Reina and el Cine---Day 6

Hi everyone!
From Maggie:
This morning we got ready for one of our last days in Peru. After sleeping in (that is, until 9:00 AM) on Saturday and Sunday, our team was a little slow to get up earlier again. Once we all met and ate breakfast and had our caffeine, everyone was ready to enjoy the day.

Reina de la Paz was wonderful as usual. The three stations today were Bible, Craft, and a Special (consisting of question-and-answer and more prayer and games). Bible was wrapped up well with the talks on decision-making. The girls are sometimes hard to read as to whether they are absorbing the lesson or not, but Eric (Dad to me) did a good job sticking to it and making it a good, applicable session. Gladys told our translator Erick that what she heard in Bible was really making a difference. Later, Letty said that she really like what was being said and that it meant a lot to her. So it is sinking in and changing the way the girls think about their decisions for the better. Craft was a lot of fun for the girls because they got to unleash all their creative flairs on decorating tote bags. It was very touching when a lot them asked the mission team and the interns to sign their bags. A very exciting and interesting time was found in the Special, which, as I said before, was kind of a smorgasbord. The girls got to ask some questions like our favorite foods and a typical day for us, which differed greatly because they asked every single gringo in the group. During one session the question “Why are you here?” came from some of the girls. The slightly surprised Americans each told their story of how they wanted to come and their journey to actually taking the leap of faith. Chris encouraged us to ask each group why they thought we were in Peru. The answers ranged from “because they get to play all day” to “because God told them to.” Very insightful of the girls. We love them and will all cry when we leave tomorrow. (Yes, all.)

I am so excited that I get to write about the movie!! “La pelicula” was Toy Story 3 (a nice change after we were first told that the movie was going to be Prince of Persia...alarming for 5-year-olds....) The team went to San Ricardo and hung out with the kids that were ready for about twenty minutes. We all made a big deal over the kids...every single one was wearing clean clothes and had smoothed their hair and just looked absolutely adorable. They took such great pains to look their best, whether it was a bow in her hair and a nice coat for a little girl or a glued-on earring stud and spiked hair for a teen guy. The mission team took the little ones ages three to seven on our bus, where we kept them occupied with songs and our cameras. (“un foto, por favor!”) We met the rest of the kids at the movie theater, which was the same one we went to on previous trips, for those who were wondering. This year was way easier because all the older kids got their popcorn and drink before going into the theater, as opposed to previous years where we had to hand it out one by one in the theater. As usual, there was the number of kids that went to the bathroom solely to experience the electric hand dryer. It was cute. Ask Heather about the two kids who ran out to the lobby. ;) The actual movie was really good, although some of us spent some time taking kids to the bathroom. At the end, we made a quick getaway while the house moms rounded up their kids.

The entire group (translators, Buckner staff, interns, and mission team) went to Mangoes, a restaurant on Larcomar. After good food, we gave out gifts and cards to thank them for their hard work. It was a lot of fun to be with everyone, talking and enjoying each other's company.

Next we went back to the hotel for devotions and packing more supplies for tomorrow. Although we stayed up late, we are pretty sure we got eerything taken care of. We are looking forward to our last day, which will be fun but tearful for every one of us.
We love and miss you, family and friends! Thank you for your prayers and for following our awesoem blog. See you in less than 48 hours!
Love, Maggie