We're here at the children's home - it's good to be home - it's even better to not have to go to school tomorrow. It has been so encouraging to be here and feel like we really gained quite a bit in the past 4 weeks of school.
Friday evening we were watching a movie with the kids and experienced another tremor - Elias, on of the kids laughed that we reacted to the less that 10 second small shake.
Church was good today - people ALWAYS respond to altar calls for prayer and salvation. After church while talking to Wendy she said that in the 3 years they have been taking the kids to that specific church there has yet to be a Sunday without a salvation.
During the sermon the pastor asked those who had relatives in the states to raise their hands. Atleast 50% of them raised their hands out of a congregation of a couple thousand. It is kind of wierd that many times we seem to recieve some type of anti-American sentiment and then other times we recieve the opposite. In other words, many people down here worship the idea of the US and having a life there but at same time "no" for some people. Yes lots of people here want to go to the states legally and more often than not illegally. We hear different sides of the story down here at times too. Yes there are the people that get to the US and make money and send it home to help their families and there are those that die in route and those that never return to their families and wives but leave their old responsibilities here for new jobs and new wives in the north. That may be one of the reasons that where our childrens home is that 80% of mothers there are single. I guess that we are just still geting used to how hard life is for a lot of these folks and how they seem to have little vision and ability for betterment. I also know that at times it is difficult to paint for you the picture that we see here as we are still in the process of learning what the picture really is.
For a little funny story..... Each year the kids must make homemade Christmas cards for their sponsors. Yesterday we were helping translate the Christmas cards and we came across one that was funny enough to share with you all. It reads:
Dear Bob- Merry Christmas Bob. God bless Bob. You are very special for God and for me. You are my friend and my heart. From Sami for Bob.
We hope that you all think it's as funny as we did. It may help for you to know Sami has more personality that most - it may also help to know that he had glued beads on the bottom of the page in 3 inch letters "Bob". Bob will love that card.
Pray for us as we have the opportunity to practice our spanish while we're here this week and reconnecting with the kids.
Random Guatemalan fact for the day: The estimated migration rate for Guatemala is -2.31 per 1000 people. Which basically means that they're losing more people than they're gaining. The United States' estimated migration rate is 3.05 per 1000 people.
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4 comments:
Thank you so much for sharing the Bob Christmas card story. I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes. Sami, that boy gets me every time. :)
Happy Thanksgiving! (well almost!) Hope you guys have a great time at the childrens home! We are thinking about you and love and miss ya'll!
loved the story! bob WILL love that card. my name is not bob but i would love it!
I loved the Christmas card story but it made me wonder...this may be a dumb question but here goes...does the rest of Guatemala celebrate Christmas? I figure where you guys are, people would, but what about others around the country?
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