The first evening in Mexico we went to the church where we would be spending the next 5 days ministering to the congregation. Not knowing how to speak Spanish, we were told to greet everyone with the phrase "Dios les bendiga," which translates to "May God bless you." At that first service, we got in front of the church and sang a few songs (obviously in English). It was kind of embarrassing, actually, as their singing style is very different than my family's. They sing quickly, and clap during every song (including ones where clapping sounds bad). So we clapped for our songs too! When the service started, we went to a little shed/house by the church and did a VBS with the children. For those who don't know, VBS stands for Vacation Bible School, something my siblings and I did growing up. We did all sorts of activities at the VBS we went to as children, whereas in Mexico it only consisted of watching some Bible movies with Spanish dubs, doing some crafts, and snacks. That being said, the children thoroughly enjoyed the activities and snacks, as well as the attention they got from all of us. There were anywhere from 15 to 25 children that attended VBS over the course of that week, and they all lived within walking distance from the church.
From almost the moment we entered Mexico, vegetation was scarce. This only worsened as we went down the coast, and culminated in there being only dirt, sand, and rocks at the location we stayed. Whenever we would kick the soccer ball around with the children, it would be made more difficult by the fact that there were no locations nearby without plenteous rocks. It would also get very windy at times, due to the close proximity of the ocean, which resulted in dirt getting blown into our faces.
Due to the length of this entry, I've split it into several entries.
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