Tomorrow We Start Again

It's funny how there's so much to do even when I'm not with the children. Sandra and I went to the market yesterday to buy food for the week. The market is never a quick in and out experience, but we did have a good time. Trini was supposed to go across the country to Sonsonate yesterday, so I asked Sandra's brother to drive us and we took their father with us. His 90th birthday is tomorrow. :) After the market we went to church. In El Salvador it is customary to have church services all throughout the week - the only day they don't have a service is Monday.

Today we made pupusas. Pupusas are a treat in this part of the country because they don't always have the money to buy the food to make pupusas with. I am finding out that most of the women in this area don't know how to make pupusas well. Beans and tortillas are the staple here. I enjoy them especially with cream!

Here the church services are very different and different people are assigned a different piece of each service. They usually have a time for anyone to read a verse, sing, or say something they are thankful for. Today they wanted me to sing. Nilson plays the guitar and he absolutely loves music, so he came over this morning and practiced with me and we sang "Open the Eyes of my Heart" in Spanish. Nilson's already got a list of songs that he wants to sing with me. :) Unfortunatly, they have trouble getting good quality strings for their guitars, so they can't always have the guitars in higher tones because it makes the strings break. I am certainly an alto, but we did have to make some adjustments becuase it is just not normal for me to sing that low!

Some of the girls that come to the VBS during the week were in church and they came and sat with me and told everyone that I was their "profe" (short for teacher). A lot of the children wanted to come to "class" on Saturday and didn't understand why they had to wait for Monday. :) Hopefully they will be excited tomorrow. Kember was in church today. I think his family comes every so often. He is still very shy around me and about coming every day, but he does seem to enjoy himself in the end. Please pray that he will adjust and understand that we love him.

Tomorrow I will have a quick meeting with my helpers just to see how they are doing and to make sure that we are focusing on reflecting Christ's love to these children. Please pray that we will be able to do this successfully. I am really going to be sad to leave this cihldren behind when I head back the US.

I am really enjoying El Salvador as usual. It is very different than the US and very poor, but very beautiful in so many ways and I love these people. Please continue to pray for this country.