It’s hard to believe that we are already halfway through the week! Time flies when you’re having so much fun.
We started Wednesday morning by learning from Mike about how difficult budgeting can be for people in poverty. It really opened our eyes to how difficult their situations are when they don’t have the resources for even the basic necessities of life that we take for granted. We looked at a couple sample budgets and tried to make it come out to a net positive, with little to no success.
After finishing that, we went to lunch with the kids and then helped with the Summer Excel program. From helping kids with math and reading to playing with them outside, every conversation matters. It’s great to see the kids getting to know us more and opening up about their family life and situations at home!
Every day, there is a worship time where the kids dance to worship songs and hear from the Bible. It’s encouraging to see the children dancing their hearts out without worrying about what people think of them.
During the Summer Plus aftercare program, both of us were in the arts and crafts room helping kids color pictures, paint rocks and make paper airplanes. They were so excited to share what they made with us! Playing with the kids outside of the structured school time gives them a chance to just have fun.
After dinner we crammed into one of Shepherd’s buses and went to the canal for an evening scavenger hunt. Some of the tasks we had to do were roll down a painfully steep hill, throw away trash, and quack at the ducks. 🙂
Some prayer requests for tomorrow are:
-safety for the school and the kids
-that the kids would be comfortable and honest with us and we would be able to have good conversations with them
-that God would use us to shine His love into the kids’ lives
-that we would leave an impact in our time here and that they would look back on this summer as a positive experience
-Tim Streett, who teaches the Poverty 101 classes at Shepherd, was sick today; please pray that he would get better and be able to teach on Friday
Thank you for all your prayers and support this week!
-James Vickery and Ana Woestman