1/25/11
Maurya led devotion this morning, and talked about strength. Sometimes we do not feel strong enough to tackle the tasks we are faced with, or strong enough to respond to God's call to a ministry or a cause. But we are called to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, with all our souls, with all our minds, and with all our strength. We know that it will be difficult, but we can be comforted by several verses in the Bible that remind us that our strength comes from the Lord. Day two of work at the houses can be summed up with one word - CEMENT. We mixed, shoveled, hauled, poured and smoothed cement floors most of the day. We have become familiar with the "nest" method of mixing cement, and our muscles are feeling the burn! After lunch today, half of the group took a trip to Zacapa's version of Wal-Mart, Maxi Bodega. Larry paid $14 for a small bottle of saline solution (note to self, never forget saline solution when traveling to Guatemala!). The rest of us took a stroll down to the rio (river) with several of the kids. The water was a little higher than last year, but still low enough to wade across. It was really beautiful, and watching the kids play was as refreshing as the cool water. The walk back up was a bit tedious, and the kids went off to clean up before bible school while we got things ready at the church. The theme today was The Good Samaritan, and the kids loved watching the Americans act out the story while Karla read from the Bible. The kids had their chance next, and we reinforced the story by reading it again while some of the kids acted it out. It was a bigger group than yesterday, with about 60 kids.
Again after a quick dinner and time to clean up at our hotel, we returned to El Maguey, this time for a cultural presentation by some of the residents. We learned a bit about El Maguey's history and its typical foods, including different types of vegetables, beans, and eggs. We also learned that an industry in El Maguey is rolling cigars called "puras". A few of our team members were able to try their hand at rolling the tobacco, a pretty tricky task. The evening's presentation was a wonderful way to learn more about the traditions and culture of the people of this town, and we all enjoyed it very much.
