A moving day

Altotonga, Mexico -- Rather, a series of them.

Saturday was the big day around the club. Well, for me, it started Friday. Zuri and I went to go buy a gift for the Briles family on behalf of the youth. We decided on a nice watch set for Chris, and a big frame for the family in general-- one of a back and white rose on a reflecting table, and we put the words on it, We will always love you, thank you.

Wednesday, I had found out that Julio wasn't going to have time to do the power point. So, Friday night, I stayed up till 2:30am working on it... and had problems attaching the song. It was late when I finally got to bed.

Got up at 9, to go get the frame for the pic, since it was made. Did other running that had to be done that day and no other. And still hadn't made the cakes for the Briles. Crazy. Came home, scarfed food, and get ready really quickly, while Zuri came over, and Julio too, to help me take down stuff. It's great that Julio has a car.We got down, and Karen showed up. She speaks English, so I showed her my recipe, explained it in Spanish, and set her to work making it, with Rosa as a helper. It was funny. Every 2 minutes, I was called down--- well, at least on the first one.We ended up having technical problems, but got them fixed.The praise and worship was good, as it was the last time that Aaron and Jessie played with them. Then we had the videos of thank yous, memories, and a surprise message from our friend Paco that we had filmed some 2 weeks beforehand. And a power point, that was kinda moving, I must say.They were crying (the Briles, that is) and the youth were wiping their eyes. Then we presented them with the gifts (well, 2 youth did), and boy was it teary.

The Briles then had time to share a few words, and wow. That was one of those things where they talked while crying and held the toilet paper with them. We gathered around them and prayed for them, and choked back the tears. Litle Carmen just sobbed.

Then, we said, ok, enough of crying. We played some of our favorite games and I went down and helped get food served with a couple of other youth. Julio ran things upstairs, meanwhile with fun videos or random things. Julio and Magno's mom had prepared taco meat, and I bought chips and 2 of the youth made the cakes. It was a group effort, really!It was pretty cool. Once all the food was served, I ran upstairs to check on things. Even though the evening was totally about the kids and the Briles (which is why I tried to stay behind scenes as much as possible), I was happy to get to see Chris open his gift. He didn't know I was watching, but he looked stunned at the gift, and looked as if he were really moved. I was so happy for that.

Anyway, it was a great evening, and I didn't get home till 9:45. I normally get home on Saturday nights at 8.

Sunday, the church did their thing. Chris shared, and there was a video of their time here, and some church members shared, and they were presented with a plaque (sp?) that commemorated their 9 years of service here. The pastor then asked if Chris would pray for him, and so they did. And then we had a big dinner, and more videos. Of course, they cried, but it wasn't nearly as much as the Saturday night. Even Vonda said that she didn't feel half as wiped out.

Chris, when talking to another youth who hadn't made it to the party, said that it was a very cool party and that everything went really well. I was very happy to hear that, because I wanted them to enjoy the night. And, because it was my first event (not really a big thing) that I did, with the youth, that the Briles weren't involved in-- and the youth did amazing, everyone enjoyed themselves, and even with very frustrating technical difficulties at the last minute, it was a great party.

This morning was moving day. Everyone was teary. Many kids came up and wrapped their arms around me and said, "At least you're staying with us." They had goals of kidnapping little Carmen so that the Briles would have to stay. And they also hung onto the side of the car. It was all in jest and of course, none of it happened. We were teary eyed, but we're all ok.I went by to see a recent disciplee of Vonda's to drop by a notebook Vonda had left for her. She was teary eyed, but strong in understanding the reason why they left. I gave her a big hug and she asked if it was ok, if she had any questions about the Scriptures, if she could ask me. Of course! I gave her a big hug.

So, please be praying for the kids here. The next couple of days, maybe weeks will be hard on them. Latin culture is very emotion-based, so we'll be dealing with that. Even so, I've heard from various youth, even through tears and just in plain conversation, that it'll be cool to have them come back and see all the changes that have taken place.It looks as if they've grabbed ahold of the vision.