It´s definitely April
Hello one and all on this nice April day!
It´s definitely April, well its not that obvious...it hasn´t been the crazy month that March was even excluding the NCAA basketball tournaments. Been fairly tranquil as the winter rainy season is coming to an end and the weather is supposed to be cooling down, no sign quite yet.
Our prayers have gone out to the victims of the school shooting at Virg. Tech after we heard about it through internet news, its a shock that many people here are confused here about why it has happened so much in the schools in teh U.S. I didn´t quite know how to answer that question to say the least.
April began wit hte Easter festivities around here, Latin Americans are super traditional in the Catholic faith so its almost more of a custom to celebrate the holy week instead of taking on the true significance of why Jesus died on the cross and the meaning behind him rising, I guess there´s that concern with many Christian faiths as well but it was something I noticed. The washing of the feet was my favorite part of the week where it was very inspirational and humbling experience...the stations of the cross was simply just interesting at night riding throughout the barrio with candles and people trying to understand what´s goin on. Easter Sunday was fantastic with all of us Rostro gang gathering for a great, big feast and making some games with an egg hunt and sac race with our neighbors (I´ll put a few pics on soon). Good times and great food thanks to the donation by the parents which was used for Easter.
Things have been goin pretty well, been a subtle couple weeks after Easter with the school I´m working at doin very well right now with the girls screamin less, thank you God! Much more organized classes and teachers, kids with uniforms and backpacks, and a new bus that the school bought!
The time with Aracely, community relations for Rostro, has been goin very well with spending more time in teh community and watching her in action durin her job. There has been more interest for another project from some of our neighbors so next month we may be assisting and helping out in teh effort...its fantastic to see the people here take some action!!
Our after school program is in transition as kids go back to school, a few kids have moved away that have been with the program for a long time which gives us a taste of what will happen in a few months. Overall, we have less kids so therefore we can focus a little more on actual activities for the kids, its goin well overall with our retreat groups enjoying the programs and helping out during their time here, , ...from now till the end of our time in August, we have high school and college retreat groups here almost nonstop; makes things more interesting and a little out of wack for sure. My first group is May 23.
It´s been a solid April, ending with a silent retreat next weekend, I´m actually looking forward to it because this part of the country, coastal area, can be sooooooo loud!
Hope all is well as the school year, up there atleast, comes to an end (I can´t believe my younger sister steph is almost done with first year of college).
Praises
1. My sister Katie and Mom with their birthdays this week, my brother Jake and his wife´s 1st anniverasary last week and my Mom and Dad´s next week, also volunteers Mike and Mara´s bdays 2 days ago.
2. Great visits from families of volunteers and one more to come.
3. Overall health of volunteers and community in this very moment.
Prayers
1. People of Arbolito still looking for work and struggling with day to day living.
2. Community of Arbolito will come together and collaborate the needs.
3. For an worthwhile, energizing and fruitful retreat next week.
Thank you for your prayers and I pray that the rest of the month will provide those moments in your life to try and understand the meaning of it all.
Blessings.
Sam
It´s definitely April, well its not that obvious...it hasn´t been the crazy month that March was even excluding the NCAA basketball tournaments. Been fairly tranquil as the winter rainy season is coming to an end and the weather is supposed to be cooling down, no sign quite yet.
Our prayers have gone out to the victims of the school shooting at Virg. Tech after we heard about it through internet news, its a shock that many people here are confused here about why it has happened so much in the schools in teh U.S. I didn´t quite know how to answer that question to say the least.
April began wit hte Easter festivities around here, Latin Americans are super traditional in the Catholic faith so its almost more of a custom to celebrate the holy week instead of taking on the true significance of why Jesus died on the cross and the meaning behind him rising, I guess there´s that concern with many Christian faiths as well but it was something I noticed. The washing of the feet was my favorite part of the week where it was very inspirational and humbling experience...the stations of the cross was simply just interesting at night riding throughout the barrio with candles and people trying to understand what´s goin on. Easter Sunday was fantastic with all of us Rostro gang gathering for a great, big feast and making some games with an egg hunt and sac race with our neighbors (I´ll put a few pics on soon). Good times and great food thanks to the donation by the parents which was used for Easter.
Things have been goin pretty well, been a subtle couple weeks after Easter with the school I´m working at doin very well right now with the girls screamin less, thank you God! Much more organized classes and teachers, kids with uniforms and backpacks, and a new bus that the school bought!
The time with Aracely, community relations for Rostro, has been goin very well with spending more time in teh community and watching her in action durin her job. There has been more interest for another project from some of our neighbors so next month we may be assisting and helping out in teh effort...its fantastic to see the people here take some action!!
Our after school program is in transition as kids go back to school, a few kids have moved away that have been with the program for a long time which gives us a taste of what will happen in a few months. Overall, we have less kids so therefore we can focus a little more on actual activities for the kids, its goin well overall with our retreat groups enjoying the programs and helping out during their time here, , ...from now till the end of our time in August, we have high school and college retreat groups here almost nonstop; makes things more interesting and a little out of wack for sure. My first group is May 23.
It´s been a solid April, ending with a silent retreat next weekend, I´m actually looking forward to it because this part of the country, coastal area, can be sooooooo loud!
Hope all is well as the school year, up there atleast, comes to an end (I can´t believe my younger sister steph is almost done with first year of college).
Praises
1. My sister Katie and Mom with their birthdays this week, my brother Jake and his wife´s 1st anniverasary last week and my Mom and Dad´s next week, also volunteers Mike and Mara´s bdays 2 days ago.
2. Great visits from families of volunteers and one more to come.
3. Overall health of volunteers and community in this very moment.
Prayers
1. People of Arbolito still looking for work and struggling with day to day living.
2. Community of Arbolito will come together and collaborate the needs.
3. For an worthwhile, energizing and fruitful retreat next week.
Thank you for your prayers and I pray that the rest of the month will provide those moments in your life to try and understand the meaning of it all.
Blessings.
Sam
posted by Sam Conway | 4:23 PM
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