Day 4 stories

Good evening folks.  It is another night of extreme fatigue.  Tonight's fatigue is just as much emotional as it is physical.  I will jump to a few stories as I am trying to have enough energy to finish before heading to bed.

Christine's Story - At the conclusion of the day of VBS, Christine went looking for a kid she had played with during the day.  She saw his mother and took a translator with her.  The mother told her that she had 10 children and told Christine that she could take one home with her.  Obviously not possible, but the thought of a mother being willing to give her child away just for the chance at a better life is amazing.

Emily J's Story - Emily joined us on the construction crew today.  As we worked and were there, a group of boys and girls congregated to watch and try to help.  After a while, a little girl come to Emily and handed her a piece of candy.  These kids have so little but they want to give to us too.

Christian's story - During VBS the crew played soccer with the children.  When the older boys took their turn to play, one of the boys walked up to Christian and asked him for his name (in English).  When he learned Christian's name he turned to introduce him to the others and introduced him as "friend Christian".  It impacted him that so quickly the folks here call us friends even though they know nothing about us.

Paige and Jenny's Stories - Paige and Jenny both had extensive baby-holding time at VBS.  The parents were quick to hand over their babies for part or all of the days to be held and loved on.  Jenny got more than being loved on as the child she held didn't have a diaper on.  Small difficulties in sharing big time love with little children.

My story - I was able to obtain a guitar to take to the construction site today.  During our lunch break, we sat around with the kids playing and singing.  As we sang Amazing Grace in English, the children were singing the same words in Spanish.  Same words, different languages, but the same God.

There are so many other good stories to share but I am struggling to remember them all.  Tomorrow will be another regular day of work.  Tomorrow is Emily Collin's 18th birthday so please pray that she has a good day.  Pray that we will again have the energy to do the tasks before us.  As we get to the end of the trip, pray for our nerves as they always tend to get short as we get more and more tired.  

Goodnight from the Dominican folks.