This coming Sunday, we will be passing out 100 dispensas of food again. I never get tired of doing this. The people are so grateful and patient as they wait for their food. The hugs and smiles I now receive are priceless. It feels like I've earned the trust of the river colony. It even feels like I've been trusted by God to join Him in the work He's doing in the lives of the people we are starting to get to know.
One of the things that I've asked people to pray for is creativity. God has been answering that prayer. The pictures that I take each time we give out dispensas has built a wonderful bridge to the heart of the people. On each picture I print the words "Dios Me Ve" which means "God See Me". That has been my priority. I want everyone I meet to know that God does see them. That He hasn't forgotten them. In fact, the real goal is for people to see God. To see that their pain is His pain. To know that He's not mad at them, that He wants to have a relationship with them. Hopefully with their pictures in view in their homes they will see the words "Dios Me Ve" over and over until they begin to believe it.
The other relational activity that we've started is our knitting class. Two weeks ago we started our first class with 12 ladies. We decided to go ahead and start the class even though we don't have a building up. We put out our chairs in a circle and that 's how we began. It was wonderful to watch the ladies learning to knit beanies. It was even more wonderful to watch Norma from the local church knitting with the ladies. They laughed and talked as they observed the makings of each others knitting project. We're hoping that some of the ladies stay with it to the point of being able to sell their hats at the market.
Over all, the part of the last visit that I enjoyed the most was watching the interaction between the ladies in their class. I learned that most of them didn't know each other before the class, so just being in the class together was "knitting" relationships. I was also told that some of them did know each other and didn't like each other very much. It was fun to watch the walls begin to fall as they helped each other listen for the names to be called for their food dispensas, or help each other learn the correct way to knit a beanie.
A little side note...if you read this blog would you please let me know by saying so on Face Book or emailing me at rschmidt316@yahoo.com ? I'd sure like to see who is reading. If you'd like to donate towards our next project, a community center, we sure could use some help. We have the labor waiting for the funding. As soon as we have about $850, our community center should go up. From there we will start looking towards installing a bathroom and a kitchen so that we can begin a daily meal ministry.
Thank you and God Bless.
Robin
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