There was a big rain storm last night. I woke up like 1000 times. But it was fine. Its funny how every night I have a ritual of spraying my whole body, even my face, with bug spray. Then I lay on top of the mattress on the floor and hope I don’t sweat or get but.
…..
It is humbling to sit at the table with the Chicos Bible study this morning. I wish I knew what they were saying overall. I wish I knew of the depth of their love for Christ. These are being read:
Psalm 121, Proverbs 19:8, Isaiah 45:12, Romans 12:9, Jeremiah 33:2, Philippians 2
I am learning to listen. It seems like they are spitting scripture out to one another. I can’t tell if their study and conversations are similar to what we do or not. It is good to sit among them and listen. I think they are comfortable with me being there (probably because they know I don’t fully understand). I have done this a few times and really enjoy it.
…..
I have learned a few more phrases that I use often:
“Choca la cinco” (give me five) and
“Que quieres?” (what do you want?) this one is more like a joke….
…..
Today has been so hard, however, it is filled with joyous moments, nonetheless. The kids are so rough. They come from horrifying situations. Its hard to recall the day because so much has happened and the meals have been at weird times. The Chicos did their drama and it was very sweet. Agustina narrated. You can tell they improved their drama the way we did. Very cool. While the kids had snack, I found myself with the guitar, and before I knew it, Andres was teaching me a Spanish worship song. It was so great to learn and play together. We sang many times. Hannah helped translate the words. I love the lyrics. Here they are:
“La Unica Razon” (The Only Reason)… also known as “Eres Todopoderoso” (You are all powerful, I think…)
La unico razon de mi adoracion,
Eres tu mi Jesus.
El unico motivo para vivir,
Eres tu mi Senor.
…
La unica verdad esta en Ti,
Eres mi Luz y mi Salvacion.
Mi unico Amor eres tu Senor y,
Por siempre te alabare.
…
Eres Todo Poderoso,
Eres Grande y Majestuoso.
Eres Fuerte, Invencible,
Y no hay nadie como tu.
*****
The Only Reason (In English)
The only reason for my adoration,
Is you my Jesus.
The only motive to live,
Is you my Father.
…
The only truth is found in You,
You are my Light and my Salvation.
My only love is You Father and,
Forever I will worship You.
…
You are all-powerful,
Big and Majestic.
You are Strong, Invincible,
And there is none like You.
What an awesome song! It was a great blessing to learn this song. (You can see it on my facebook somewhere. I recorded it when I got home so Andres could see it. Its not very good, but oh well…)
…..
After that, I joined everyone else in the gym for some dancing to songs like “ymca”. It was very fun. Neal and I danced in the middle and us guys did this fun gorilla dance. I had no idea, but just picked it up. Hilarious. I got my iPhone out and played a few songs. Jeff finally arrived at the time the dance was happening. We had some great chats.
So Jeff and Laura and I had a pretty good debrief. He seems to understand what is going on. We are glad he is here. He has had a long journey visiting the other commission camping trips before us. After we talked, the day really MELTED DOWN.
Boys were running off constantly, especially during the treasure hunt. The Chicos would keep trying to help and go get them, but it wasn’t working. So we split the kids and cabins into 2 groups; one in the gym and one out on the field. I had a boy at the door to the gym (which is this huge metal thing just waiting to cut somebody) who would NOT stop kicking it and banging it. I literally felt like I was in Jurassic Park. We finally were able to talk with Bessy and the pastora explaining that this had to be fixed. We finally arrived at 5 o’clock snack (I don’t know how). Bessy gathered all of her staff and mine stayed in the dining hall with the crazy kids. My poor staff had NO idea what to do at this point. I told them to just hang tight…
I didn’t know how to get into the huddle because they started to pray so I just put my hands on 2 of their shoulders and jouned. When they finished, they just sort of let me in. We stood in a circle and talked, well, I listened. They talked about what the heck was going on. They arrived at teh fact that we needed to do teh camper agreement again. I thought this was a great idea. They also said that they were thankful for my staff. I told them that I was proud of them they best I could and asked them to not be afraid to ask us for help.
I then jumped into the dining hallto tell my confused staff that we were meeting outside asap. It was so funny because they had NO idea what to do. I told them to just hop outside and teh Chicos would handle it. It was a crazy moment, but looking back, its really funny. So we met and I explained to them the situation. I told tehm I was proud of them and the tears came. I was tired and emotional, and just overwhelmed with how awesome these people I get to work with ARE! “Stay in the game” “I’m here for you” where things we said to each other. It was a good time for us.
And the day has turned around. It has been pretty good since all of the madness. I ended up having a great conversation with Agustina and Neal about her everyday life at home. I have felt picked up. Man, we were close to a total meltdown earlier. I am so proud of my staff and the Chicos. They wanted to change the schedule for the day so that the children were ready to worship to keep it sacred, instead of just throwing them into it. So we pushed worship time back. I loved it, being led by the Spirit. Now they are singing and doing worship now. We will see how the kids behave tonight. It’s about 8:30.
I just watched Tito (Bessy’s fiance) pick up one of the troubled kids up from underneath the table. Man, his heart is HUGE! They are singing “cantare de tu amor por siempre” (I could sing of your love forever!)
