Stevepac's words from the ghetto

     Wow..already Tuesday evening.  Another great day in the books...and I will make it a point to mention that 13 quesadillas and 3 donuts, (that was just my dinner) ended a wonderful day.  Today started like most days with a early wake up for me.  What that means is some quiet time to just digest some things that I have seen from previous days, bible study, and get dibs on a chess board.  *side note..I can't believe how much fun a game of chess is when there are so few distractions around. 
     After some fellowship, it was off to the Pavon church for the mega VBS.  I get the pleasure of the 13+ age kids.  Yesterday we had 17 kids in that group.  I was pretty amazed by that.  Then today, we had 28...yes 28..just in that one group.  That is what was astonishing, especially after what happened yesterday.
     Rewind to Monday morning.  When I was informed of my group, I was excited.  I work with the middle school kids on Wed nights already, so aside from the language barrier, it should be cool.  I was also told that there would be gang members in the group. When I heard that, I wasn't sure what to think..was that comment serious, was John giving me a hard time like he usually does?  Well, it was true.  It was interesting to see them interact with each other.  They are their own family.  The incident I was referring to was when one kid went to the bathroom, then another, and another, and so on.  Something was up.  It turns out that they were each taking turns smoking a cigarette.  We handled it the best we could, and them in the next class, Brigido was none too happy.  He lectured then about it and then to my surprise, they responded by paying attention and being serious.  On top of that, they all came back today..and then some.  So even though they are a "gang", they still respect him, us, and want to learn about God.  I think that is amazing!!
     This afternoon, we had the chance to experience 2 more VBS that the other group went to yesterday.  Unbelievable is the best word to describe it.  The first was in Rancho Nuevo.  The first thing was when we pulled up, Amy told us, "to the left is the city dump."  10 seconds later we were pulling in to the out first VBS.  So if I wasn't clear, this one was right next to the city dump...not sure if you can actually imagine what that is like, but I was shocked.  After everything we have seen already, I didn't think that was possible.  But when all these kids ran up so greet us, and then hurried to the worship time, and then to their classes, you could see what the most important thing for them is, and that is learning about Jesus.  These families may be poor, but they seem to be closer than a lot of families I know in the US.  I have seen so many kids caring for their younger siblings that has made my heart melt.  One kid actually gave up playing soccer..I mean futbol, because he was responsible to his brother.  One word comes to mind...sacrifice.  What do we really sacrifice in our lives?  I know personally what I thought as sacrifice has a whole new meaning.  Flies, trash, dirty water, family, sacrifice, humility, serving, love, and God is how I would describe my visit to Rancho Nuevo.
     Up next was the Mission.  We visited this areas last week as we handed out fliers.  I thought this was the poorest of the areas we would be in.  Obviously after being at Rancho, this is the upper eastside.  Once again, I was just amazed and impressed with how the kids responded to us, and the people leading them.  What I didn't mention in the part about Rancho, I was equally impressed with our group of students and adults.  Yes we were all way out of our element, but we showed each kid the love that I feel Jesus would showed them.  That is exactly why we are here, and why I am glad I came.
     So it was successful day of ministry. I would like to end this post on the light side.  I know you are still impressed with my incredible eating domination down here, but what I saw tonight was pretty cool too.  Brigido decided to dump a bunch of flour on the table as some of us were playing dominos.  then he added eggs, vanilla, and a bunch of other ingredients.  Right before our eyes, he made doughnuts.  I will have pictures at some point, but it was cool.  And this coming from a man who opened up his home to 40 people, who preaches 3 times a week at 3 different places, # different VBS in the same week, and is also a professor, and he takes time out of this week to make doughnuts from scratch! Wow!  I just found out tonight that he gave up being a heart surgeon to do ministry....that is an outstanding example of what God wants us to be.

P.S.  Corie, Simon, Zachary, and even Lucy...I love and miss you guys and will see ya in a week.  Have fun on Saturday!!

Here is video from Monday's PAvon VBS, market trip and Tuesday's Rancho Nuevo and La Mision VBS.