Street kids

Today was one of the hardest days I have had in my travels. I have worked with people that have had very very poor living conditions but have never seen anything like I saw today. We went to a shelter for Street kids. The police pulled up at the same time as us.... as we got off the director of the shelter asked us to wait a moment....we waited as we watched the police talk to kids around 10 or 11 years old, they took some things away from the kids and the police went on their way. The director of the shelter came over to explain what was going on.... and said that a group of kids came today who were very high and started causing trouble so they had to call the cops. These kids were 10/11 years old! We went in and the director gave us an introduction to the shelter and all that they do. It was hard to hold back my tears as they I translated for him. He started by saying that they work with indigenous kids, kids that sell candies on the street, but mostly with kids that live on the streets and don’t have any contact with their parents....he went on to say that these kids range from 6 to 17 years old!!!! We were warned to keep all our belongings very close to us and to hang on to our cameras tightly, and not to give anything to the kids because they would sell it on the street and buy drugs. These are all just little kids. We started playing with the kids and I was talking to a couple of the boys that were clearly on something and asked how old they were 12 and 14, living on the streets and no parents. And they weren’t playing soccer....when I asked why they said because the ball hurt their feet too much...I looked down to see bare feet, calloused and cut. I felt so completely helpless, and you can’t give them shoes because again they’ll sell them and buy cocaine. I just wanted to sit and cry and hug these kids.

The shelter was government funded and was able to provide the kids with a place to sleep and get off the streets, but with the new government in power they took away all funding. They are now funded by local churches and an organization that Power to Change works with called Jesus Responde, but they only have funds to feed the kids and to have the doors open from 8am to 3:30pm and then the kids are back in on the streets. It is so tough on the volunteers (all workers are volunteers) to see these kids each day going back on the streets.

As we left the kids were leaving too.....stopping by the bushes to pick up the drugs they ditched before entering the shelter. Our bus driver had to call the cops while we were with the kids because some other kids were trying to break the bus windows and the windows on Avelinos car.

We were able to play with the kids and show them a bit of God’s love, still we all feel so helpless and small in comparison to what these kids go through every day.

Center for kids infected and affected by AIDS

I really can’t believe that I only have three full days left here and I come home! It will definitely be bitter sweet. I want to be home to see Grandma and be with my family, and have all the comforts that come from home as well. But this is such a great group down here and I’m having such a great time watching God move in their lives and I know that He is going to be doing such amazing things through each of them, it’s sad that I won’t be here to be part of it and witness all that God is going to do.

Tuesday afternoon we go to go and hang out at a center for kids that are infected and affected by AIDS. On the bus ride there I just prayed that I could see these kids through Gods eyes, that I could love them with His love. We got there and a few of the kids quickly clung to us and some were a bit shyer and need a bit of encouragement to talk to us, but that didn’t take long at all. They were all so cute!!! We colored with them, jumped on the trampoline and then walked to a park to play some futbol with them. I walked over hold hands with Rosy (8 yrs picture to the left), she said she didn’t like futbol much and wasn’t sure if she was going to play today or not. Rosy and I were partnered up for the warm up games and she quickly joined in and was giggling non-stop. When the futbol began she was right in there with the rest of them. Maty (3yrs picture the the right) glued to Tim, oh it was great!!! Tim played half the game with Maty giggling on his back. It was so fun to see our guys and girls encage with the kids too. I got to translate for Megan as she shared her testimony of how God helped her through her parent’s divorce; a story I’m sure a lot of these kids could relate to. Then I translated as Benjamin shared with them who Jesus was. The kids were listening so intently to every word, it was great!

As the futbol game was going on Wendy (a Canadian who runs the shelter), came over and sent Julio to play in the game. She stood by me and told me Julio’s story. He is 25 years old, he had a great job in Argentina when his girlfriend in Paraguay told him she was pregnant, he got home the day his son was born. At the same time his girlfriend told him she was HIV positive, he went and got tested and sure enough he tested positive as well. This was only two months ago. Not only is he dealing with this new lot in life but both families don’t want him and his girlfriend to be together so they are being forced to stay apart when they both want to be together. He comes to the center to be part of the support group and helps out with the kids. He’s happy to have found help and says the center helps him get through each day. My heart broke for him and tears were in my eyes as Wendy shared his story with me, I could feel how much God loves Julio and how much He longs to make Him whole and give him the strength to get through all of what he’s going through.

