Painting a church?

Ola amigos!!
Sorry that it has been a couple days since I have last written. We have had a good week and have a busy weekend ahead. Thursday we were supposed to paint for a church so we woke up early to get ready to leave. We had just got dressed and then we were informed that the church was not ready for us, and that we would go on Friday instead. This was a little bit frustrating, but almost expected! So instead we played with the kids on the campus, read some, sewed some more blankets for the homeless shelter, and started working on friendship bracelets with thread that I brought. We are planning on giving them all a bracelet in a few weeks. It will be so fun because they love pretty things but don't have anything. They always like to play with my bracelet, watch, or earrings so it will be fun to give them something of their own. On Friday we woke up and I got to talk to Seth on skype which was great. It also made me realize how much I miss friends and family. My homesickness really set in yesterday. We got prepared to go paint (meaning we did not shower and put on our work clothes) then we walked down to meet Tomas. Well we got to the chapel and Tomas was not there but there was a group of youth and the NYI director of the Maputo district waiting. We were really confused by this. Then Rhoda told us that they were taking us to show the Jesus film. This was a little different then painting a church. Haha So we went to change and headed out to the land to show the film. The drive was really bumpy and some of the girls started feeling nauseous. We pulled up to a house that someone from their church lived in. We walked around the area inviting people to come to the film. As we were walking there was a little handicap girl sitting in the middle of the road. It was so sad because even people from the church would not stop to talk or look at her. Kristin started talking to her so we all got around her and just let gave her some attention. I just happened to have a sucker in my purse so I unwrapped it and gave it to her as we were leaving. She was so excited about this! We had to continue on but when we returned she was sitting there waiting for us. She started yelling and it was so sweet. We let her touch our hands and she just sat there smiling. She used us for support and she stood up and was just yelling and trying to talk to us. It made me so sad because I know this child is so neglected. We eventually had to leave and we said our goodbyes and when we left she was crying and yelling. It was so sad. The Lord is definitely breaking my heart, while His heart breaks.

We returned back to the spot and they began setting up for the film. It is amazing how little the resources they have, but how resourceful they are and how they put everything together. They of course provided some salad, bread, and tea. Dave told us that they love to have an excuse to eat. It was also really interesting because the people they had invited were there and we were all eating in front of them. They kept telling us to eat more, but we weren't even that hungry. Finally after all the church people had been served they gave a little to the visitors. It is so interesting the differences in Christianity here.

After dinner they turned on some music and had a dance. Some of the visitors and children joined in. I had a little dance partner named Zito and he was so sweet. I had a lot of fun with this as most of you can imagine. Finally at about 7:3o we began the video (they told Dave this would be the time we would be done.) There were about 40 people that attended and most were children. At the end 5 ladies asked Christ in their heart!! This was really neat to see even though we couldn't understand much. When we were on our way back Dave told us that one of us received a letter in the mail, and that he was really shocked because the mail system here is never very reliable. We all thought that it was for Allyson, but when we got there he handed me a letter! It was from Seth and it was such a God thing that I would even receive the letter, and especially at the time when I was feeling most homesick. We got back and Rhoda had dinner waiting for us even though it was 10:00 at night. When we were at the dinner table the phone rang and it was my mom!! What another blessing! God is taking care of me, and I definitely see that first hand. My family is going on their vacation so this week will probably be a little more challenging for me, but I know God is present. I would definitely appreciate your prayers about this. Also I pray that God will use us in ways we may or may not see. Thank you so much for your consistent support. It definitely means so much to me.

Today we are off to a district choir competition (hopefully we are not going to be competing, but you never know.) This will most likely be an all day deal. Tomorrow we are visiting a different church and will most likely lead worship there. Then we are treating the Restricks to dinner before they set off on their 3 week escapade! After, we hope to take the blankets and cakes to the boys' homeless shelter. This should be a very neat experience.

Hope you all enjoy your weekend!!
In Christ,
Kaylee