With love from Colombia, #4

 

And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

Colossians 3:23

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A normal Tuesday in the life of Vanessa

At 6:00 my alarm clock begins beeping and I quickly shut it off. I get up and dressed and head out to to the patio for my quiet time. Right now I’m reading through the Psalms and I enjoy using David’s words as prayers to God in the things I face each day.

At about 6:30 I go inside to find myself some breakfast.

I’ve gotten into making myself an egg and toast every morning. We have bacon down here which is fun since I didn’t often get that at home. Some mornings I just have a bowl of cereal or yogurt.

At 7:00 the whole team gathers for worship. We spend the next hour in singing, reading the Bible, sometimes listening to a sermon, and praying. 

Shortly after 8:00 I enter the school room to prepare for the day. I make sure I know what each student is supposed to do for the day, get out quizzes and tests, and make things neat. 

At 8:30 the bell rings and we begin our school day. Our day of school consists of the normal Math, Spelling, Reading, History, etc. some of the classes are done altogether so we’ll go sit on the couch to do them or go outside.

We have two recess times followed by five minutes of studying verses in their passports. Each week if they say their verses they get a stamp in their passport. 

At 12:30 we eat lunch and some days we are done with school by then, but most days we have at least a little bit of school for after lunch. 

If we get done early enough I get to have a siesta before going to children’s class. 

At 2:30 we load up on our motos with water, tarp, bread, and backpack of supplies and head for the River where we are met by several children. As we set up the tarp more children arrive and we greet each other with hugs and “holas”. A few of of us might go off to round up more children, while the rest start a game. Once most of the children have arrived we gather on the tarp for singing and a Bible story. Since most of us Americans know only a little Spanish everything needs to get translated from English to Spanish. Children’s class is a place where I get my Spanish tested and slowly am able to communicate more and learn more words. 

We normally spend time with the children until 5:00. After the story we play games, or color a picture, or do some kind of activity that goes with the lesson. A little before we’re ready to go we hand out a snack of bread and water then we pack up and say goodbye. The ride home is usually a fun one and we jump right into serving supper when we arrive. 

After supper we work together to clear the table, wash dishes, and sweep the floor. Then we do whatever. Some evening we go on bike rides, sometimes we just walk. There are some evenings we show the Jesus film to children, and other times we each do our own thing. 

The day normally ends for me any time from 9:30-10:00(sometimes later😉) and we sleep, mostly in peace, knowing God is awake.

So now you know what a day is like in Colombia. You can’t hear the sounds, smell the smells, or feel the heat but you have a little taste of my life. I hope you enjoyed. 

Goodbye for now…