Children's Day

What do rain, grass, mud, kids, and games have in common? The answer is Children’s Day! You know how we have Mother’s Day and Father’s Day in America, well in Vanuatu they have Children’s Day. Michelle gathered up the kids in the village for a bunch of fun games. Since many are still in Lenakel there was only about 16 of us which was just perfect for the games. We started off with a game of throwing baseballs at 5 cans to see who could hit the most. Then we moved on to another area in the middle of the village to pin the rider on the horse (aka – the tail on the donkey). Halfway through the pin the rain started up and prepared the stage perfectly for our next event – the three legged race! The area which was just plain dirt (no grass) soon became all wet and muddy, ie – very slippery! Next came the wheelbarrow race which caused many a slip and fall. There was much laughter and mud involved in that race! It was quite fun to be able to get muddy with the kids and not care about it. We were all having a bunch of fun as we moved on to the water relay which involved transferring water from one bucket to another bucket via a cup and slipping through the mud in between the two buckets. Then we moved to the field to play baseball, followed by Frisbee which is always a ton of fun. And the rain picked up which made it even funner. It was an intense and close match (4-3). Then we did a few other small games. Next came the sack race! And then lastly we went on to a mean game of volleyball! After that half the kids went to another village to join in their festivities and I went to help Eric work on the addition to their house a bit more. Today we didn’t do a ton but did get two layers of brick laid on one wall which was completely new to me. It’s a lot trickier than I imagined and yet also simple at the same time. I’m continually thankful to be learning these important building skills I may need in the future. I’m looking forward to the next few days as Joseph, a carpenter from the village, will be working with me in building the walls that we’ll put up later once the brick is finished. We’re only going to do two layers of bricks and then pop walls walls made from 2x4 studs and siding on top of the bricks. And then we watched part of the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe with the kids who didn’t go to the other village! For pictures please go to this link - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=110912&id=559771287&l=9a03b38ea8

Now I’ll write a tiny bit about the events of the evening which are pretty similar each night. After the movie we had supper which was really yummy as usual! Michelle and Mendy are great cooks and have done an amazing job with providing lots of good food for which I am very thankful. Then Eric led in the nightly devotions. We’ve been reading from 2 Kings and it’s really neat to be able to watch him teach his kids about the Lord and the Bible. Hehe, tonight during devotions, Joel (3) was being quite the climber/cuddly bug and decided my lap was a great place to park (I love being able to play with Eric and Michelle’s kids in the times between work, eating, and rest). Eric led us in singing with his guitar, in which I love to join in with them. I must say that I’ve observed a lot about what a missionary family is like in these 10 days with the Nehrbass and Stapleton families. Life certainly is different, living in a village overseas. I admire the love and care that they have for their kids. I’ve seen that there is no such thing as a perfect family but what’s important as a Dad is to continually show love and patience to the rest of the family and to draw them closer to Jesus every day!