GeTTiNG aCQuaiNTed

This week has been pretty good. I don't have any pictures to share unfortunately because I haven't been bringing my camera with me. Having said that, it has been a good week of adjustment, getting re-acclimated and re-aquainted.

I want to talk about two main events that happened this week that really stood out. The first one happened yesterday. I was asked about five minutes before I was leaving to go out with a trip to go out with a small group of four instead to translate. So, I went! Translating is a lot of fun for me. So, I hopped on a bus and headed to a nearby town (Boca Chica) where a family wanted to get re-aquainted with a little girl that they had been acquainted with about four years ago. The mom of the group is a nurse and had met the girl (now at age 11) on a medical mission trip because she has a skin disease that covers her whole body (head to toe) except for her face. Well, after a lot of searching and asking around, we were able to find her house and see the little girl and her mother. It almost brought tears to my eyes to see the two mothers hug and to see the little girl. (I can't think of her name at the moment.) Anyway, for about an hour, they chatted about God's goodness, remembering the poor state of the girl four years prior, how the nurse had come with a group and bathed her and put A&D ointment all over her body, and just loved her as if she were her own. They chatted about God creating such a special person and how she over and over reminds her daughter about how special she is and how He loves her so much. They looked at pictures and found out medical needs. A great end to my day yesterday.

Today, I had the opportunity to go to a "nursing home" where the old people in the community (a very poor community) stay. It was honestly very sad at first. It smelled like urine through and through, but the old people were very sweet. We met America and Pura (pure in Spanish), along with a whole host of other people who watched as we cleaned up their home. We pulled off mattresses off of beds, cleaned them, bleached floors and bedframes, and folded clothes. One of the interns even gave America a foot rub. All in all, the day was humbling. I remember having a conversation with someone recently about mattresses and how his/her mattress was uncomfortable. And I think of these people and how one of the men's mattresses was full of urine and who knows how long he had been sleeping on it. They were old and definitely in need of new ones.

There is so much work to be done... but how great are the feet of those who bring the good news... Our God is at work!

More to come.