A trying few days

Posted by Brian

well the past few days have been a little trying for us. Last week we were thoroughly discouraged with the behavior of the children in Chi Chi Gua, a small sugar cane cutting village that is very isolated. Some new children moved there and they have been a bad influence on the children that were already there. These children moved with their family from Santo Domingo which is a city of 3 million. They seem much harder than the others.
this Monday Bethany was carrying a rowdy 3 year old out of the preschool class to his house and fell in a mud puddle. What you have to realize is that these villages have no sidewalks or pavement so a few days of rain turns them into a swamp with mud and water everywhere. It is hard for anyone to walk let alone with a 3 year old in your arms. So we rode home to get her a shower and a change of clothes before we continued with the days work. When we returned all the children had already heard about it and it was the talk of the village.
The next day two children were fighting and one was about to throw a big rock at the other one. When I reached to stop him he bit me. Don't worry it did not break the skin, but nonetheless it was painful. I tried to walk him to his house but he again tried to bite me. I know this child well. He has participated in our programs for over a year. I don't know what got into him. So I went and found him today because he was getting beat by his parents after they found out what happened yesterday. At first today he was scared to see me but finally he came out of his house and I reassured him that I was not mad and was not going to beat him, I say beat because the parents sometimes abuse their children not discipline them. I gave him an orange and told him he needed to attend his class tomorrow. He didn't say much but it was important for me that he knew that I was not going to be mad at him or hit him.
however today went well and we are returning to Chi Chi Gua to continue working with those children. Please remember these children in prayer they are really in some tough situations.