HAVING FUN WITH THE LITTLE ONES AT CHURCH...

Here's Karen teaching the little ones at church. Today the good news train went to Antarctica, so their class learned about what it's like to live in a cold climate. Jennie (at the right) is the English teacher at the school. Although the temperature in Gualan was probably in the 90's, Karen is putting on a scarf, a warm hat, and mittens!
Here's Karen in her "get up", and she and Carol are getting ready to have a "snowball" fight. These snowballs were made out of styrofoam though!

The kids also laced up mittens and had snowmen that they colored and decorated with cotton. They really keep them busy with activities and are so creative!

Here is one of our favorite helpers from the church, Melissa. She really enjoys working with the little ones.

STICKERS & MORE FUN AT LOS LIMONES!

Here's one of my favorites -- Carmelina! She was in my class at the church, so I was surprised to see her at Los Limones too. She's a really sweet girl, and I remember her from our very first trip to Gualan in 2006. At the 2008 VBS, she was the winner of our raffle. This was the second year she was in my class at church, and I really enjoyed her. Sweet kid!
Here's Cheryl with Pastor Jasinto. Notice the house they are in front of. These were provisional houses that were built by Central American Lutheran Mission Society after people lost their homes in Tropical Depression Agatha.

Stickers are really popular at Los Limones. Since our Good News Train made a visit to Africa, we decided that a safari sticker page would be a fun idea.

Here's Carol entertaining the kids with bubbles before we started the session. Some of the really little ones were squealing when the bubbles came near them. They love them!

It's a little hard to see, but Carol, Karen, and Lindy are performing a little puppet show with Maria translating. I think today's show was about using kind words with our friends.

LOS LIMONES

Here are a few photos at Los Limones, our outdoor VBS site. The team is passing out snacks as the kids leave. It can get pretty chaotic!

These guys are sitting on the ground coloring their little booklets that tell the story of Elijah and the Widow. They are wearing crowns that we passed out to each kid that day. Love the one kid's upside down crown. Just now I noticed the red t-shirt person. Looks like the stomach of someone who is malnourished!

How about this little guy who looks like he's all dressed up in his Sunday best for VBS? Notice that most of the other kids sitting in the front row don't have shoes. I think this was taken on our last day, when we had 314 people attend! Wow! The kids kept arriving earlier and earlier so they would be able to get a seat...More photos to come as I get them from my team members. I took very few pictures this year, unfortunately!

HERE ARE A FEW OF LINDY'S PICTURES

Here's Karen, Me, and Lindy in the airport on the way to Guatemala.

Cheryl, Carol, Lindy, and Karen. Cheryl was on the Eyeglass Team, but we joined up for a couple of activities during the week.

Here's our VBS team of 4 at the church in Gualan. Carol, Me (Nancy), Lindy, and Karen.

Here are a few photos of Lindy's kids doing their crafts. They look like they're having fun! A simple craft is so much fun for them.

Every day started out with singing songs as a big group in the church. The kids really took to the songs this year and enjoyed the theme of the Good News Train that went to 5 continents sharing the Gospel. Pastor Jasinto really knows how to get the kids motivated with the singing. His wife Nancy comes up with the hand motions for the kids to learn. If you wanted them to, the kids would probably sing for hours! They love it!

THE GOOD NEWS TRAIN GOES TO AFRICA

The kids had a lot of fun making these African masks. It was unfortunate that quite a few kids from my class were missing this day, due to going to a mandatory school activity. But those who were there really enjoyed the masks.

They got really creative and enjoyed using glitter glue and all kinds of markers.

FUN WITH BANNERS

Each day when students came in, they wrote down some good news on The Good News banner. Some of the kids didn't take this exercise too seriously, but others wrote that the good news was stuff like "coming to VBS", "seeing my friends at VBS", "thank you for my parents", "thank you for another day of life", etc.

The theme for this year's VBS was "THE GOOD NEWS TRAIN", and the train went to five of the continents of the world. The saying in Spanish means "Leaving our prints throughout the whole world", in other words, sharing the Good News throughout the world.

The banner has dolls from foreign countries, and each student decorated a handprint to put on the banner. The title was suggested by Daniela, one of the teachers from the Lutheran School.

Here are David and Luis Roberto (two students from my class).

I didn't take too many pictures this year, and the pictures above were actually taken after I left! My class had a total of 24 kids, so these are just a few of the kids...VBS is a very popular activity at the church, and the kids look forward to having it every November, which is when their two month vacation from school starts.

THE DIVING BOARD ESCAPADE

Yes, the diving board really did break off and then sank just like the Titanic to the bottom of the pool! But never fear, it was retrieved and brought out of the pool! Here's Bitsy, Pastor, and Jim!