The Blessings Come Back

Afternoon, readers. well, i actually just want to throw something cool out there for you all, before i get to pictures and life. there's this search engine called www.goodsearch.com and you can basically use it like google. but every time you search, goodsearch will donate a penny to kids alive! so, if you'd be willing to use that as your search engine, that would be great! just specify Kids Alive International in the charities category (you don't have to do this every time, just once). thanks, we'd really appreciate it!!

alright, so! well, things go as they go down here, life is so tranquil and wonderful. everytime i go to visit a student's house, we just sit with the family in a barrio (which usually includes extended family), and drink coffee or soda and watch the traffic go by, and talk about whatever comes to mind. i'm really just drinking in the life, the culture, the people that i've become so accustomed too, and it seems that i'll be leaving it all behind much too soon. the slowness and simplicity is never to be taken for granted - there isn't much here, so they enjoy people, eachother. what a lot i could learn from that!

this saturday, our new intern Nate Kosirog flew down here, to learn spanish and be trained to do my job when i leave (sad!). i know him from college church in wheaton, what a small world! but we're having fun getting to know him and bringing another person into our ministry. aside from that, i'm still working on my child update project, it's a pretty big one, but it's fun because i get to talk with the teachers about each one of the kids. today in class, we had a birthday party for the 5th grade teacher. the kids down here always surprise me - 5th grade is one of those terror classes, they misbehave, they're loud and crazy, and they always seem to be getting into some kind of mischeif. but then, they turn around to be the sweetest, most caring kids, and some of them just need some more patience and attention. like i said, they came together and planned a huge surprise party for their teacher, on their own initiative. then miriam (the principle) detained their teacher in the office while they put up balloons and posters that they brought, and laid out a cake, candies, and soda that they all pitched in to get. someone even made a pan of brownies!! then they waited in silence for their teacher, and screamed "sopresa! feliz cumpleanos!!" when she came in. haha, the language didn't make any difference in her surprised and joyful reaction, that's for sure! : ) so we all enjoyed laughs and smiles, candy, and all the kids going around the room to tell her what a special teacher she was to them. it's always an extra-special thing when one of the children suddenly shows their gratitude for all the work you put into them.

God bless you all, and may you too have a special week, where you see Jesus in the face of every person you serve.

~allison