Day 4: Back in the CDI (and some prayer requests)

 Hello again!

We got up at 6:30 this morning to work out. "We" was Hugo, Matthew, Sheryl, and I. Hugo made a workout that didn't kill us, so we would still be useful today (gracias, Hugo!). I finished Galatians, and talked to God a bit, then had breakfast (still good, gallo pinto and eggs and toast and stuff), then walked to the park to worship together.

We were pretty quiet this morning, but our worship time was lovely. We have "our spot" in the park now, and even have met one of the other people who hangs out there in the mornings. He told me his name was Charlie Brown. I don't quite believe him, but who knows?

We walked to the bus stop and bussed to the other bus stop and walked to the CDI pretty uneventfully. But we had good conversations and practiced some Spanish. Once we were in the CDI, Lagos walked us through an explanation of the ways that the branches of their ministry all connect to one another. It's really interesting, but I won't draw it all out here. Suffice to say, they are committed to deep, long-term change. They're willing to start small and sow and water and sow and water and sow and water... and let the Lord be responsible for the fruit. I love it. The idea of investing your whole life into a community and seeing it change is so beautiful. I think we can get caught up in the idea of big ministry and quick change, and neglect the days of small things. If the Church, in all her manifold manifestations, would dig in deeply in her community in this way, I think we'd see a huge change in the world. And if she took that depth of investment and took it to other peoples who haven't heard of Jesus? That's the Great Commission being fulfilled y'all. 

A N Y W A Y. Stepping down from the podium now. After Lagos finished, we dove into being productive. We made the most of the time we had before the kids showed up. Hugo and Izzy agreed to lead the Zoom H@ngout time tonight, so they paired up to plan in out. Alexis and Sheryl worked on the social media for H@ngout (I'm not sure yet what all they're working on, but HERE is the link for the Instagram). Katie y Matthew spent time planning out the music lessons for the kids, and Alejandro and I cleaned the CDI up. It was cool to see everyone jump into action and work super hard to get everything ready.

The kids showed up a little after 1, and we played games for a while again to remind them we are friendly. Then we did a lesson about rhythm and finding the beat in music and played some games to help get it down as a skill. Some of the kids were very good at it...and some were a lot of fun to watch. We had snacks and played Uno in Spanish and then in English to review the numbers we learned yesterday.

Today we tried to focus extra on Matthew, Hugo, and I connecting to the boys at the CDI. The power of a positive male role model for these boys is hard to express, but I think you understand that it matters. So, when we split up to do tutoring, I was with Justin and Hugo was with Andres (who was new). My time with Justin was really cool. We worked on his English homework for an hour and a half, and his Religion homework for about 30 minutes. The Religion homework was analyzing Bible verses, and he did a great job, I was super impressed. Sometimes, when someone has understanding of the world beyond their years, it makes me sad because it usually means they didn't get to have their childhood. But, I know God uses that powerfully.

I'm not sure how they got there, but Andres told Hugo he believed in God, but didn't know what to think about Jesus. So, Hugo (with an assist from Izzy) shared the gospel with him and he gave his heart to Jesus. That's really beautiful and exciting, though it's hard for me to know how deep of confidence to have when little kids accept Jesus because I've heard so many people later say, "but I didn't understand it then." However, my little heart is so hopeful for Andres and Justin and for what it will mean for them to grow up to be Men of God in their community. That kind of thing can change the course of entire families. I think God loves to bring families to himself by having one person really Get It. 

After homework, most everyone left, but Justin and Alejandro sat with Matthew and he taught them some basics of guitar for a while, which was really cool to see. I love the connections God is forming, and am looking forward to seeing them grow over the next 4 weeks. Though it will be hard to leave. Getting to work this closely with kids and see the potential for discipleship and God moving in their lives has me feeling some kind of way when I think about the decreasing likelihood that I'll ever have kids. I don't think it's sad though (well, maybe a little), it's mostly just an acknowledgment of opportunity cost. 

We ate chop suey in the CDI and bussed back to the hotel. We got off at a different stop or took a different bus today. I think maybe it was so we didn't have to cross any big streets. I'm pretty sure Lagos' biggest fear is that his gringitos are gonna get themselves run over. We rested for a minute, and then got ready for our Zoom H@ngout time. 

We played a lot of games with the students online, and then Hugo shared his testimony. He did a great job, was vulnerable and relatable, opened some good topics for future conversation, and pointed all the glory to God. It. Was. Beautiful. And then he gave out his WhatsApp number if anyone had any questions or just wanted to talk more. He and Izzy did such a great job tonight! 

We're starting at 5:40 tomorrow morning to do some work at Duke's, then doing....something, idk what tbh. So...that's soon.

PRAYER:
- for our team to have energy (social and physical) tomorrow, and to rely on God when we don't
- for more opportunities to get into good spiritual conversations
- for the young boys and girls of Barrio Mexico and the different struggles they will have to walk through as they grow up.
- for the church here to be given more influence as they've been so faithful in the "small" things

Not many pictures tonight:

Screenshot from our Zoom H@ngout tonight

Matthew and Justin working on guitar at the CDI