Sunday - Getting to Know Colima

Our first full day here in Colima was a full one! We're hitting the hay tonight tired and excited to start our week of service at the orphanages bright and early tomorrow morning.

We started our Sunday at the Grupo Amor Church singing, clapping, praying, and listening along with this vibrant church community.

Admittedly, I'm not sure we learned much from the all-Spanish sermon, but even with the language barrier we sure did enjoy worshiping with Grupo Amor.

But the very best part of church was catching up with the friends we made at Hogar de Amor last year!  The kids from the orphanage also attend church at Grupo Amor and we exchanged many enthusiastic hugs and warm smiles after church when we saw old friends who hold important places in our hearts.

After church we snagged some snacks and food for the week at a local mercado.  It was quite the experience.

Highlight: chocoleche (chocolate milk) enjoyed with straws in take-away bags.

Not-so-highlight: seeing men carry full half-cows to the butcher stands.  Woah.

Dev enjoys his leche in a to-go bag

Next we drove out into the countryside to get a better view of the area and enjoy one of the prettiest lunches I think any of us have ever experienced!  Our Sunday afternoon drive and getting out to see the sugar fields and pastures gave us each a different view on Mexico than we get from the heart of Colima city.

Great views of the volcano that sits to Colima City's north

Lunch time!

We spent the afternoon getting a better understanding and appreciation of rural life - visiting smaller towns, seeing the workshop of a renowned 3rd generation maskmaker, eating dessert at a former coffee plantation, and avoiding chickens in the street.

Masks drying

It was lovely to have a "tourist" day and now the real work begins!  We spent the evening prepping for Monday's crafts and activities and we will hit the ground running Monday as we start our service projects and spend time doing sports, crafts, and other activities with the kids.

Prayer requests:

1. Praise God for our good health! Pray that we would continue to get full night's of sleep and have healthy, rested bodies ready for busy days at the orphanage. 
2. Pray that as we begin work at the orphanage today that we would quickly get settled into our jobs and feel productive.  Pray that each person would have work that is well-suited to their skills and that we would work with great energy and attitudes.