Words from Erin and Anna...

Hola, mi amigo. That’s ‘hello my friend’ in Spanish, and is pretty much the only Spanish I know. Riding down to Matamoros, Mexico to participate in the VBS we were holding, I was trying to remember the other two phrases I knew. I was so nervous about the VBS. I went last year and remembered liking it a lot, so why was I so scared? While we were driving, Daniel S. suggested that we pray for the kids and parents who will be attending the VBS, we also prayed for those of us who would be working there. After those few minutes of prayer, my mind had changed completely. I was so excited!
When we arrived, Megan quickly found Leslie, the girl she raised money for a few years ago. It was so encouraging to see the connection between the two. Soon after that, I saw the girl I met last year, Perla. Even though I can’t say more that five words to her, and the only communication we ever did was laugh, but somehow she still likes me. She gave me pink charm bracelet that day that I promise I will never take off.
The only responsibility I had in the VBS was saying one line in the skit and after that, I was free to play chalk, jump rope and blow bubbles. I was so glad to have a change of mind, and right now, writing this, I am so excited to go to VBS tomorrow.

-Erin Hotchkiss

(the next day)

Today has had one of the biggest impacts on me that I have ever experienced. It was a big difference from yesterday which seemed pretty boring and uneventful. Yesterday I spent most of the day sorting sheets and towels and organizing what was basically a house where everyone dropped their unwanted household junk. What confused me was they gave the place some fancy Spanish name “Bodega”. Anyway, today I felt a little more productive because I did some real manual labor. I got to move old furniture that was being discarded into a huge dumpster: old mattresses, chairs, couches, dressers and the like. After lunch I was a part of the group that went to the VBS. At first it seemed a little awkward because of the language barrier, and I was a little nervous to go up to any of the kids and try to interact with them. So I just kinda stood off to one side and watched them play with chalk and jump ropes. Then I started talking to this little girl, Karina. I helped her with her little craft after the skit. We made mariposas (butterflies). She colored a picture after she made her mariposa and then began writing something on the back of it. She handed it to me and the writing said, “De: Karina Para: Anna”, which means From: Karina For: Anna. Wow… I was completely shocked and happy at the same time. I didn’t know what to do, but then I remembered the bracelets on my arm… So I gave on to her. We became so close in only a few short hours. We taught each other words in each others languages which was pretty cool. We went to a general store down the street and got “soda in a bag”. You aren’t allowed to keep the glass soda bottle, so they pour the soda into a plastic bag and give you a straw to drink it. Unlike a soda can if you drop it you are bound lose all of your soda. It was hard to say goodbye to Karina, so I really want to come back to that VBS next year.

-Anna Nobbs