Sunday Morning at Iglesia Santa Maria

We had a luxurious sleep-in this morning!  Breakfast of beans, eggs and tortillas was at 8:00 am.  We enhanced the flavour of the beans with hot sauce and the tortillas with some peanut butter and Nutella.  There's nothing like ruining the local cuisine with some North American junk food!  We mingled with the kids until it was time to leave for church.  We brought six children who had earned the privilege to come with us.

Louise and Erika decided they were still young enough to go to Sunday School so off they went.  There were three classes of about 15 kids each. 

The oldest class was learning about the 10 Commandments.

We returned to the younger class just in time to play some Bible Bingo.

The Sunday School classes returned to the church for communion.  All the children went and sat their families and the children that came from El Hogar came and sat with us. Instead of an organ there was a full band playing the upbeat hymns and the St. Luke's team was introduced to the congregation. 

We were thinking of the St. Luke's young people as they participated in today's special service.

After church we headed to Pollo Campero, the Spanish version of KFC, as an extra treat for the kids.  They enjoyed their meal and the toys that came along with it.  They also really enjoyed playing in the play area.

 Cesar, on the left, took his cues from the other kids, because he is brand new to El Hogar and has never been to something like this.  He caught on quickly!  He is 10 years old, but only in grade one as he has never had the opportunity for an education.  He is just learning his letters and with help from one of our team members, Lynn, Cesar kept busy with the word search on the kid's menu.

We spent the rest of the day doing crafts and playing games with the kids back at El Hogar.  It gave the teachers a bit of a break and it gave us time to be kids ourselves!

Tomorrow we'll have our first taste of work.  As Raul, our local fearless project manager put it, it's 'symbolic work'.  We'll find out tomorrow what that really means!

Off to bed.  Buenos Noches!