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| Chris in front of the ministry building and school |
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| The area surrounding Oyate Concern |
Breakfast was running late. We ate our breakfast and then did morning devotions. Then, the work projects began - flooring (which Chris and I have plenty of experience with since laying our own laminate), sanding mud on the drywall, and creating a grid for a drop ceiling, and also digging up the septic tank, because it was backing up. We let the boys do these jobs, and we worked in the kitchen, getting things chopped up for dinner and then making lunch. We planned for the kids coming to basketball camp and got masking tape with numbers ready, as well as clipboards so we could register the kids and get them playing quickly.
The men would not stop working to come and get their lunches, so we fixed the lunches and they came down to eat briefly before they returned to their work projects. The students leaders for the basketball camp came early, and our coach worked with them, preparing them to lead the little kids coming to the camp. We had about four kids come early with some of their family that lived nearby. The bus came and we were all waiting for our potentially 60 kids....and then 14 stepped out. We put on their tape numbers and wrote their names on another piece of tape and placed it on their backs. Some of the kids were very difficult to understand, some could spell their names well for you, some could barely spell their names. Some found it easier to just write it for you than actually writing.
At first I admit I was a little disappointed at the small number of kids. It's not about numbers, but the more you have, the more you can hopefully spread some hope and joy to. Then I remembered that sometimes smaller groups are better because you can interact better with each child. After all, we had only an hour and a half with them. It was true, too, I was able to learn several of their names while mostly helping with the drinks and snacks.
The family across the way spends a lot of time at Oyate. They are a very nice family and they have a dog that also came. It is such a sweet dog, and one of the children said she had gotten an infection in one of her eyes and was now blind.
After basketball camp, we cleaned up and then helped get ready for teen night. One thing about this year, there is an abnormal amount of grasshoppers. As you walk around outside, there are what seems like hundreds of bugs jumping in every direction away from your feet. They do a pretty good job of jumping away and avoiding being stepped on, but I did see a few smashed. I'm just so grateful that the weather is peaking at 90* during the day. Last time I was here it was all brown and dry hitting 114 on our hottest day. This is so pleasant comparatively.
The teen leaders stuck around, hanging out doing typical teenage things - Facebook, games on their phones, etc. We ate our dinner as a team, which was a delicious tortellini soup with garlic bread. The kids are picked up on a large yellow school bus from around the area. After arriving, they sat in the teen room and one of our team members gave the message. They were pretty much the typical teens, and a few were caught with cell phones out (and they quickly put them away, respectfully I'd say). I had a girl I sat next to pull a large grasshopper off my back. I guess he had decided to catch a ride on me. It's a good thing that they don't scare me, or I might have made something of a scene in the middle of the lesson.
Food and then hanging out came after our meeting. The kids love to play basketball, but we also had a little fire pit going and s'mores to be made. The ladies of our group invited any of the girls who were interested to come get manicures and pedicures from us. We are certainly not professionals, but we did want to have an opportunity to pamper them. Girls, in general, struggle enough with feeling good about themselves, and so any way that we can help them feel a little more special is really important. Many of them either weren't interested or too shy, but we did have about 5-6 that came in. They were willing to get their hands painted, but they were particularly shy about their feet. I had to convince them that just soaking in some warm water (into which I put some of my lavender and peppermint essential oils) would feel nice while they were getting their fingernails done. I helped do some painting and had an opportunity to chat with a few of the girls. The one girl whose nails I painted, let me put a little sugar scrub on her feet, and then massage some lotion in. She seemed to really enjoy it because she touched her feet and a shy smile crossed her face. It was pretty sweet. One girl did decide later to get a pedicure. We decided to leave all of our left over nail stuff with the leaders here so that they could use it in the future.
The bus took the kids home and we cleaned up, and Chris helped me prep for my breakfast the next morning. That is something I love about Chris and makes me so glad I married him. He is such a servant. He jumped right in and helped me make my blueberry maple refrigerator oatmeal. There wasn't enough yogurt for extra servings, and I was concerned we were cutting it too close. Then, there wasn't enough milk thawed, but there was a big ice chunk in the middle of the carton so we microwaved it briefly and that worked. With all 18 cups ready for the morning, I headed to my little self-inflating sleeping pad. Apparently for both nights I slept through any thunder storms.
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| Playing a shooting game |
The family across the way spends a lot of time at Oyate. They are a very nice family and they have a dog that also came. It is such a sweet dog, and one of the children said she had gotten an infection in one of her eyes and was now blind.
After basketball camp, we cleaned up and then helped get ready for teen night. One thing about this year, there is an abnormal amount of grasshoppers. As you walk around outside, there are what seems like hundreds of bugs jumping in every direction away from your feet. They do a pretty good job of jumping away and avoiding being stepped on, but I did see a few smashed. I'm just so grateful that the weather is peaking at 90* during the day. Last time I was here it was all brown and dry hitting 114 on our hottest day. This is so pleasant comparatively.
The teen leaders stuck around, hanging out doing typical teenage things - Facebook, games on their phones, etc. We ate our dinner as a team, which was a delicious tortellini soup with garlic bread. The kids are picked up on a large yellow school bus from around the area. After arriving, they sat in the teen room and one of our team members gave the message. They were pretty much the typical teens, and a few were caught with cell phones out (and they quickly put them away, respectfully I'd say). I had a girl I sat next to pull a large grasshopper off my back. I guess he had decided to catch a ride on me. It's a good thing that they don't scare me, or I might have made something of a scene in the middle of the lesson.
Food and then hanging out came after our meeting. The kids love to play basketball, but we also had a little fire pit going and s'mores to be made. The ladies of our group invited any of the girls who were interested to come get manicures and pedicures from us. We are certainly not professionals, but we did want to have an opportunity to pamper them. Girls, in general, struggle enough with feeling good about themselves, and so any way that we can help them feel a little more special is really important. Many of them either weren't interested or too shy, but we did have about 5-6 that came in. They were willing to get their hands painted, but they were particularly shy about their feet. I had to convince them that just soaking in some warm water (into which I put some of my lavender and peppermint essential oils) would feel nice while they were getting their fingernails done. I helped do some painting and had an opportunity to chat with a few of the girls. The one girl whose nails I painted, let me put a little sugar scrub on her feet, and then massage some lotion in. She seemed to really enjoy it because she touched her feet and a shy smile crossed her face. It was pretty sweet. One girl did decide later to get a pedicure. We decided to leave all of our left over nail stuff with the leaders here so that they could use it in the future.
The bus took the kids home and we cleaned up, and Chris helped me prep for my breakfast the next morning. That is something I love about Chris and makes me so glad I married him. He is such a servant. He jumped right in and helped me make my blueberry maple refrigerator oatmeal. There wasn't enough yogurt for extra servings, and I was concerned we were cutting it too close. Then, there wasn't enough milk thawed, but there was a big ice chunk in the middle of the carton so we microwaved it briefly and that worked. With all 18 cups ready for the morning, I headed to my little self-inflating sleeping pad. Apparently for both nights I slept through any thunder storms.
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