Agua Dulce

This one was right out of a dream (yes...in the heart of God!)

As we waited for our "private boat" to pull up at the dock at Montericco I surveyed the larger taxi boats, knowing we would not be boarding such a one. Soon, a kind looking Guatemalan man docked, shaked the hand of Pastor Eric, the Pastor we were working with, and greeted each of us with a firm hand shake. We grabbed all of our supplies - a large bag full of puppets, a CD player, an amplifier, mics and sound equipment, and our personal gear and loaded up. We smoothly traveled through the mangrove lined river - we were heading to a church to serve. This was not ordinary, however, because the area we were now is was made up of many small islands. Every family lives on their own little island and travels by boat to wherever they need to go.

When we docked at the island that we were having church at, we walked up, and were greeted by many on the way. Some poked their heads out of their homes, others were seen as their homes were open. After some different techniques were used to gather the masses - plugging in to the amp and announcing to the islands that service would be starting soon - we began. God was faithful and many children were there and the people that made it for this day were touched by the variety of ways God's truth was presented. (They all seemed to love the puppets - adults too!)

We packed up our stuff and walked through the palm trees and beach area to the boat. The Pastor wanted to take us to see a local salt plant, so we weaved in and out of some more mangrove lined water ways and ended up at another island. Wow - I thought - factory style. But this was in someone's yard...using basic chemical reactions to dissolve and then distill the salt. Mmmmm -it was good - real sea salt! This family was so excited to have us for an informal toor. They remembered that durning Hurricane Stan our teams from Fe Viva delivered medicines to them. The man of the house shared from God's word with us and we prayed together and headed on our way. The kids who had stayed in the boat had caught crabs and surprized us when we got back in.

The Pastors one grandson, who was nine and very intelligent and comical, (Josue), gifted me the crab he had caught. I was really touched by his generosity and kindness. I was also really blessed by three of the Pastors granddaughters, who sat with me on the boat ride back to the mainland. We spoke in Spanish about a variety of things - they laughed when I made mistakes and it was all around fun! I blessed them all in Jesus' name as we hugged goodbye at the mainland - and let my new crab go back into the water. Sweet and smiling memories. What wonderful children of God :)

This day was such a blessing and encouragement - reminding me once again that simple child-like love and faith are invaluable and as Jesus says that we can not enter His kingdom without them. Soft, clean hearts and pure, innocent hands.