A Few of My Favorite Things (at Los Algidones)

The morning of July 12, we went to the village of Los Algadones. About 20 of the kids ran out to greet our vehicles. They were trying to jump into our small pick-up truck as we drove into their village! Some made it into the bed of our pick-up, others lept onto the running boards and held on the outside of the truck. The kids were just so alive and ready to play! Some of the Austin Stone group immediately began playing soccer with a number of kids. Some village girls sat our girls down and began braiding hair. Another group of kids had some of us sit in a circle with them to play Duck, Duck, Goose (Pato, Pato, Ganzo). However, we soon learned that they played by their very own set of rules! I was quickly chosen as the Ganzo, so I jumped up and began chasing the little guy around the circle. All was normal until he passed by my spot, where he should have sat down, and continued running and running! So, I changed directions and almost caught him. Before I gave up, I changed directions a few more times, both of us now laughing hysterically. Another highlight there was holding a child’s hand in mine and saying, “1, 2, 3, JUMP!” and when they jumped, I lifted them way high! They squealed with delight! There were 4 kids wanting to be lifted over and over. Then, I played Ring Around the Rosie with 4 or 5 kids. It was such fun watching them respond as I sang “1, 2, 3 and we all fall down” – considering they didn’t seem to know any English! When we had played that game awhile, one kid didn’t want to let go of my hands. He wanted to be spun around in the air by his hands, so I agreed. However, I felt so faint after all the spinning, that I went to sit on a tire laid against a tree. Two 2 year olds, followed me over and sat on my lap. They had an entire conversation, in Creole, while sitting contentedly! After awhile, I started singing to them as many of the Spanish lyrics to Jesus Loves Me as I could remember. Then, I started playing Patty Cake with the little girl, changing the nursery rhyme lyrics from “mark it with a B” to “mark it with a J for Jesus Christo and me.” They both loved it and others saw us and waited their turn to play. These were a few of my favorite things during my one visit to Los Algidones... Please pray for spiritual growth there!