Chiapas – August 5 || Aria

Tojolobal jungleFirst full day in the jungle!! Woooo!!!! We are very blessed to have a sweet set up!! The local church has been so generous to give us full use of their church and kitchen for the week. We were able to string up hammocks for the team, and we are loving rocking to sleep every night. We currently have two kids programs every day. WE LOVE THESE KIDS!!! The cuteness!One of our main purposes here is to train some local church members how to run a kids program, so we have about 5 local Tojolobal guys helping with our program. VERY HELPFUL because most of the kids don't speak Spanish!! They learn Spanish in school but at home they speak Tojolobal. So....communication is......fun! Working with two translators, from English to Spanis then Spanish to Tojolobal gets complicated sometimes, but everyone is in good spirits!Also on the plate for ministry are hair cuts! Ian, Julianna, Hank (one of our Spanish translators), and I ran the hair clippers in the afternoon! It was a great practical way to help the people here. We also check and service people's water filters. John and crew made a system today. Another interesting part of our day was when the locals told us they were going to take us to the river to bathe! So, we got in our swimming suits and prepared for public embarrassment!!! A bunch of gringos washing their hair in your cow pond is not something you see every day. Fortunately for us though, the team and our guide where the only ones there. Thankful for a great day of ministry and attentive kids, and a cleaner-than-usual-but-still-cow-infested river to wash off in. Day one? AWESOME!~ Aria