Entonces

From Sarah-
I was a little nervous about writing the blog for the day since our day was incredibly overwhelming. I feel like there is so much pressure to try to relay our day to you but I will try to do my best.

Entonces (spanish word/filler for "so" that Tony overuses)…After a lot of rest, but a very cold night, we rose and had a wonderful breakfast at the ranch and devotion with Katherine and Catherine. Then we went to the church that Noe (local World Vision director) and his family attended. The people were wonderful and very welcoming to us. They even had a translator for us (which Kaitlyn has a slight infatuation for ;) )! The pastor used a really amazing illustration that really spoke to my heart. He was describing God’s grace and told how a little girl went out and found a really nice rock that she wanted to play with so she washed it off in the river, played with it, then buried it again so no one would take it. And she would go through this over and over. He said that this is how we often deal with our sins by burying it then washing it off over and over. Then he said that the truth of God’s grace is that it’s like placing the rock under a waterfall where God's grace is continuously washing us and that this is how it is in reality with our lives.

We enjoyed a delicious lunch with Noe’s family as well as Maricio (World Vision Staff) and his wife Vanessa. Then we spent a little bit of time at the beach. We stuck our feet in the cold water and sang some songs on the beach.

This afternoon we visited Pastor Tony’s church as well as the houses that they use to minister to the people in their community. This weighed very heavily on all of our hearts and we had some very good conversations on the way back to the ranch. Hearing many of their stories was very encouraging for us but also very draining and we have a lot to process personally and as a team.
We came back to the ranch to an amazing dinner of fish tacos and chocolate chip cookies. J We continued to debrief all together over dinner as well as heard from Katherine the mission and goals of World Vision which was really helpful for us to know as we go into the communities in the next few days. More than getting work done this week, it is more important for us to get to know the people, and to help them establish leadership so that they can become self-sufficient.
We are now settling into our night, getting clean and playing a “family game” soon. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support! We love you all!

<3 Sarah