Day Twenty-Six in the Dominican Republic

We had a pretty relaxed day today. The only thing on the schedule for today was the VBS program in the afternoon. That meant we had all morning to get some things done around the apartment and relax. For the most part, we have the regular chores here that we have back home. So, we've tried to keep some sort of cleaning schedule in order to keep things in order. We also spent time time reading and playing outside.

Because this morning was relaxed, I took the opportunity to have an extended devotional time. It was really nice. I've definitely missed the quiet time in my study every morning. It's hard to find any quite time when you have a family of six in a small apartment. However, everyone was gracious enough to give me the opportunity this morning. It was truly a blessing.

Today was also very hot and humid--one of the hottest so far. We lost power around 6:30am this morning, battery power around 11:30am, and didn't leave for VBS until a little after 3pm. That means we had no fans, or even a breeze, for four hours in this heat. It started to get to me after a while. I could tell my patience was wearing thin. However, after we returned from VBS, the power was back on and things are good. We're praising the Lord for that.

VBS went pretty well today. The kids had a lot of fun painting faces, coloring, and playing with the kids. They're really getting the hang of connecting with kids despite the language barrier. They've learned ways to teach them various games to play as well. I've also noticed how eager many of the children are to interact with our kids. There's usually a couple young girls that end up latching onto them right away and hanging out with them throughout the VBS program.

There was a large group of kids there this afternoon. I tried to get a count, but there were moving around too much. My closest count was around eighty children. They almost ran out of coloring sheets and face painting supplies. They also wrapped up the VBS program by serving small cups of ice cream. There were so many kids that they had to run down the street to purchase another tub of ice cream.

After the official program was finished, we hung around and played games with the kids for quite a while. I girls began teaching them a number of "clapping games" and a version of rock, paper, scissors. They also frolicked around with the kids, just being goofy and having fun. I love the picture that's above this paragraph because you can see the joy on everyone's faces. They were having a very good time.

We wrapped up the day with Rachel cooking us burgers, broccoli, and potatoes. It was a very nice treat. It was especially nice to have red meat because almost every meal out here has been chicken. I ate the burger slowly, enjoying every bite :-)

The internet was also working well enough that we crashed on the couch and streamed The Lorax on my laptop. It was a nice way to wind down and get ready for bed.

Continue to pray for the upcoming VBS programs. We have another one tomorrow afternoon and one on Saturday sometime. Pray that God would draw children to these programs and that he would prepare their hearts to hear His Word. Also, pray for the preparation of the leaders, that God would speak to them and prepare their hearts to speak to the children. Ultimately, pray that God would continue to be glorified through these programs and that His glory would increase because of them.

Buenos Noches!