Day 4…Hora Feliz

OK, at the risk of sounding like a broken record…WOW, what an amazing day! Our God is AWESOME…we are living the miracle, reminded daily that  “… I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:19-21)  We are gathered here in La Plata, and it is evident that God is here with us.  I am sure that all of the folks back home praying are having an effect.  I believe today has been MOST successful!

OK, so, some background:  Our planning for today was minimal.  OK, an understatement, it was ALMOST planned.  Honestly here was the plan (in total)…three of us would dress up like clowns, we would go out to a neighborhood in the morning and another in the afternoon and the clowns would try to attract children.  Once we got as many as we could get together in one place,  two Argentine nationals (we were asked not to post names) who will work with the team during Hora Feliz would spend about 30 minutes playing games, singing songs and talking with the kids about Jesus.  If we were lucky, a parent or two might be nearby.  We had fairly low expectations and anticipated 8-10 kids for each. All but two of us would go, and those two would stay behind and pray.  A different two would stay behind in the afternoon.

This morning we began in the Villa (I wrote about this yesterday).  The three of us walked up and down the streets waving to everyone and handing candy out to some kids. There were a LOT of kids.  Very quickly the kids began to follow us (and as kids do, kept trying to get us to give them extra candy).  Since the three of us were separate (and each had a Spanish speaking member of the team along to tell them about the show) it was hard to tell how it was going.  Once we all got to the central location it was AMAZING, beyond our best expectations!  There were 50 plus kids and LOADS of parents (even a father or two!).  Everyone seemed happy that we were there and some of the parents (remember, the Villa is the poorest of poor neighborhoods) brought out Mate (a tea used for social situations), water and soda for us to drink.  For those of you who are unfamiliar, in this culture bringing drink out has MAJOR significance in this culture.  It indicates trust, and a desire to be hospitable.  Several conversations were had, the team was told they were welcome to return, and Deb actually suggested she bring her kids to play there some time, and one (or more?) of the mom’s said she should do that!  So, from an expectation of 10 or so kids and one or two parents we had at least 50 kids and lots of parents!  Praise God for answered prayer!

This afternoon, we worked our way through a different neighborhood to a fairly large park area.  Our expectations were actually lower for this neighborhood, and we knew it was possible that we could really have only one or two kids, depending on how many happened to be out when we went through the neighborhood.  Same team would be going out except for the prayer team from the AM would be going to photograph the event, and the AM photographers would become the prayer team.  Things were originally looking like our expectations were set about right, but as we all arrived at the park, it seemed many more kids began to arrive.  Although not as many people a this morning, there were a good 25-30 kids this afternoon and they seemed to really have a ball!  The kids this afternoon were much more physically engaged, hugging the clowns, having pictures taken with them even kissing us good bye when we left. The cool thing is there were a number of adults as well, and one of the moms actually came over to say goodbye and kiss our cheeks before we left too!  Even better though, one couple had a really great conversation with the Elledges, asking for their number and indicating they wanted to continue getting to know one another.  The woman actually told Jill to call if she had questions about vaccinations or anything else.  Again…PRAISE GOD FOR ANSWERED PRAYER!

Oh, and we spent TWO HOURS at each site!

Of course, Anna and Norma fed us well again today…spaghetti for lunch, and Lasan’a (lasagna) for dinner.  These ladies have been absolutely wonderful to us, and it is such a blessing to have them preparing our meals each day. They are phenomenal cooks!  Please pray that they will find the tome to write down all their recipes so we can share some of them when we return.

It is a real blessing to know that so many of you back home are following us on this blog, and praying for the work that is going on here.  It is evident, as it is clear that God is blessing us, at least to this point.  I pray that He will continue to bless us on the second half of our trip, and bless the permanent team for the rest of their tenure here in La Plata.

Below is one of the many photos from this afternoon. It is heartwarming to watch these children enjoy themselves, and to know that children everywhere are so similar…laughing and playing.  It was a blessing to be one of the clowns and to have an opportunity to interact personally with some of the kids.  Again, I believe I got more out of the day than any of the kids did…isn’t our God FANTASTIC!?

Good night for now…Day 5 will be late tomorrow, since we are out and about for two church services, an Asado (BBQ) for lunch and dinner out (evening service ends about 9:30…maybe later since we are here and everyone will want to “chat” afterward).  I may or may not post tomorrow night, but if not then I will post Monday morning.