two houses down

Today was such a full day! We are tired, but so grateful for the many blessings through each moment today. We had an early start to the day. Otto picked us up at 7:30 this morning and we headed out to the AOJ (Arms of Jesus) mission school. As our team entered the walls of the school, the kids erupted with applause. They were so excited to see us. Our team had the privilege of sharing with the kids about Jesus! God had laid it on our hearts to teach the kids and remind them of His love for them. They are so incredibly special to Him! We shared a play, focusing on Jesus as our good shepherd. There were four sheep, two wolves, a shepherd and a story teller. Everyone did a great job! We got to share that truth in three more places today as well! The most rewarding part of this time was to hear the giggles from the little ones as we told our story. The moment we were done, we all got mauled by about thirty little ones, all wanting to hug us, kiss us and just be near us. When Jesus talks about letting the little children come to him, I totally understand what He means. Those kids have so much love and such incredible hearts. During our short worship time with the kids we were able to see a small glimpse of their love for Jesus as they sang, in Spanish, the hymn "I exalt thee." I was brought to tears watching them worship the Father! This organization is doing an outstanding job teaching these kids about life, about God and discipling them.

On our trip down we each had packed two, full suitcases filled with toys, school supplies, clothes, wool, typical hygiene supplies, slippers, blankets, etc. That is eighteen bags filled with goodies and things the kids will need. Today was the day we got to sort through all of that! Putting it all into bins really gave perspective to how many needs will be filled through these items. We are so grateful to those people who donated all of those things!

To end off our day we headed into the little village called Chimaltenango. We split off into two teams, each team heading to a house to build a new one. This is the village we will be building in for the rest of the week! The previous houses were merely cardboard and sheet metal, so these families were incredibly excited to have real walls and a roof! As we were hard at work, the neighbourhood kids would gather and start playing games or looking curiously at us. We brought along candy and toys to hand out to them! After we finished putting everything together with the houses and painting, we had the opportunity to pray over and bless the families before giving them the key to their building. I can't believe we get another 10 opportunities to do this this week! We are so thankful that God has given us the chance to be here and meet these people.

One day of work down, four to go!


- Justine