More Misty Moments

So it's been a couple of more days of busy fun around here! Yesterday was a roller coaster ride of events with nonstop action from breakfast to bedtime. Let me just say that the food Yvette fixes us is amazing! Breakfast was some yummy pancakes that tasted like French toast! That started the day off on a swell note for me! We loaded the bus early and headed for a squatter village to hand out rice, beans, and toys. What a difference in how these folks live. How I take my shelter at home for granted. The lives of the villagers are so simplistic and rustic compared to my busy life at home. They were appreciative of the goodies we gave them and the prayers we prayed for them. Amazing how many things they have on the land that they don't own (and very well may be told to leave the land when the owner decides to take it back!). We walked and prayed in the village for about an hour and boarded the bus again. We scarfed down our lunch in less than an hour so we could go back to the church of the village for VBS.

Good times at VBS! I worked the bracelet table and watched Hailey doing some more face painting. Warm weather (actually hot, but not complaining) makes us think of swimming! Which is just what we did! As soon as we got back to the compound from VBS, we changed into bathing suits in less than 10 minutes! We headed to the Banana Bank Lodge for swimming and it was beautiful! The highlight of the trip was definitely the monkey! Yes, real, live, monkey. Kathy S. and I went in search of the monkey and found it in the woods on a chain. A man came to feed the monkey and let me try to feed it. The monkey refused to take the banana from me, but decided it wanted to climb up my back and sit on my head. Yes, I'll have pictures when we get back! :) Poor monkey just wanted some attention. We laughed and laughed about how disgusted Rhonda was with those of us who "held" the monkey. I did wash my hair with some lice repellant last night!! Just in case...

We made it a little late to dinner, but it was yummy anyhow! A group of us headed to the small village church from the morning for a real Spanish church service. They were hospitable and so thankful that we accepted their invitation to come to their service! They even had "Pastor Clay" to preach! :) Nothing like spur of the moment teaching! He did an outstanding job with his sermon. Let me paint the picture of this church before I describe the music. Picture a small park pavillion with a roof, no air or ceiling fans, five light bulbs on the ceiling (with a few lizards) and plastic chairs. It was hot, but it was such a blessing to worship with these folks. It dawned on me that no matter what the culture, we all worship and pray to the same God. The girl who translated the service for us prayed in Spanish with such passion that I wish I knew what she was saying. We shook hands with the people after the service and got backtothe compound in time for the nightly devotion. After the devotion, a few kids (Hailey being one of them) got in front of the group and sang and performed the song "I Will Follow You". What a way to end the day! I finally got to get in the shower around 10:00 and wash the monkey dirt off my neck! Needless to say, I slept well last night.

I continue to be so proud of Hailey and how well she is hanging in there. It is HOT everyday and we are WORKING hard in rooms with no air and walking villages in the heat of the day. She hasn't complained ONCE about any of that. The only two complaints have been about her pinching her tongue on her water bottle and a tooth hurting. The other team members have commented on how well she is doing down here. In fact, all of the kids down here are the same...God's Little Troopers! They help and pitch in whenever and wherever they are needed. What an awesome time we are having down here!

Thanks for your continued prayers! Love to everyone! Miss you all! :) Mom, don't have time to proofread this because I have to go eat dinner...wonder if it's iguana again... :)

Misty