Hopeful Thoughts

This morning we were going to try again to go to Tina’s, but it was still raining. We decided to go ahead and at least see what needed to be done. Tina is a sweet older lady who goes to the church in City Bell, but she lives alone and her home is in need of a great deal of repair. The yard needs to be cleaned up (grass cut, weeds pulled, and trash picked up), her sink is dripping, her back door has the glass broken out of it, the roof is leaking, and probably much more. Hopefully time will allow us or some of us to help her out while we are here.

Tina sent us all home with “belly button” oranges and a banana for Emily. She told us about the meaning of name the orange in Spanish. “belly button” is certainly more comical than the English “naval”!!!

We left Tina’s and went back to the church to finish up some repairs and do some deep cleaning. Don got to work scraping off the remaining bits of carpet still clinging to the steps. Ken focused on repairing the windows that wouldn’t seal, and the ladies began sweeping, mopping, and scrubbing the floors and bathrooms.

After the cleaning, Ken and the ladies went to Wal-Mart to look for supplies for the children’s classroom. They had purchased a bed that may potentially be used for short term missionaries to sleep on while they stay, but in between will be a place for the kids to use as a couch. We shopped for a sheet set and pillows to make it comfy and inviting. Ken was looking for a table, but still hasn’t found what he’s looking for.

Wal-Mart in Argentina looks the same as in the U.S., but it is not. They carry many things that the US version does not, and there are many things that they are lacking. Mattresses are plentiful, but blankets are not. The have a HUGE selection of mate’, but not much coffee. The cashiers sit down while checking out purchases. We didn’t get to look at the whole place, because it’s still really big!

We had lunch at the church and ordered empanadas. They are delivered in boxes like those that contain pizza in the US. They are yummy! The food has been one of the great things about Argentina!

We went back to the Hogar Betel that evening to work more with the kids. We tried to teach a lesson on Heaven from the CEF materials to about 11 kids, but they were totally wired. They have no manners and were running all over the place We tried to play a game with balloons and we needed to blow them up first. As soon as the kids saw the balloons, they swarmed the table. We needed 12 balloons for the game. We started with 12, but by the time Emily and I were able to get them “all” blown up, 3 of them had been stolen. The kids do not understand the word “No”. The Hogar is a Christian place, but they do not have the staff or the volunteers to give these kids the structure they need. I have taught difficult kids, but I have to say this was the HARDEST teaching situation I have even been in.

We served the kids a snack of Tang and cookies and we noticed that the kids were taking seconds on the snack and stuffing cookies in their pockets. Evelyn observed that they would then trade with each other for other things (including the jump ropes that we had left with them the day before). They barter with anything they can get there hands on. These kids know the Bible, but they don’t know Jesus. They need people that can work with them more than 3 days in the month of September of 2009.

We finished the day with dinner at the “Club Banco Provincia,” the hotel that we are staying at. I had Gnonnchi with a beef and tomato sauce and sprinkles of cheese. Pretty tasty!!