conejitos

Here are a few more recent pictures of the babies:

dramas

Last week Andre's church had an evangelistic campaign each evening Wednesday through Saturday. Each night they had some fun productions by local community members usually followed by a guest singer or preacher (or a movie on Wednesday night).

On Friday the girls from the teenage group at my site had the chance to perform some dramas before the main message. They did three skits to communicate caring for creation from a Biblical perspective.

In the above skit Yessica pulled several items out of a sack and asked Arisleidi if this should go in the trash can (played by Titi) or thrown outside on the ground. The ground burst into laughter when she pulled out a gallon-sized rum bottle. Arisleidi informed Yessica with each item that the things made by man (glass, tin, rubber, plastic, etc) are to be thrown in the trash and the items made by God (dirt, wood, leaves, peelings) are to be thrown outside.

In the next skit each girl walked across the 'stage' doing something harmful to the environment and then I would cross the stage after them and make a commentary about what I was seeing. Above Anglica is removing the bark from the trunk of a mango tree to make it die so she can then legally cut it down to use for firewood.

In the above picture Titi is washing her 'motorcycle' in a stream.

One of my goals in the communtiy has been to help inform people of how the Christian faith applies to every area of life. I really hope they received the message that the environment is God's creation and we are called to care for it, just as Adam was called to sow and tend the garden shortly after creation.

conejitos

My rabbit had seven babies on Wednesday morning. The picture isn't very good, but you can king of see them all huddled together.

quincinera

Yessica, who has been involved in our ministry in one way or another as long as I've been here recently turned 15. The 15th birthday is a big deal in Latin culture. Usually 'quincineras' are celebrated with a Catholic mass. The girl rents a dress and hsa both male and female attendants who all rent tuxedos and dresses, much like a wedding party. The mass is usually followed by a party at the girl's home with cake, dancing, and drinking.

Yessica did not want to do the typical 15th birthday celebration for a few reasons. Now that she is growing in her relationship with Christ, she has become convicted about how she should celebrate. She knows she doesn't want people to get drunk to celebrate her birthday and does not feel comfortable with the type of dancing that often occurs at those parties. For a while she didn't want to celebrate her birthday at all.

Rather than avoid celebrating her birthday, Carmen Luz and I encouraged her to celebrate it in a different way that lines up with her convictions. So, we decided to go ahead and have a small party, inviting only her family and friends. We made a cake ourselves and rented a dress for her. She didn't have attendants, like the typical birthday party (more to save on costs than because of any other conviction).

The party was successful. Yessica got all dressed up and even got her hair done. About 80 people came (although only 30 were invited!) and they played games and ate snacks and cake. Overall, I think Yessica did a good job of showing the community how to celebrate her birthday in a Christ-honoring way.

charla con Ramon

I started a club for teenage girls that focuses on the environment. We are doing Bible studies that help them form a Biblical view of creation as well as hands-on things, like building the solar stove last week. On Tuesday Ramon, who works for the Secretary of State of the Environment and Natural Resources, came and gave a talk. He talked a lot about water and how it gets contaminated. He shared a few of the things that rural communities do that really harm the environment. Some of the girls seemed to be bored and others were excited to have learned something. Yessica is especially excited about this club and wants to be an ecologist some day.

A lot of people in the community talk about the environmental department as their enemies, because that department says they can't do some of the things they've always done, such as take sand out of the rivers to use in construction, or catch crabs in the local streams. I was glad that the girls could have direct contact with someone from that agency, so they could see that the agency is trying to enforce laws that will protect their local environment.

estufas solares

A new club for girls has been formed. We are focusing on the environment- studying the Bible to see what it has to say about creation and doing hands-on activities as well, such as today's attempt to make a solar stove.

The stove is made using two cardboard boxes, tin foil, and black paint. The boxes are places one inside the other. Both are lines with tin foil (shown in the picture above) and the outside box is painted black. A lid is made in a similar way and a flap is cut on the top (the lid is being painted in the picture below). A piece of glass (or a Reynold's oven bag, if such thing could be found here) is placed over the opening of the lid, so that light can be reflected from the inside of the flap into the box. We will attempt to cook rice in the box on Thursday to see if it actually works.

new intern

We have a new intern working in Los Higos with Johana at the preschool. Selina arrived about three weeks ago and will stay until mid-December. Johana is about 8 months pregnant and Selina has come to fill in for Johana while she is on maternity leave.

Carmen Luz will also continue to work at the preschool as well while Johana is gone. The picture above shows Selina and Carmen Luz giving a math lesson to the class.