In the Words of Miguelito...
Thursday, August 14
Day 5 in Esmeraldas: still hot and sticky, but I am finally starting to get used to it. Today we went to see the mayor of Esmeraldas. We had a great time together. We went to the city hall, and as we were walking in, people would stare at us as usual. Once we were finally in one of the mayors offices we had to wait there for a while. We talked about what we would do and what were we going to talk about when he showed up. The clock was ticking and nothing was happening, but we were comfortable because it was one of the few places here with AC. When we finally met the mayor he welcomed us to his city and talked to us a little bit about its history and its unique culture. As we wrapped up he obviously liked us so much he invited us to dinner with him on Saturday with local live music. Stay tuned, it should be interesting. It was really cool to talk to the mayor.
When we were finished we ate lunch at a great restaurant on the beach. We then went back to our hotel for our formal team photo shoot. We were quite the sight and many people stopped to watch the crazy Americans take a ton of pictures in their blue and yellow shirts. After we were “finally” done, some people took a nap while others walked on the beach. [Editor's note: the official team photograph will be posted at a later date. We don't want to give everything away all at once.]
At 6 o’clock we headed to the school to run another evening with the kids. Today’s lesson for the children’s program was about forgiveness. My team put together a craft; we made signs that said “No Fishing” on them. The way it ties together with forgiveness is that when you forgive someone its like throwing their sin in the water and you should not fish for it to bring it back up.
After the kids’ program was over the church fed us dinner and gave all the guys bracelets with our names on them and all the girls necklaces with their names on them. It was very cool and everyone loved them. Back at the hotel, we all dropped into bed happy because Jacob is being nice to us and letting us sleep in! It’s about time!
From a hot and sticky place……….. Miguelito (Michael) – for the team
Michael and Ben with a bunch of the school kids. [Editor's note: we also spent several hours with the kids at the school at which we have been working all week. It was a packed day!]
Ruth talking with one of the little girls. Conversations are so interesting when you only understand about 1/3 of what's being said.
The kids have learned the Bible verses with amazing quickness.
Jacobito (Jacob) can make friends with anyone!
Pictures courtesy of Laura Clawson and Christina Dickson.