For the first time in my life, the summer months were not filled with VBS, translating for groups, or camp. Ever since I can remember, summertime meant days filled with activities. Then, 2020 hit. This summer, we were asked to stay home and cancel all activities. Church was done online. Groups cancelled their trips. Our responsibilities changed to react to immediate needs for the sick, those who lost jobs and had no food, and caring for those whose lives were most impacted by the pandemic. We also had another large earthquake, so we worked with people who were affected by that. Those responsibilities were not daily things, and we ended up having more time just at home with our families. My family spent some of the summer riding bikes, painting Bob Ross projects, watching the Marvel movies... perhaps that was one tiny silver lining in the chaos, loss, trauma, and tragedy that took place this summer. That's what I wanted to focus on today, those silver linings. Despite the fact that Oaxaca suffered many losses and is still struggling along with a lot of places in the world, the pandemic surprised us with some small nuggets of blessings.
At Oaxaca Christian School, teaching online has been difficult (granted, our class sizes are small, so we acknowledge those teachers who have shouldered an incredible amount of work and responsibility). We are still able to educate, love, and support our MK students. And we are excited about the possibility of offering classes online to students who live in remote villages or other states, since they can join us online. There are some MKs who, for the first time, can join their fellow friends in class, and there are missionary parents who, for the first time, can dedicate more time to their ministries without worrying about the education of their children. We hope to see most of our students in person again soon, but the idea that we can serve more kiddos from remote places has really sparked a development for our school.
At Girasol, these past months have felt like a "two steps forward, one step back" kind of time. The high turnover rate downtown means that, since we only saw the girls once a month to deliver care packages, we do not recognize many of the faces there. Last month, our team was devastated as we felt the loss of years of work. But then, we realized that the girls who do recognize us are helping us connect with the new girls. The ones who know us are so excited to see us when we bring care packages and such, so they bring the new girls to meet us. Seeing their trust in us, seeing their excitement to see us, knowing that they understand we are there to build them up and care for them, THAT was wonderful. In addition to that, we had the opportunity to help two of the girls with their birth plans. Clinics and hospitals were either overwhelmed or shut down during the pandemic, so they needed a place to go. We partnered with a birthing center in Oaxaca. It is a ministry that gives parenting classes to the women before their births, and they take such good care of the people that go there. The girls we took felt cared for, heard, special, and they even got some education in preparation for their babies. One of the girls, C, asked me to be her support person during her birth. For 17 hours, I held her hand, walked with her, talked to her, encouraged her, and helped her during her labor. It was the most awe-inspiring, incredible, amazing thing, and I am beyond humbled that we got to serve her and love her in that way. I would have never guessed that God would steer us in this direction, and yet here we are. Starting this month, we are even helping one of the girls out by showing her how to make some jewelry. Girasol hopes to begin selling things made by the girls downtown in order to support them financially in a new vocation. (*More info on this soon!) We will start going downtown again regularly beginning in October, so please pray for the team as we try to take safety precautions and as we start showering these girls with love and care again. Our team continues to dream big. We are ready and willing to work hard, and we are beyond excited to see where God takes us!
I am grateful for the silver linings, for the unexpected blessings, and for the knowledge that in the storm and chaos, there is purpose and growth.
Below is a video summary of the year.
Thank you!
-Ruth