One snapshot from yesterday captures our week beautifully. In the morning our students were yoked with the 7th grade class for an art project and visit to the neighboring nursing home. The language challenges and nerves led to some awkward exchanges ... until a very special moment when they got it: playing Bingo. Up until then our kids had been giving -- painting the school, filling food bags, being the "American mission trippers." In Bingo, each of our students was paired with a Guatemalan student and an elderly resident. Suddenly our students had little to give, relying entirely on their Guatemalan partner to communicate/compete/play the game. After it was over the students began creating their own games, laughing, joking, hugging. It was as though they suddenly realized that, wow, we really are brothers and sisters on this earth. The language barrier no longer mattered. The color of skin and vast cultural differences no longer stood as a barrier. They were family. On the mile walk back to the school the students -- Guatemalan and American -- kept laughing and joking and playing. Two even held hands, a friendship secured.
That's what this trip is all about. We're not building churches or schools or medical clinics. We're building relationships. And that's the best building project of all.
Thank you for your prayers. Adios, Amigos.
Pastor Rhodes
PS There are several ways to follow us these next two weeks. We'll add a blogpost/story each day to the church blog, accessed via our website. View tons of pictures via our church Facebook page. And read a special interest story about our students each day on the school website, www.wearegraces.org. Click "blog." Thanks for joining our journey!
