Sunday in Santa Inez

This past Sunday we drove up to a mountain village near the city of Oaxaca. The Oaxacan Covenant churches were having a regional children's activity and we were asked to help. It was a beautiful drive up the mountain and we were thankful that we could share the ride with a Oaxcan father and his two sons who seldom leave the city. It was great to hear him point out various things to his young sons -- including the state university where their eyes got big as he explained that they could go there some day.

We arrived in Santa Inez in time to enjoy a bountiful breakfast that the ladies had prepared for us. We then gathered the children and opened the activity in prayer.
Of course when working with children, you need to have some fun. We had a relay race for the 8 - 10 year olds where a member of each team had to put on shorts, a shirt, a hat and gloves. They then took them off, put the clothing in a bag and ran to tag the next person on the team. For some reason, the boys always put the gloves on first--making it difficult to put on the shorts and shirt. No amount of hinting could convince them to do otherwise!
Here I am flying like a bird with the 5 and 6 year olds. After we tried walking like a gorilla, it dawned on me that these mountain children had probably never seen zoo animals. Oh well.
The children from the host church, Santa Inez, sang a song that they had prepared.
One of the leaders of another Covenant church gave the Bible story--about Samson.
And of course a church activity would not be complete without food. Ladies from Santa Inez made a delicious lunch for us. They didn't even need a stove. They used wood in a wheelbarrow to cook on.