May
11
Friday night the ladies of the Puerto Supe Christian Community Center, on their own, organized a night out and invited Grace and me, which here means they paid our way. We took a van together to a polleria (chicken restaurant) in Barranca, enjoyed our roasted chicken, and had a drawing in which everyone received a present. That may sound like a small deal to you, but for us, it was breathtaking. Up to this point, the Community has been all about receiving, both spiritually and economically, and we were deeply moved by this gift to us. Tim and I have been brainstorming for a while about how to encourage service and giving among these believers, and lo and behold, on their own initiative, the ladies sprung this on us. I am so encouraged.The event was in honor of Mother's Day, which is a HUGE deal in this country. I'm still a little baffled by the holiday. They have been talking about it for at least two weeks and we've have party after party in town. Mostly that means really loud music keeping us up all night, so I hope all the mothers feel super honored.
In our Community board meeting this week, one of the charity petitions was from the very ladies of the Community, asking for Mother's Day gifts since they can't afford their own. To me it seemed a little ridiculous and almost offensive, but I tried to keep my mouth shut and move toward understanding this culture rather than judging it. In the end, the board agreed to give each lady a present- a kit of "viveres," which included rice, sugar, and canned milk. I had to rethink my feelings when I remembered the needs of these families and what kinds of gifts are meaningful to them.
On another note, we talked to Sierra's friend Mery last night about working in our house this coming week. She'll be here Monday-Saturday from 10-2 to do laundry, wash dishes, clean the house, etc. I'm relieved, because we've been working ourselves into the ground and not getting all the things done we would like to. We'll see how this week goes and consider hiring her permanently and full-time.
