Our home church from NC came to work with us for a week here in Cáceres. They brought tons of goodies and surprises from the States... as well as lots of encouragement. The kids were awfully spoiled while they were here. I think they now think that anyone who comes to visit us, comes to play with them. :) Nathan now says that Brad is his best friend (below in the red shirt), and Jonathan has 2 best friends: Dale (below in the NC State sweatshirt) and "Master Pat." It's precious to me. We are scheduled to go back to the States in August 2013, and the boys are already talking about seeing their "friends"... Dale, Matt, Brad, Michael and Nathan. So fun.
Carolina, on the other hand, fell in love with Mr. Neal. :) While the ladies were all in the kitchen cooking and prepping food and the boys were all on the field playing football, Mr. Neal was playing with Carolina. She just LOVED the attention. You can see by the look on her face how much she enjoyed it!... and of course, Miss Cherri, Miss Lauren, and Miss Austin... Carolina had lots of playmates for the week! :) (Thank you, Creek Church, for loving on our little ones!!!!)
While they were here, The Creek hosted a flag football camp and shared the gospel after each session. The kids that came and played got very attached to these guys who were coaching. It was amazing how God bonded them together. I know they had a huge impact on these kids. It seems to be the culture to scold instead of encourage (in classroom settings, etc... and that's not everyone, obviously, but they are more likely to hear their teaching scolding rather than telling them how well they did.), so these kids just seemed to blossom under the verbal encouragement of the team. It was sweet to see.
After the football camp, we hosted an American Dinner at our house. Several of our friends and their families came to eat with us. I was surprised at how touched I was by the love shown to our friends. We have poured our lives into our friends here for the past two years, and it was just special to see our "family" from The Creek also loving and connecting with those friends.
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| Cherri broke her arm her first day here in Cáceres, but within a few hours, she was up again, serving in whatever capacity she could. She was amazing!... never a complaint, but always a willing heart. |
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| Toña and Antonio with the kids. |
I don't know if y'all remember our neighbor from our old apartment: Javi. I've talked about Javi on here a couple times, but Javi was quite intrigued by the idea of an "American Football Camp." So, he came to watch and see what it was like... and of course, my boys were thrilled to see him. The group from The Creek really connect with Javi, and we are praying there might be a possibility for him to go to the States and further these relationships! We have been praying for God to open doors, and the amazing thing is that Dale works in the same field that Javi is studying. There is a possibility that Javi could go to Raleigh and work with Dale for a bit, and in the process visit The Creek as well as practice his English! We will see if God chooses to open this door or not, but we know He has a plan! It was a sweet, precious time together with The Creek!