It was so great getting to play with the kids, we’ll be going to a soup kitchen Thursday, I’m really looking forward to it. I have to share a side story about one of the little girls....Adreana (4 yrs, pic to the right).....she was so cute and so sweet, she clung to Megan instantly. We were at the park and she didn’t want to play futbol so Megan and her were hanging out. Well, Adreana decided she wanted to jump into a well..... so Megan stopped her which made Adreana quite mad, she started kicking and crying and hitting Megan...Benjamin went over to help out and Adreana proceeded to hit Benjamin as well, then this oh so cute little girls not only sticks her tongue out at Benjamin but also flips him the bird!!! Hahaha, he was so shocked and hurt that a 4 year old little girl would flip him off. Poor guy, provided us with a great laugh though.

The Special

It has been a very, very busy week!!! We finished our Integrating Faith and Sport this morning. It has been a great week of watching the students soak all their learning in and getting to put it into practise on the field.
The seminar is always ended with "The Special" this is a 24 hours sports marathon....since our group was small it was 15 hours. They started at 8pm Saturday night and ended at 11am this morning.

The special symbolizes the last bit of Christ's life and his walk to Golgotha. The teams have focal points together (a bible verse or something) and a personal focal point as well, it was cool watching everyone come out ready to go with their bible verses written on their arms and legs. It's hard to tell all about it as I'm still lacking some sleep. But everyone did So good! they started and ended strong.
The last challenge after being physically exhausted is called Golgotha....we drove to a large mountain that overlooks the city, in a relay style each student took a plank of wood and ran down the mountain (not too far, but way too far for me), and then run back up, but on the way back they had to carry the wood as Christ carried the cross. They were in isolation during this, to reflect on what they've been through in relation to what Christ went through for them. The last little bit their team could cheer them on. Everyone was exhausted but finished so strong as a thank you for what Christ went through for each of us. After when Paul was sharing and reading from the bible about Christ's walk to Golgotha it was emotional to think of the encouragement that each of the students got...while Christ was beaten, spit on and people couldn't wait to see him die as he walked up the hill. It was an incredible experience for everyone.

We all got a bit of sleep and are now getting ready for a great reward.....all you can eat Brazillian BBQ YUM!!!!

Hey again everyone,

I haven't had a ton of time to really think about what I was going to write today. First off today was a harder day hearing that my Grandma is back in the hospital and I am unable to be there to support my family is very hard. But at the same time that I think of that, it is because of the fact that my Grandma moved in with us about 20 years ago that I am in Paraguay today. If she had not moved in and taken me to church all those years ago, I may not have Jesus as part of my life. SO in not being with my family I am taking comfort in the fact that I am living out a very big part of my life that my Grandma had a huge contribution to.

So on with what we have been doing..... I haven't had a huge amout of time to mull over what we have been learning in our classes and I really want to write that well, with complete thoughts so I will write more about it later. I'll just talk about the free time stuff we have been doing.

Yesterday afternoon we got to out on a tour of Asuncion. We went down to the Paraguay River, and looked out over a shanty town, that honestly smelt like a bathroom. There were tons of kids running around and coming up asking for money. Tim took to a kid Damion, very quickly and was doing magic tricks for him with coins. Damion that Tim was the best and followed us all around for about 45 mins. It was great!!! We learnt alot about the history of Paraguay and it is harsh!!!! One war killed 90% of their men so they resorted to dressing kids up in army clothes painting on mustaches, handing them a gun and sending them to war...these were kids ages 7 -17!!!! Brutal. We also got to meet the pastor that runs the soup kitchen where Damion and another 300 kids get to eat lunch each day.

THen today at practise we had an army truck drive up.....guys with big machine guns running around only to find out the President was coming!!! hahaha. What are the chances... and there were only about 6 guards or so and one dog.

Anyways Becca is waiting for the internet...there's a couple of stories for now.

Have a good day!!!

