We´re Back

Hola! This is Allen again, Monday afternoon. Things have been hectic here. Good, but hectic. We have lots of photos to be resized for transfer through the dial-up connection, so it will take a little time. But they will come.

Yesterday and today we were all busy at Vacation Bible School at four different schools in the area. We had rain all night Saturday, and periodically Sunday, so getting to the schools on the wet clay roads offered some excitement. But everybody survived and we had a great time with the kids.

Most of us were able to get to Los Hornos school for their celebration of completing the bathroom project. The school now has six new toilets and two showers for the students. The head of the school and one of the teachers had lunch for us, and as the different pickups drove up to the school with mission team members in the back, a three-man marimba band began their music. We had a ribbon-cutting ceremony by Pastor Rene Jerezano and Michael Norton, with lots of good words all around.

Vacation Bible School experiences have been terrific. The school I went to yesterday (Jicaro) had about 35 students in the one-room cinder block school, with about half that many parents hanging onto the window sills and smiling. The 16-year old teacher (Vilma Maria, a church member) was a bundle of energy who captivated the children with her enthusiastic teaching. The kids memorized several Bible verses emphasizing how "Jesus is the friend of all the children." Sounds sort of like "Jesus loves the little children--all the little children of the world" doesn´t it? And they got the message. I spent a lot of my time taking photographs of the kids. Each time I photographed one, I showed them how they looked in the digital camera. Their fascination confirmed that kids are kids all over the world. I told the teacher I will send back some of the photographs so she can post them on the walls of the school room.

Eye testing and eyeglass fitting continues today after a break on Sunday. Word is getting around the neighborhood, and the clinic is overflowing with people of all ages coming for that, as well as for an opportunity to talk with the nurse or the doctor.

Tomorrow we will have lunch with all the Agape Promises students, giving the sponsors a chance to meet their students. I believe we will also send a few team members back to the Jicaro school to continue construction on a bathroom/shower building there.

The weather has been good except for the rain. Fortunately, the rain brought some cooler weather, making things more pleasant.

Michael and Jerry left this morning. Unfortunately, Charles also left with them, needing to return home to take care of medical emergencies in his family. So we are left with thirteen team members for now.

Now I need to spend some time working up some of the pictures. I´ll be back later.

Allen