups, and organized data. My role was washing dishes all morning Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and helping my husband Abraham with games on Tuesday and Thursday. Sunday the church held the finale for the VBS, inviting parents and family members to attend while each age group of the children presented their "participación" and then received their diploma.

This past Monday the VBS at Huejotzingo began. It's a smaller group of kids and therefore we have only two age groups. With only two age groups, the time is also shorter, so in a way, it's an easier week than the past week at Dios es Amor. In another way, it's every bit as hard. The Huejotzingo kids are not used to attending school regularly, so they are also unaccustomed to following a set schedule or listening to directions. Many of them don't read very well or don't read at all. All the volunteers working this week have to be willing to help in all areas and also have to know how to interact with children who have a different culture from the Dios es Amor kids.

Please pray for us as we continue this week. The children and their families mostly don't have a church of any kind. As a culture, they are mostly Catholic, but that is more by tradition than by conviction. Please pray for our health and energy. Everyone who is working in Huejotzingo this week also worked at Dios es Amor, so we are running tired. Thank you for your support!