Sewing Day 2

Whoot! Today was great! Last night we had an insane thunderstorm, it was so windy and pouring rain for over an hour, crazy stuff! This morning I was more coherant than yestarday which was good and our ride to Rio Frio was awesome and a mini worship session because Carlos (one of the guys) brought his guitar on the road. When we got.there we set up, rounded the kids up and one of translator's daughter, Diana, got a crash course in translating, since we were down one and she translated the story of feeding the 5000. It was a fun, totally new and interesting experience for both of us. After the kids did their colouring and I showed some square knot bracelets but it wasn't as well received as the beaded one but they still loved colouring, playing catch, frisbee, baseball (we used our hands instead of a bat), and just running around. By the time lunch came around Carlos didn't want kids, Gustavo seemed to have adopted 2 for the day and the Carly (I think that is her name) had done manicures and we were all ready for a break! Lunch was fantasic again, as usual! We had a good rest and went back to do it all over again. In the afternoon Carlos did the story, I am not totally sure what it was but I think it was about different cows and a pastor and one left and the pastor looked for it and brought it home. He had kids act it out and they loved it which was awesome! Then they coloured, some did knotted bracelets, Diana made one up herself and a bunch of them loved that one and a few sid the square knot one. I learned that boys tend to catch on quicker after you show them something once or twice whereas with the girl that I taught it took verbal instructions and demonstrations which made for a more interesting time. The kids were fantastic, we were basically completely cleaned up and packed away 15 minutes early which was fine because the women sewing are super efficient so they were ready to go resulting in perfect timing! We got a little breal before getting back in the truck! There was a storm heading in as we were leaving and I thought it would be great if it rained, like a pre-shower, but that isn't how things work in El Salvador. It was super windy (plus driving down a highway), then it spit a bit (felt like pellets because of the speed) and then it poured. And kept pouring. We were soaked through in about 5 minutes and cold for the rest of the ride. I thought it was fantastic about 15 minutes after being soaked because really there was nothing else to do but enjoy it. Us Canadians were more worried about being in a metal truck but the El Salvadorians were worried about getting sick. When we got back we had a few minutes before dinner to dry off, then we ate, did some prep for tomorrow and Carrie took us to the local ice cream place, amazing ice cream! Julie eats like a tank! We went to the grocery store after and we got sunglasses, Julie's from the other night were gone but we found other ones and much more. Upon arriving back we unpacked our one lost bag for material for tomorrow and was interupted by a friendly, curious gecko on Julie's bed. Julie started screaming for a shoe, she just kills things that get in her way, and after we determined it was only a small gecko, no larger than a pinky, she still screamed, while jumping up and down, "Can you get a shoe?!" Then Julie (Trussel) put it under a glass and possibly hurt its leg and Julie still screamed, "Can you get a shoe now?! You've already maimed it!" But we saved.the little guy and put him in the hall and we all just about peed ourselves laughing. "It's cause I didn't pray!" was Julie's reason, she hadn't prayed today that God would keep the geckos in the restaurant where we ate instead of the rooms. The gecko had pooped on the folder used to remove it from the room and Karen's question was "Do you have to declare gecko poo when coming back into the country?" and the rest of us were classified as tree huggers by Julie because we didn't want to kill the gecko. All in all it was a crazy, hysterical day and there are pictures to prove it!

Sewing Day 1

We survived day one of the sewing centre! It was some crazy stuff!! After a late night prepping and then an early morning, I was not feeling my super best going into this. The horns of busses and trucks started blaring early, working the sounds into my dreams, resulting in a state of confusion and not a great hour of sleep. When the alarm went off I stayed in bed too long having me rush pack for todah but I got everything I needed. We had breakfast, met the rest of our translators and started the trek to Rio Frio. Riding in the back of the truck is basically the only part of the day where I feel cool and not sticky, I was almost so cool I wanted a sweater! When we arrived all the women and children were there and readh and we scrambled to finish setting everything up for them. In the morning I had about 12ish kids, probably more though, but thankfully I had awesome people helping, some teens from the local church and of course a translator! The morning kids were super outgoing and stuff which is awesome but difficult when trying to keep them entertained. I love playing with kids but keeping kids entertained is not my favourite thing to do. At one point one little boy looked so tired/faint so I picked him up and ended up playing frisbee with another group so I got my workout doing squats with a kid on my hip, I am so sore! I was so thankful....I stoppped writing mid sentence to help with prep stuff and am not totally sure exactlt where that was going but basically everything was awesome, I think I could have been going towards lunch though. Lunch was fantastic, we served all the ladies and kids and sat down to eat and I scarfed it down like I hadn't eaten in days, they have THE best rice here, I could eat it all the time! Eventually we had to do the morning all over in the afternoon, it honestly felt like living two days in one, it was crazy. I counted 18 kids in the afternoon but I am sure we gained one or two more and I lost most of my helpers because the actually have a life to attend to but the kids were a lot calmer which was fantastic! We read a Bible story, they all coloured (even the boys) and then they all made beaded jewelery (even the boys!), it was great! One kid was always crying/wimpering but thankfully it wasn't contagious and it wasn't to bad :) When the day was finally over we piled back into the truck, I was really hoping it would rain for a preshower, and had a nice cool ride back to where we are staying. Dinner was fantastic, I prayed so I could keep it short so we could eat, I was worried the other team members might pray too long :P After dinner we finished figuring out the cards and now has led to finishing a blog in my room but I am off to shower and sleep because I am tired! Here are some pictures from today, they should be pretty self-explanitory, if not ask a question or two :)