Integrating Faith and Sport

I’m writing this on Wednesday night (hoping to post it on Thursday). Our entire team is finally here and everything has started full force. We had one guy miss a connection flight so arrived two days later than the rest of the team. And Paul and Nicole Huggins joined us today as well. They are AIA Staff from Ottawa and have come to join us for six days to take the team through a seminar that’s called “National Training Camp” or “Integrating Faith and Sport”. We had our first session tonight and four Paraguayan athletes were able to join us. I got to sit in the back with them and try my best to translate Paul speaking.....for those who know Paul know that he’s a fast talker...a passionate talker...and uses a lot of slang. Hahaha. It was a great challenge and the girls seem to have understood the basic gist of things. And finding out that I really need to study up on my Bible names in Spanish too, they can be quite different and I definitely don’t know them all.

As we walk through these classes this week my blog, at times, may seem more like a personal journal as I chew on what we’re learning each day. But I what you guys to know what God is doing in me over the next 11 days I have left in Paraguay.....ok so here it goes. Tonight’s class was on the “Audience of One” challenging the athletes to think of why they play and who they are playing for. I’m trying to put this in perspective to my life, not being an athlete (you’re surprised I know, but I don’t do sports). But really the basic theme of the talk was “Am I a wall or a window” when people look at me do they see me, what I can do and who I am......Or am I a window to who God is....do people look at me and see Jesus? Do I live my life in a way that stands out to be something desirable or different? Do I genuinely love those around me as God does? Do they see that? If I am living my life in the way that God has set out for me, people around me should sense HIS love, they may not know what it is, but there should be something different about me. Right now in my life I know I am falling short on this big time. No one is perfect, we are all so far way from perfection. That’s what amazes me most about God, we are so far from perfect, we screw up on a daily bases, He knows we’re going to screw up and even hurt Him, yet He loves us! When we go astray He patiently waits for us, gently sending us reminders that He’s there, waiting and loving us. He will always take us back.

I know there are things I need to change about the way I’m living my life, it will be a week of mulling through that with God and figuring out where I need to change. One thing I know for sure, I need to spend more time reading my bible. God’s love letter to us, God’s instruction book on life. God’s letter showing us all human screw ups in history yet He used those Screw ups for amazing things. I know He’ll use me too, I just have to be willing to let Him.

first few days in Paraguay

Hey Everyone!

My first few days in Paraguay were fairly uneventful. My job was to make four very active girls rest up for the remainder of the trip. They are great girls and we have had a lot of fun together just hanging out and going for walks.

Saturday we got to go to the Paraguay vs. Chile game....Paraguay lost 2 -0 so the environment was very different from last year. Watching the fans get angry was more entertaining than the game itself at some points. haha. Especially when they started throwing bottles.

Our group arrived yesterday, very, very tired after about 40 hours of travel. We had a quick orentation and played some games and chatted before everyone was just falling asleep.

This week will be intense for the athletes as they go through a four day seminar of Integrating Faith and Sport.....it always proves to be physically, Mentally and Spiritually exhausting but the outcome of it is amazing! They will grow so much in their faith and get to know who they are in God.

That's about it. I'm sure some good stories will be coming soon....we have some excitting things coming up but won't ruin any surprises for now.

Love you all,

Vicki

Paraguay Bound 2009!

Well, in about 9 hours I will be at the airport waiting to board my plane to Paraguay again (will arrive in Paraguay after about 24 hours of travel). It's been a year since I was there last and I am SO excited to see my friends again and see first hand all that God has done this past year.
We have had a Women's team in Paraguay for the past two weeks and the stories that I have heard so far are amazing, God is moving, using these girls to do incredible things. He's moving in the peoples hearts and they are coming to know Him, understanding how great His love is for each of us.
I can't wait to get there and be part of all of this again! I am so blessed to have this opportunity, who am I that God would use me in such ways? I am God's beloved, He is powerful and can do things beyond my strengths, abilities and knowledge using me as a vessle to show His love.
I'll be trying to update this blog as much as I can. Thank you to each and everyone of you for your support, prayers and encouragement, you each have a part in this trip.

Love you all!!!!