Volunteering and traveling in Argentina to proclaim God's great love, and hopefully not getting sick along the way.

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Tuesday, March 13, 2012

This Monday in ministry


God has been blessing the time in the girls' institute and time with the boys in Las Violetas each Monday. That is to say, there have yet to be any fights, too many bad words, or major misunderstandings due to language barriers.

Though I am not opposed to when those things happen, it's just that getting to have good conversations is what I love most. Which is what keeps happening with Ale and a couple of the others in LV.

I have personally challenged myself to learn more bracelet patterns and to use each Monday in which I am currently working alone until Sol gets off work, to teach the gals. The idea in the back of my mind is to encourage them to build on a talent. Often we get caught up on variety when maybe what they need is to latch onto something they're already good at, and let that something grow. If that makes sense.

So it is with Ale and Maria Elena, as Gladys goes to school during the morning hours.

In LV, we ran into Ulises on the way to the soccer field. He only had a towel to cover his waste, but was eager to greet us. "I'll meet you there," he told us.

Then I stayed behind in the street to chat with a handful of the kids, and one girl who wasn't interested in playing, but I wanted to get to know her a bit. After a few, I joined the rest to find that the group had grown significantly. There had to have been around 24 kids if not more!! I'm glad that Pablo and Nelson had come to help control the crowd.

I sat with my long time friend Elias and he told me about how he goes to school and that he has a job with the horses as well. A little dumbfounded that this tiny one could be working already, but I suppose it comes with the territory.

I know I've mentioned the social bias toward Las Violetas, but it drew even more attention from me when my good friends answered a question I had posed as part of a game. The question: have you ever lied to anyone to make a person like you, and what was the lie?

The immediate response: "I said I was from Las Palmas."

A couple girls had come too to check things out. Turns out they had gone to the cooking classes all last year on Thursday mornings. It was lovely to meet them, and I hope to keep in contact.

We gathered everybody in the end to say thanks for how well everyone behaved and to pray. May we pray for this continuing ministry, as they meet each Wednesday and Friday as well!

On our way home, we ran into Ulises. He was finally ready to play soccer. "Ulises!" shouted both Adam and Cletis. "It took you nearly two hours to put on some shorts?!" haha. Great moment.

Chau!

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