Sunday in El Salvador

Day 2 complete! We are all clean and feeling so much better and less sticky from the weather! This morning a bunch of us were up super early because of the time change, I chose to not be effected and just kept rolling over and trying to sleep. After a leisurely breakfast Carie picked us up to head over to Rio Frio. On the way we picked up some of our translators and enjoyed a cozy ride up in a truck packed with people and supplies. We arrived at the community centre where the sewing centre is currently being built beside it. A mass of women and children and a few men greeted us along with the pastor of the local church and the pastor of the Catholic local church. We set up our projects, did an introduction, had the women sign up for their projects and the trip began. The turn out was great, I have a bunch of kids and others who I get to hang out with all week which should be a blast and very interesting, to say the least, but I am SO excited! We had lunch made by the pastors sister, which was amazing and then set up where we would be working for the week. I didn't really have anything to set up so I played with the missionary families kids and tried to stay as clean and dry and cool before church as possible, only one got wet, we all had to brush some dirt off and nobody was cool, but we tried! I love going to church in El Salvador because everybody is so incredibly passionate! We were late but everybody was so welcoming and helpful when a bathroom was needed and we needed to find seats. Stewart preached about how our God is a sending God and it was a great reminder of what we are doing here and an encouragement to the people here. After church we met the mayor, greeted a bunch of the locals and started back to San Vicente to have dinner at Polo Compero (an El Salvadorian KFC). Dinner was fun, I played x and o with Elis, one of the kids of the missionary family and just had a blast. We stopped by the local grocery store to pick up somr stuff on the way back and got stared at and surprisingly met a guy from Iowa who spoke perfect English, not something you find everyday in El Salvador. Since getting back we have been organizing sponsorship cards from Canada for the women here, so not as easy as we thought it was going to be, prepping name tags and I am off to pull together my stuff for tomorrow and go to bed. Early brealfast and heading off to Rio Frio by 7 tomorrow and it has been a long day! Oh and the only picture I took on my phone was of a crazy, scary spider outside my door this morning, enjoy!

Prep Success!

We finished putting together all of the baskets for the women! Other than the scissors, which we will use all week, we cut all the jersey and batting and there are girly things, like makeup and nail polish, a Spanish Bible, fat squares and a sewing kit we made before we came down. We had a delicious hen, rice and potatoe salad type thing for dinner and of course pop :) After dinner, mini debrief and figuring out what Sunday would be like we finished up the baskets and had a lovely visit from Patricia, one of our translators. We also attempted to take the zipper out of jeans that had been used for quilts but it was brutal. Many seam rippers were broken and I completed one, maybe, with help from my mom, it was pathetic. We are off to see the centre where we will be working this week and then go to church, should be tons of fun! Can't wait to tell you what today had in store for us!

Arriving in El Salvador

Well we made it to El Salvador! This week 5 of us from Canada flew down to join a missionary family to teach women how to sew in Rio Frio at a new sewing centre. We left at 7:30 this morning with 11 overweight checking bags, overweight carry ons and made it through customs with no extra charge and every bag made it down (except one but that will be here tomorrow). Overall it was good plane ride down, longer than I remember but with 20ish less people on the team and none of them your best friends, it probably won't be as loud. Mrs. Hooper and Mrs. Tiessen did talk the whole way dpwn though and not incredibly quietly :P Anywho we are off to prep for the week!! Hopefully another update soon!

Remembering Arlynne

The best purpose of your life

Is to live your life

So that the purpose of your life

Out lives your life

Today there are many people remembering Arlynne Holyer, I remember her as a ray of sunshine in our school and a dedicated Christ follower.

 

          Arlynne passed away on a missions trip two years ago while she was dirt biking.  I first saw it on Facebook (that is the most efficient way of spreading news) and I didn’t believe it.  I thought there was a girl in my class with that name but I  couldn’t, quite honestly didn’t want to, believe that it was her so I resorted to Google (that is where you go to confirm something right) and discovered that it was true, I went numb.  Death is a part of life, I had experienced my grandmother suddenly passing away nine months earlier but it was a totally different feeling when it is a class mate, someone just like you, whose funeral you are attending.  Arlynne was doing great things, I had heard her talk about a missions trip to Montreal that she had taken the previous summer and how she was excited to go on another one over the summer for a 8 weeks to different communities to do different activities.  I knew she was going to do great things in life.  After hearing about what happened I couldn’t wrap my head around why God would take someone doing such great things for Him and His kingdom.  Going to her funeral was proof of how many people she had already impacted in her short, but very well lived sixteen years.  The service was beautiful and the main thing I took away was that life is short and nobody knows how short, so live each day sharing your passion to its fullest. 

