Taco, Taco, Taco!

Hello everyone! This week, my team and I got to lead the VBS classes by ourselves, and the title of this post pretty much sums up that experience.  No, we didn't eat a lot of tacos (although we did get to chow down on some authentic Guatemalan food), but we did sing a lot of children's songs, test out our Spanish, and learn about finding joy in the little things.  Here's some picture's showing what we did everyday!  We were working in Jocotenango, a city right outside of Antigua.

(Photo by Kaitlyn Whitley)
Starting off the day with a few fun songs. We sing “The Frog Song” a lot and for about three days I was singing “taco, taco, taco” during one part instead of “canto, canto, canto”… our translator Betsy kindly corrected me

(Photo by Kaitlyn Whitley)
This week the Bible story was Noah’s ark so we had the kids decorate bookmarks with rainbows, animal stickers, and rainbow crosses. One of the kids with the finished product!

(photo by Brittany Watson)

Such sweet eyes!

(Photo by Brittany Watson)

Handing out candy after craft time. Probably saying “Ohhh muy bien! Quieres un dulce?”

Next is game time! We have a few of our favorites we like to play everyday...

(photo by Brittany Watson)

The t-shirt  relay race game!

Some of the girls waiting patiently for their turn.

(Photo by Brittany Watson)

(photo by Kaitlyn Whitley)

Playing a game like sharks and minos!

 

(Photos by Kaitlyn Whitley)

Playing animal charades to go along with the Noah's ark theme!

On our lunch break we had some time to sight-see in Antigua.. so beautiful!

(photo by Kaitlyn Whitley)

The hill overlooking all of Antigua with a volcano in the background.

(photo by Kaitlyn Whitley)

All the girls (including our translator Betsy) under the arc in Antigua

(photo by Brittany Watson)

Beautiful view of the streets of Antigua!

So that's been our week summed up with a few pictures! But the most important thing our team has learned this week is how to see God in our day to day routine.  We had new groups of kids every morning and afternoon so we did the same lesson every day. While we're thankful we got the chance to love on so many kids, about half-way through the week we found ourselves getting too caught up in our routine.  Thankfully, in our team devotional on Wednesday we read this by Oswald Chambers:

"I must realize that my obedience even in the smallest detail of life has all of the omnipotent power of the grace of God behind it. If I will do my duty, not for duty's sake but because I believe God is engineering my circumstances, then at the very point of my obedience all of the magnificent grace of God is mine through the glorious atonement by the Cross of Christ."

We were reminded that God is always near us and in everything we do even when we think it's just small details of life. On mission trips we often expect huge, life-changing moments everyday, but sometimes God chooses to work differently.  This week I've started to learn how to seek and find Christ in those every-day moments. I'm learning to trust that God is going to work in the hearts of the kids long after we've left. That even though I may not see any instant changes everyday, everything we do now is all part of God's plan for those kid's lives.  Again, I am reminded that this summer is not about what I get out of it or how I feel.  Each day is not just the same old routine, but provides me with two new opportunities to show God's love to these children and I can't take that time for granted.