Diego

For all of you who pray, please pray for Diego. He is going through a difficult time. A time of confusion and disillusionment. He has recently moved from the older kids' Casa Hogar Sagrada Familia to another home today. Please pray that God's will be done in his situation and that those in authority over him would be making the best choices for his benefit. Pray also for his comfort in the new home to which he has moved.

Youth Group at Cristo Redentor

Start things off with some ice breakers and games.

If you lose, you have to walk...through the tomatos.

Next comes a lesson, usually from one of the seminarians.

We always try to give thoughtful responses.

Lastly, we finish up with a couple of hours of ping pong!

One of the ministries that I didn't really expect to get involved in is the youth group. Here, youth group has a little bit of a different meaning from that back in the U.S. At our meetings the ages of those who attend range from 14 all the way up to 32! I've been told that in past years they have broken up the meetings into two groups, but this year there was no one to head up the younger group. So, we joined them together to form the A-team! (Equipo A or Equipo Anglicano) We meet from 5 to 7 on Satrudays with a couple of hours afterwards dedicated to playing lots of ping pong.

The group got started up by one of my suggestions. I wanted to start a small, more intimate Bible study with a few of my closer friends here, and word got to one of them who had a little bit of a different idea. My friend Daniel in the past has headed up the older group meetings and used my suggestion to get things started up for the youth group for the new school year. At first I was a little confused and maybe a little irritated that things didn't go quite how I had planned it, but being apart of this ministry really has been fun and a great opportunity to make a lot more friends!

The structure of a Saturday meeting consists of welcoming those who have come to the meeting and playing some ping pong and conversing some before we get things started. At 5:30 we start with a general welcome and introduce all those who have come for the first time to the meeting. We have a time for prayer. Then we do some ice breakers and games to lighten the mood and get people interacting. The main part of our meeting comes next: the lesson. We try and vary it up. Sometimes it is a lesson, sometimes it is a testimony, and sometimes we show them a video. Last comes a time for singing worship songs and reflection. And that wraps it up.

We have had about 6 meetings so far and each one has been very refreshing and filled with great time to get to know others. Our average attendance is at a solid 10-14 people.  At one of our meetings we had as many as 26 people. But the main thing is that now we have given a place for young people to come and feel welcomed and free to ask questions.

Outings with the ladies of Sagrada Familia

Jhass, Margot, and Karola cruising downtown.

Me, Jhass, Margot, and Vicki deciding what to order.

Marta and Me.

Susana finishing off her piece of cake.

Me and Hermelinda taking it easy.

The last few weeks on Sundays after Mass, we have been taking the ladies of Casa Hogar Sagrada Familia to hang out at our house and then go cruise downtown. We usually end up at one of my favorite dessert places to eat some cake and drink a cup of coffee. It's called Capriccio and it is right downtown next to the Cathedral. All the ladies have seemed to enjoy their time out. It has been a good opportunity to get to know all of them a little bit better, and it gives them some time out of the house too.