          As young people, kids, teenagers, we think we are invincible, unshakeable, nobody can stop us.  Being invincible can be bad if we put ourselves in danger trying to do crazy stunts but can also be good when we use it to change the world around us.  Arlynne had a firm faith in God and she wanted to share that with as many people as she could.  From reading notes to keep family and friends posted online as to what she was doing it while on missions was easy to tell she loved what she was doing and that she wanted to, and probably would, do it for the rest of her life. I found it inspiring to know that even as a sixteen year old we can be making a huge impact on people’s lives.

http://vimeo.com/27251151

The link is to a clip of Arlynne’s baptism video, it is amazing to hear about the transformation in her life and what God was doing in it to make her who she was and how she was giving back to Him and the community around her.

          With Arlynne leading by example I think we should find our calling and start living our lives right now, not wait until we are older, when we think we will be wiser and more people will pay attention to us.  People are paying attention right now, you may not know it, but what you do and say, how you act; people are observing it and they might not even realize it.  Seeing the response on Facebook and going back to school in September after a memorial assembly for Arlynne, the little stories of moments people had with her, and how they remember little things about her was incredible to see. I remember watching her during a worship chapel on a Friday morning at school and just seeing the passion and love for God and wanting to have the type of faith and relationship that she had with Him.  She had a great laugh too, it was one that you could hear down the hallway and know it was her, she always had a great smile on and just lit up any room she walked into.  Doing the little things like laughing, smiling, just having small talk with friends and people around you does have an impact and it is those little things are what people will remember you for. 

          What do you want to be remembered for? The answer to that question is what you need to start doing with your life.  Arlynne wanted to share Christ with people around her, she didn’t tell people her goal and wait until she was older or thought she would do a better job, she started right away.  We need to start making our mark in our city, community and world and start our legacy so others can see and be inspired to make their own.  Arlynne gave us a wonderful example of how to begin making a difference around us and we need to follow that example and continue passionately living life like her and keep her memory alive while we do it.  Like the saying at the beginning of the blog, we want what we do with our life to continue on after our life ends, Arlynne’s purpose and passion in life will never die, she lived out the best purpose, did it passionately and loved it and I want that for everybody else.

Sunsets

Lately I have been sitting on my front porch doing school stuff and writing blogs because it is just a lot nicer to be outside and let’s be real, in the summer nobody wants to be inside.  Tonight while I was sitting work on a different blog (spoiler alert, it is a song, by Green Day, that is in a musical) I caught some of the sunset, through the massive maple and apple trees in my front yard. 

I love sunsets, they are all beautiful, some more than others, but every single one is unique and special which makes me want to spend all of my evenings on a lake in the middle of nowhere watching them.  There are a lot of things that are beautiful, unique and special on Earth though; around 7 billion I think, I am sure it is more but the point is there is a lot.  Each person is beautiful, unique and special whether they think so or not, the main issue is getting a person to realize it about themselves.  My partial solution of the day is this, when you see a sunset and just stand, sit or lay in awe of it’s beauty think of yourself, you are just like the sunset. 

Sunsets are not just the sun though, without clouds and dark spots there would be no real beauty.  Through life there are struggles and dark spots but that is what makes up a person and without challenges a person would be left shallow so instead of being ashamed and try and hide show your real beauty of your true self. 

The little daily reminders that you are incredible, have a purpose, bring beauty like a sunset other peoples’ worlds is what are needed.  If you get the chance, remind yourself of a sunset or somebody else because hearing it from somebody else always holds a lot more meaning.  You are a sunset! J

Crazy Hair Day

Today was a big day, I cut my hair. 

I am not one to do much with my hair on a regular basis, it is regularly thrown up in a ponytail, I have better things to do, like write blogs, than do my hair so when I do do something with my hair it is a big deal, especially when it is donating it.  “Donating for what?” you may ask, “Why would somebody want somebody else’s hair?” true it sounds weird but if you are a cancer patient with no hair, having somebody else’s hair would probably sound like a good deal! This is the fourth time I have donated it and I still get nervous, I am extremely vain when it comes to my hair, you couldn’t tell by looking at it on a regular basis but I love my hair.  It is the super great kind that has natural highlights that tons of people pay to have and I learned last week that it is thin but I have a lot of it which is awesome.  I still don’t understand the whole thick hair, thin hair thing, I figured I had thick hair but apparently not.  Due to lack of understanding and knowledge as previously displayed I do not belong in the hair business at all, ever.  Today though after having it done a few times and knowing what I do and don’t like I went in feeling a bit better about having my hair cut.  My best friend took the first cut of the braid off my head, needless to say you can totally tell which braid she cut compared to the hairdresser, she will not take scissors to my hair again.  My hair turned out fan-freaking-tastic and is perfect for the summer, plus doing something for someone else always makes me feel good. So go for it, do something for somebody else, just a random act of kindness, see what happens J