Tears sprang to my eyes as we left today. Add to that a sweet little girl seeing us off. The only one, she stood there, tears down her own eyes, until we could no longer see her. Oh, how I never expected it. Tug of war with my heart strings.
There for two days, our hearts bonded. Little ones hung on us for an hour or two at a time, danced with us, laughed with us and joked with us. “Are you coming back tomorrow?”, they’d ask. *sigh* No. But I’m coming back. And I’m going to learn Spanish, haha 🙂
More lessons, this time Sarah and Antonio teaching the bible. The kids loved it. Though, they didn’t respond well until they found out they would be rewarded for correct answers. As soon as they realized it, all of the kids’ hands were up. They were great and answering, eager to learn.
And more games, too. When Antonio isn’t busy taking care of the property here in La Carpio, he coordinates games and activities for the children to participate in. He is great at encouraging them, reminding them of their manners and more. The reward for great behavior for them is the ability to participate at the community center, going with the theme of “empowering and educating”.
Below are few photos from atop the community center. They give you a brief look into what the village is like here. Nathan took me around a few blocks to see the area. It was great to see many women taking charge. One woman was tearing up a fence to use the wood for something else. Another owned something that would be like our corner store while another sold pieces of clothing. My favorite was Marta, she owns a tortilla stand. They were delicious.
These two stole my heart. They were so well behaved, a bit shy, but both with a great personality. Their names are Jonathan and Anthony, they are brothers. They were glued to Gary’s sides almost the entire two days. I think they stole a pieces of Gary’s heart, too.
Nathan and Kaycee brought down a few of the kids from the kids’ home in Coronado to join the kids in La Carpio for the day. Tonight at dinner, Nathan mentioned that while we’re not only here to help give the kids a good home, the missionaries and home parents are also here to help them become leaders and spiritual leaders. It was great to see a few of them take charge and lead a few groups of younger children in games and activities.
Our time in la Carpio is done for now. But I know that most of the people on this July trip are going to be back. I asked Mauri if there was one thing that she wanted our COF family to know about the people here in la Carpio, it would be that they want to learn, they are eager to. They want to educate themselves and do things for themselves and when they do, they feel a great sense of pride.COF, your support helps our mission team empower these people so very much.
Beautiful!
Hey Christie, could you email me a pic of me and Noe? Thanks!