The second day we started studying 2Timothy. Each day a dad led the bible study before we went to serve for the day. The verse that stuck out to me the most was 2Tim 1:8. "So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God." Even though Paul was in jail he was still teaching about God. I know that if I was in jail it would be hard for me to be rejoicing. I learned that I need to rejoice in all situations..even ones that are hard.
Our mission team went to Las Palmas, the school, to serve in the morning. The girls and women taught the school children a cool rainbow loom bracelet and the boys and men did some landscaping in the schoolyard. I got to teach six or seven classrooms how to do the pretty bracelets. The moms, other girls, and I split into two groups so we could have time to teach every class from preschool [including two and three year olds] to fourth grade. It was kind of hard to communicate with the younger children but the older ones spoke English since it's a bilingual school. I liked helping them because it was fun to see the look on their faces when they finished the bracelets. We let the preschoolers play with some bands while we made the bracelets for them. They would put down their bands and smile really big when they received their bracelet. The kids chose their colors and helped us pick them out.
God gave me a special experience realizing that what they called a private school was children learning in classrooms the size of my bedroom or smaller. I was surprised how many kids were in the small rooms and that their desks were twice as small as mine and very old with paint peeling off. Children there considered that rich and didn't know that classrooms in America are about three times the size of theirs. I am thankful that God brought me there and showed me the differences of rich in the Dominican Republic and in America.
After teaching at the school and eating a delicious lunch at the church, the girls, women, and I headed to the sewing workshop while the guys moved some boxes from the church to this empty space called 'vision land'. After hearing a short bible study in Spanish led by a sweet young lady named Madeline, Cora's mom and Xander's mom started teaching the girls from youth group how to sew shorts. My favorite part was talking with Madeline and learning some new Spanish words. I really loved getting to know her.
While they were learning to sew, all the machines broke except for one! Even though there was only one working all the girls were very patient and didn't seem upset at all. That taught me that I could wait my turn in a line of four people with my siblings and be patient after watching them wait for a couple of hours before it was their turn. Some people didn't even get to finish their shorts until the next day. The girls were all so super sweet and I got to talk and get to know them while they were waiting.
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