Saturday May 2, 2009
Yet another great day here in Trinidad! Last night we stayed up late helping with high school youth group here at the TTUM compound. About 20-25 high school students came to sing songs, play games, and here a biblical message. Combine that with an early morning and I think it’s safe to say we’re all running on fumes!
After early morning devotionals we ate breakfast and departed for the village of Bellamy to visit an orphanage. The village is one of the poorest near the compound. Houses are small and run down. Dogs were roaming around the streets eating trash. Irrigation ditches line the streets and are filled with moldy water and trash. Roads were small and two vehicles barely fit down the road at the same time. It was a real eye opener.
The orphanage was actually a woman’s house. She has converted many of her rooms into sleeping areas for the children. Police officers and authorities often bring orphaned children to her door and she says she “never” turns anyone away. Currently she houses about 35 children, ages 1 to 13. It is one of the few orphanages on the island that do not accept government funding. Thus, many of the kids only get one meal a day and are very starved for attention, as we found out!
We took all the children a block down the village to a “park”, which was actually a large, barren field with a large sand area that had no grass. We played with the kids for hours, playing games like: red rover, soccer, relay races, tag, and many others. Many of the kids just wanted to talk and be held. It was a great experience and I think we all made some new little friends.
After lunch and some final preparations we headed off to begin our first day of vacation bible school in the village we visited yesterday. About 40 some showed up. Hopefully more will show up tomorrow as word spread throughout the village. We began with a short message and then a drama of David and Goliath. I played Goliath ... go figure! Guess it was a height thing!
We then taught the kids a memory verse and gave them hand motions to go with the verse. We then split into 3 groups: games, music, and crafts. The games group played with balls and a giant parachute. The music team led the kids in a number of songs. The craft team helped the kids each make their own mask to take home. The bible school concluded with snack time and a closing review of the memory verse. It was an awesome experience and I think I speak for the whole group when I say we are all excited to go back tomorrow.
My friend Gary I mentioned in yesterday’s log came back today. He’s a 19 year old young man who loves “American football.” He stopped by to watch and told us he wants to help volunteer tomorrow! Pretty awesome stuff. He’s going to help us out with crafts and games tomorrow and for the rest of the bible school.
Tomorrow we will go to a rehabilitation center in the morning to volunteer and do ministry work. Then we have vacation bible school at 2:30 in the afternoon followed by church in the evening.
I hope that following our trip will inspire many of you to learn more about mission work you can do, whether it’s locally or globally.
Go Broncos!
- Tim
