A taste of heaven

Day 6
A taste of eternity. Today, in looking back on it, was an amazing day. It was definitely the best day we’ve had all week. We left the compound knowing it was going to be a long day for us, and were planning to be out an extra two hours or so. We arrived at our area today around 9:00 and we walked around the neighborhood and once again I was thankful for more improvement in my Spanish. And I also had no run-ins with dogs, but our other group wasn’t so lucky. One of our translators kept relating the story to everyone who would listen, telling us of how close she was to being bit by a BIG dog. It was very funny.

After going door-to-door we were able to cross the street and play with a group of boys and girls at a school. It was great to watch the kids. A group of them were playing Connect 4 and it was hysterical to hear the kids sing, “Connect 4!” whenever they would win a game. A few of us went and played jump rope with them, while others drew on the sidewalk with chalk. The kids were so much fun to be around and were great sources of entertainment. I jump-roped and played baseball with them, and my favorite thing was the game of keep away with the bouncy ball. They would throw me the ball and I’d dribble it, put it behind my back and do all sorts of silly things to keep them from getting it. It was a blast to just get to be goofy and enjoy ourselves with them.

When we finished playing at the school, we all came back and we got visors and different hats so that we could avoid getting sun-burnt on our faces. Somehow this led us to getting tattoos on our arms and taking lots of pictures of each other in an impromptu photo shoot. And I was given my nickname by Akeela: White Chocolate Thunder. Pretty awesome, right?
A rather large group came again today, and around 11:30 groups showed up and we started up the activities. I was washing feet and fixing up shoes, and then later I was the official photographer as I was every other day.
We had a late lunch, and made our way to a girl’s boarding school. There were about 20 girls living there, from age eight to about twenty. We arrived and played a few worship songs and sang for them, and then they sang and played songs for us; we sang in English, they sang in Spanish. They had an eight year old girl playing drums during this and later another young girl sat down and played Bach. I was amazed by the talent of the girls there. At one point during their worship set, one of the little girls stood up; her name was Perla. She looked around and invited her friends to stand with her but they only laughed at her. She stood alone, closed her eyes and worshipped. After a minute of standing alone, she raised her small hand in the air and just swayed and praised by herself. It was a little taste of heaven for me. And at the end of the service, a girl from their group prayed to close us. As she prayed, the rest of the girls prayed as well, all in Spanish. The girl leading had tears streaming from her voice and it was impossible to ignore the emotion and passion that was coming from her prayer. I never had realized how close heaven was before that moment. We were brothers and sisters in Christ even though we had language barriers, different colored skin, and different homes. Heaven on earth was a reality at that moment.
After the worship service, we all went outside and had face-painting, made paper flowers, and made other little crafts. I took pictures for a while and it was funny how shy a lot of them were in front of the camera. Olivia and I also gave each other war paint, and Perla got face paint with us later. So, I had on my visor (upside down gangster style), my flower that I had made through my visor, and I had war paint on. I was a hit with the girls after that. Ha-ha. They knew I looked so ridiculous that they didn’t mind pictures being taken of them so much. Joseph, the only other teenage guy on the trip, is a freshman. It was funny today because one girl thought he was cute and they took a picture together. That was all that he could talk about for the next two hours. We gave him a really hard time.

Tonight dinner was a casual affair as always. We had burgers and a short worship service after dinner and tonight Olivia, Graysen, and I finished the first season of Glee. It was a climactic season ender and I would now have to say that Glee is my new guilty pleasure. I am very excited to see the new season in April. I miss my family, and my friends at school. I have had a great week, but I’m looking forward to getting back to school and getting to rest some. God has been good this week, and as one of the men on the trip stated that, “the Bible promises God’s goodness, but today God was extra good.” Amen, Andy. Amen.