current happenings

February 2

From Sue

Yesterday I got to go to BSF again. The kids bolted the door behind me and stayed by themselves. It is good to be studying the life of Jesus with those women. We may look and speak differently but, when it comes to prayer requests, I see how similar we all really are. We care about and struggle with the same kinds of issues. When I got home, the girls told me they thought Elijah had a fever and he did. We wrestled with whether or not to go to Reina de la Paz today and the older girls prayed for and with me. In the end, they volunteered to stay at home, while I went on by myself. Raul, God bless him, drove me there and home.

Guili and I had met last week to talk about the next 8 weeks that we are here and we came up with a schedule of topics. I told Guili that I want the girls to understand that what they do with their babies today, makes a difference in the long-term. The positive interactions they have now, will help to produce secure and loving adults. It is hard, however, for teens to be able to view things in a long-term perspective so Guili came up with the idea of planting seeds to illustrate that what they do for the seeds will affect the way the seeds grow. Water it and they grow, ignore it and they don't grow. They seemed to enjoy planting the seeds and there was a light of understanding in many of the girls. In many cases, they want to do the right things for their child but aren't quite sure how to go about it. Or they are tired and don't have the energy. Some have apathy as well. I mean think about the teenagers you know:) We then talked to the girls about talking to their children and had them go outside with them and walk just talking to their child and describing what they see. Some of them felt silly but many of the girls did a great job and I think liked doing it. We gathered again to reinforce the message. Those who have been on the mission trip know the drill: I say two words and Guili does her thing turning the 2 words I said into a fun and interesting five minute discourse. She is very gifted! Then we had the girls each take a paint brush and cup of water and go outside with their children to "paint" and interact. Guili told me that the workers were amazed; they would not have thought of doing that. She thanked me so much for coming. I guess our prayers for guidance were answered. There was one young girl whose baby is only 7 months or so and was fussy for the paint thing. I took the baby and Guili talked to Andrea, the mom. Guili said you need to tell your baby you love her and her response was that she doesn't love her. I just wanted to take that baby and her mother home with me. Lydia is a sweet little thing. Guili asked her if she could tell me this so that I could ask my church to pray for her and she said yes. It is difficult to understand but Andrea was raped and she herself was abandoned. Not very many people have shown her love. Please, if you are a praying person, pray for Andrea and all the moms at Reina de la Paz that God would give them love for their children. We can't do that but He can. I forgot my camera today so no pictures:(