April 1st

Hey everyone! So today we thought it would be super fun to go to the Russian Circus on Ice, so we did! Then we decided to relax by the beach and go zip lining through the jungle; it was beautiful!! Then we finished up our day by going to a movie in the beautiful theatre around the corner. JUST KIDDING! April Fools!! Today was truly an amazing day though. We took an hour and a half drive to Barranquilla and spent our day at the school, La Rosa De Saron. The unique thing about this school is that it is one of the only private Christian schools in the area, and it is totally free for students to attend. We got to go class to class and try to have conversations with the children.

 

 

The school ranges from pre-school to 11^th grade. They were all so excited to see us and wanted nothing more but to talk and take LOTS of pictures with us.. they were adorable! We also had fun bringing 100 stuffed animals to the preschoolers, who were in disbelief that they were gifts for them. One other amazing opportunity we had was to sit down and do a group activity with the teachers of the school. They knew minimal to no English, and many of us didn’t know much Spanish. We paired up with a teacher and with our language barrier, had to learn how to introduce each other in each other’s language. It was an awesome experience. At the end we put them in the middle and surrounded them and prayed but when we were done, God moved them to pray for us. Most of us had no idea what they were saying but it was really moving. Even with the language barrier we really felt a connection with one another in the sense that we all share the love for God.

 

 My personal favorite part of the day was getting to give the stuffed animals to the children. To see their faces light up the way they did was something I will never forget. We couldn’t speak together but we would make the animal noises together and it was fun J (Mackenzie Henry).

 Today God blessed us all in so many ways, but God really blessed me personally by allowing me to meet Isabel. Isabel was a woman in her mid-40’s who was a single mother. She had 3 kids ranging from the ages of 5-8. She was such an awesome woman. I could just feel God’s love radiating from her. I was so glad I was able to communicate with her in her native tongue. She was able to teach me more Spanish and I tried to teach her a little bit of English. In the end she shared with me that her brothers and cousins were in the US and how much she missed them. She was very upset that she can’t communicate with them because they only speak English and she only speaks Spanish. She asked me if I could maybe help her translate letters to her brothers and cousins. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to do that today, but God moved me to help her. Somehow I want to be able to help her one day communicate with her family once again. (Whitney Krieger J)