Showing Verses Telling

What a blessed day we had today at Dios Me Ve.  Again, we didn't announce our coming believing that those who were really in the  greatest need would be the ones to remember.  It was a smart move.  We had one older gentlemen walk 15 blocks to get his groceries and asked for me to take his picture.  It was very, very cold and windy today, so the people that waited for food were very needing to endure such cold weather.

I haven't counted, but I could honestly say that I've taken 200+ pictures of kids with friends, families, and babies. It has been a great "ice breaker" for me with my limited Spanish.  It's been fun trying to find creative ways for me to show God's love since talking about God's love is very difficult at this time.  But, it has served me well in reaching out to others.  What I mean is, it has forced me to SHOW the love of God through kind acts, lots and lots of smiles and even some hugs.  When I started taking pictures, some people loved it and some weren't quite sure.  Now, when I show up, people start asking me to take their pictures.  It has given me a great way to interact with my new friends.  

Another way I've tried to interact with people is through the making of beanies, or knitted caps.  Since it gets so cold at night and in the morning, I knew I needed to get beanies for keeping the people in the colony warm.  They've always been grateful for any beanies I could bring them, but then after a while I started to think, "what if I teach them how to make their own?"

A few months back, a my dear friend Kate Logan brought me several hat looms and yarn.  We started teaching the girls in the orphanage how to make them.  Although it was fun for the girls, it was difficult for them to find the time to make them while they still had homework to do after school.  So, two weeks ago I started to teach one lady, Rebecca, how to knit a hat while many other ladies watched and were very interested.  I told Rebecca that if she came back today, (two weeks later) that I would have more yarn for her to make another hat.

At first, I thought that Rebecca was going to be a "no-show".  About an hour after we started distributing groceries she came with her hat almost completed.  She asked for help with the last step and again many ladies were watching.  Then, I went to my car and came back with a bag of yarn for Rebecca to pick out for her next hat.  I looked around and there were about 10 ladies watching us.  After Rebecca picked out her next color of yarn for her next hat, I asked another lady to do the same.  Then, I introduced her to Rebecca as her new student.  Then another lady as Rebecca's second student.  We had a great time and many smiles were shared.

I also found out something good about the property we're purchasing.  We were concerned, but took the risk anyhow.  When we purchased the first property it was explained to us that the government would come by to make sure someone was living on the property.  They usually come by and mark the houses with stickers to show that it's occupied.  Hector recently spoke with someone from the government and told the official that we we're going to live on the property.  He told them how were just wanted to help the people in the area by providing food and clothing.  He was told not to worry.  They would mark the posts that we put around the boundary of the property.  Today, when we came, we saw stickers from the government on our posts.  According to the official, we shouldn't have any problems doing what we're doing.