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A lot has been happening here over the past week and a half, and I haven't really known what to say about it, so I decided not to say anything.  Since I love you all and appreciate your support, I'm back and ready to talk about what's happening in my life. 

First, my favorite part of this experience is being involved in the community and building relationships with people.  One girl I'm working with, Andrea, has become a good friend and both her little brother and sister had birthday parties in the past week that I was invited to.  It was very fun to be a part of that.  For her brother's party her mom made us a meal, sharing what little they had with us, which was kind of hard to accept because it wasn't necessary for them to do that, but it was a very nice meal and really sweet that they shared that with us.  For her sister's party, Won and I bought pizza and Won and Frank made a chocolate cake to share.  Esmerelda turned 6, and she put away 3 pieces of pizza and 2 pieces of cake!!  :)  What a little sweetheart.  She was so excited that she got all dressed up in a fancy pink dress for her party!  It's so fun to be a part of these things. 

This past Sunday was Baptism Sunday.  We went to Aguas Termales, near Chimaltenango.  It was like a big swimming pool that was a hot spring.  Both Frank and Andrea got baptized, along with 8 other people.  It was a very cool experience, seeing their excitement about taking this step in their relationship with Christ, and making this public acknowledgment that they belong to God. 

Last week Friday was a really terrible day.  In some ways I can see how God was working, and on the other hand I'm still all jumbled up.  Without going into much painful detail, God led me to go next door earlier than usual last week Friday morning, and Frank and I, along with the three boys, ended up seeing a girl being sexually assaulted in a vacant lot behind the house.  When I went down to talk with the girl, she was frozen with fear, in shock.  I went with her to the police station/government offices where the report was filed, and I was glad to be there with her.  What I've been wrestling with most is that I could have done something more to stop it, lots of guilt feelings, and I keep seeing the whole thing replaying in my head, over and over.  I get scared for all these precious children, knowing that this is danger they face up close everyday.  One of the blessings that came out of this was the opportunity it presented to debrief the incident with the boys.  We talked about what we had seen, how it made us feel, what we were thinking.  Because I was so vulnerable and emotional at that point, they opened up a little more and we were able to connect in a way that we hadn't been able to previously, especially the oldest one.  As a follow up, today the oldest boy shared part of his story with me, talking about the abuse he suffered.  I know it took a lot for him to trust me with that, so I feel really honored. 

Thank you so much for your prayers.  There's no way I would be able to do this without them!