Borumlaca Last Day - Yesterday

Hey, it's Kelsey again. We've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to update you all on our last morning at Borumlaca. Man, what an awesome group of kids are there! There is such a HUGE ministry potential with the kids there. It seems everywhere I turn in this country there's something like that. I'm still not sure how you deal with it because more times than not I lose it in stress over the fact that there aren't enough hands and feet for the needs in this country. Or at least, it seems that way. Anyway, back to Borumlaca.

These kids were incredible, they really were. Sometimes they acted like gypsy kids are expected to with lots of begging and whining and making their voice change into a "woe is me" kind of sound. We dealt with that by mimicking them back and then everyone, including those doing it, would start laughing! Another way to combat this was by our rule of "If you aren't sitting down then you aren't getting anything!" The "anything" ranged from stickers for their craft project to bags of tortilla chips for snack.

What most amazed me though was how hungry they were to learn and how quickly they learned. What would be most difficult for Casa Alba kids was a breeze for the Borumlaca children. I mean, these kids are considered the lowest of the low in this country. Their future is hopeless, to most. They proved this mistaken viewpoint of their potential wrong time after time with us. Bible verse to learn and memorize : NO PROBLEM. Difficult to pronounce Spiritual Armor to learn : NO PROBLEM. Applying the puppet show concepts to spiritual life : NO PROBLEM. Learning an English song about God : NO PROBLEM. Understanding the battle between good and evil with Jesus and Satan : NO PROBLEM.
Anything we brought before these kids they soaked it up and it stayed. I think what kept going through my head was "Why didn't I think this was possible before?" Oh me of little faith, honestly.

They were so sad that we weren't coming back today. They kept asking "Aren't you coming tomorrow? You coming tomorrow?" over and over again. We started the Casa Alba VBS today but I am positive had we not, we would have just gone back to Borumlaca again this morning.

They don't have a church building, the congregation meets on the road each Sunday. We did too. One of our volunteers here is supposed to start a Sunday School program with the kids in 2 weeks. She came with us each day this week and I hope she was able to see the potential these kids have and what works/not works with them. But winter will be so hard...those kids are going to be crushed when church stops meeting because it's too cold to be outside anymore.

I haven't driven so much in one week in a long time. The ROADS ARE AWFUL HERE. Let me tell you, this has always been a reality but having driven or been in a car more than I ever have in 1 week - every part of my body is feeling it tonight.

Oh, and you should have seen their faces at seeing a puppet show for the first time....priceless.