Lunch & VBS

(Note: I have updated some photos in the past couple of posts - make sure you check them if you were wanting to see the photos I promised).

One of the most practical (and important) services Hope for Guatemala offers is a nutritious lunch for the children 5 days a week. As the children are coming into the center, they are asked if they want pequeno (small), mediano (medium), or grande (large). They are expected to eat everything on their plates. This teaches the children to make wise decisions & to take responsibility for the decisions they make. Some of the tiniest children choose grande every day because this is the only nutritious meal (or maybe the only meal) they will receive. These tiny children with the large meals are usually the last ones eating & they leave with huge bellies! :) The Ministry serves lunch twice a day because children either go to school in the morning or in the afternoon in Guatemala. So, those that have school in the afternoon, come to the first lunch and those that have school in the mornings come to the second lunch. Lunch usually consists of rice with some sort of stew, vegetables or black beans and tortillas. My favorite lunch of the week was the black beans & rice - they were the best ever! They have a vegetable in Guatemala called huisquil (pronounced weeskill) which was used in the lunch almost everyday. It sort of looks like a gourd but has a texture like a mixture of a potato & a squash - strange, I know (I didn't feel like I had been missing out all of my life because I've never had it, either). :)

Before the first lunch & after the second lunch, the children are taught lessons on character traits using Biblical examples. The week we were there, we conducted VBS for the children after the second lunch. The character trait for the week we were there was Loyalty.

The following photo shows Erin (Jose's wife) teaching the lesson before the first lunch: The photo below shows the kids eating at the second lunch. These are the kids we had the most interaction with during the week & the ones we were blessed to get to know.

And just to prove that I did do something besides stand around & take photos while I was there...here is a photo of me passing out drinks to the kids.

We conducted VBS on the rooftop Monday through Wednesday. We had an awesome interpreter - Karina - who is fluent in English & Spanish. We were also truly blessed to get to know Karina as well. Sloane did a great job with the lessons & Michelle, Shanna, & I gave out prizes, helped facilitate games, and helped with craft projects. Here are some photos of VBS throughout the week:


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