We went with the church in Macas, and people from the church in Shimpis also went with us. The church in Macas is bigger and is trying to help the church in Shimpis. The people from the Shimpis church came so that there would be familar faces for the children...especially as that church plans to continue to reach out to these people. We really were presented with a rare opportunuity because the government asked for the church's help, so we were allowed to come in and present Christ in the midst of talking about drugs and sex. Sexual and physical abuse, along with drug abuse are big problems in this area of Ecuador. One man told us that children are sexually active as early as age 9. But it is usually in conjunction with some type of payment. Prostitution is legal and many families rely on the girls in the family to bring income in through prostitution. The government does not know what to do, so they asked for the help of the church.
Pastor Domingo from the Macas church began the morning with talking to parents about Biblical discipline. I was able to sit in the meeting with my notebook and phone/Google translate and follow along a little bit! Technology can be used for good! He addressed four types of fathers...authoritative, permissive, negligent, and loving. He encouraged fathers to be loving in their discipline; as the Bible teaches.
Pastor Domingo's wife then talked to three different groups of younger children about sexual abuse and what is appropriate touch and what to do if you are being abused. We all learned "No me toques!" Do not touch me! It is sad to think of any child being sexually abused; and much of this is happening to these kids in their home by relatives that live with them. That makes is hard for them to ask for help. Three of our girls gave their testimonies and I think this helped the kids understand the topic even better.
Pastor Domingo's wife
After each group, we then broke up into 4 smaller groups for game time. We rotated the groups through dodge ball, kickball, tag, and soccer. Somehow I got in the soccer group!! I don't know how to play soccer, but the kids were patient with me (I am sure laughing at me!) and would pass the ball to me sometimes. But in the first group, I sat out with a little girl named Joselyn who didn't want to play.
A little boy came over and hung out with us too. He was chewing gum and I tried to show him with my gum how to blow a bubble. They enjoyed that! They also enjoyed looking at the pictures I took of their classmates playing soccer. The girl pointed out her teacher on the phone!
On Mondays, the children, and some teachers, wear their traditional Shuar uniforms.
In order to know the girl's name, I had her write it in my notebook. When the others saw her writing her name, they all wanted to do the same! I was mobbed with all the children grabbing for the notebook!
After three rotations, we had a devotion about sexual abuse and how God made your body and it is special. Ashby led the devotion in our group with Alan as the interpreter. They did a good job.
The boundary cones worked much better as sombreros!
Outside devotions
We ended the day inside because of the rain. It was a relief from the sun that was starting to cook us! We played inside games that were hard to explain, but enjoyed by all as we just ran around and laughed!!
One of the classrooms at the school
Playing sharks and minnows
Nathan playing with the children inside
Devotion time with Raul
Explaining the games...thankfully Alexia could explain in Spanish!
Christian photo bombing!
Pictures of the school
The children chose to play ball with us during their recess time!
Nayheli
Natalie with the recess group of girls
Inside devotion time
After the selfie with the girls, the boys wanted to join in!
They wanted to be near Ashby and his red hair!
After finishing at the school, we went to the church for dinner and back to the hotel to get some rest. In true American fashion, many of the guys found the college basketball game on the hotel TV and watched it! I was able to facetime mom and Camden, so that was nice. They enjoyed looking at the hotel and saying hi to friends like Avery.
Interesting notes about the day. There are two half day sessions of school. The second one ends around 5 or 6! None of the bathrooms had toilet paper in them. Or soap! I found out later this is due to lack of funds. There is a snack bar in the middle of the school where you can buy food. On Monday they were serving fried ants!
Tomorrow we are talking about drugs and sex. Fun!
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