Out-of-the-Ordinary School Work

It's Wednesday, July 1st and we have reached the mid-point of our trip. We are caught in between two seas of events. There are those events that have already come, and those that are to come.As I look back, I see the formation of a team. I see people who came together at an airport in Atlanta to form life-long relationships all while seeking to bring the gospel to a needy country. I see 10 days of struggle, despair, joy, trials, mixed emotions, and progress. I know God is using it to bring us all closer to Him. He has a purpose.Looking forward, I see 10 more days of potential. No matter what has passed, we have a job to do. We were brought to this spiritually poor country by providence. And, it is that providence that we will complete Christ's work here.On this 1st day of July, many things happened. After waking up again to the alarm, showering, and eating some breakfast, our team traveled to a local school where we ministered to the young children. Unfortunately, Steven and I were not feeling too well. Steven's fever had broken the night before, but he was still under the weather. I had lost my appetite and had a bad headache as well as some dizziness. So, while the rest of the team was inside singing songs, doing skits, and giving testimonies, Steven and I were out in the bus taking a nap. I ended up sleeping for about an hour.After the team was finished, we all went out to eat. Adrian had another reaction to aji - this time just from it being around her. She didn't even eat any. It seems like no matter where we go, we always run into aji. Her chest tightened up and her throat again began to get tight. I administered another shot of epinephrine and gave her a prednisone. She recovered. Praise God once more.Later that afternoon, we returned to the school and after the kids watched the first session of the Basic seminar, we had three breakout sessions. One was led by Elizabeth, one by Steven, and the other by me. We discussed what they had learned in the video. We discussed wisdom and conflict and reasons behind the conflict. Overall it was a good experience, though working with these particular young people is very challenging.After the sessions finished, we all went and picked up our laundry from the laundromat. It had been the first time we had had our clothes washed since we started. It was about time, because I was running out of clothing.Steven finished off the evening by having devotions. Now, these were not your typical devotions. Steven read a passage about head coverings. It was atypical, yet applicable. He noted that just because something in another culture may seem odd or different, it may not be wrong. The important thing is to evaluate customs by the Word of God and show respect for those that conform to God's ways. It was a good talk, but it did have the girls asking, "is Steven going to start making us wear doilies on our heads." Much relief that such an idea wasn't in his plans.Well, that's all folks. Goodnight and God bless.For the team: GeneCharlie as quite the energetic "Bucky" of the Hockenstock skit on truthfulnessAdrian as "Becky" or "Buckette" - whichever you prefer as the feminine version of Bucky. We're thinking about starting a Bucky Hall of Fame with pictures of the amazing expressions this role seems to invoke.Bailey as "Susie" - aka snobby, cell phone-loving girl of the storyElizabeth and Ruth teaching the Boomerang Song. It was good to have Ruth feeling a little better today.Elizabeth J sharing a testimony on truthfulness with Amalia translatingThe kids wanted lots of autographs and email addresses.In between our presentations on truthfulness, the kids had a dance/PE class. We decided to join in!We also had time to just hang out with the kids, talk to them, and show them Christ's love.