Kids Small Groups

SADDLEBACK KSG TEAM ARGENTINA 2018

Blog Post June 18, 2018

Today we met for team devotions at 7:39 (long story short – that is the time John texted us to be there, and although it seemed like an odd time, none of us questioned our fearless leader 😊).  The passages of Scripture the devotional focused on were Ephesians 2:10 – what are the “good works” Paul is talking about? – and Psalm 139:1-17.

After that we walked to Saddleback Buenos Aires. When we got there, we found out that the Saddleback BA team had to scramble to get enough helpers to go with us. Some were sick, some could not make it for other reasons. But they were able to get volunteers to go with us at the last minute, for which we were very grateful.

The bus ride to the orphanage took over an hour. As we were driving, we drove through Buenos Aires business districts and more upscale residential areas, but as we got to the outskirts of town, we began to notice that the neighborhoods were not quite as nice as they had been closer to the city center. Before we knew it, we were driving on a dirt road with lots of potholes, dogs lying in the middle of the road and trash everywhere.

The orphanage was on a road like this. We circled the neighborhood so the bus could drop us off in front. Once there, we stashed our supplies and personal items and went out to play with the kids. There were kids and animals – lots of dogs and a few cats – in the small yard where they played.

We engaged with the kids first by getting out a soccer ball and kicking it around. Some of the children came up right away to participate, but others hung back and did not want to play. We were able to draw the children out by talking with them one on one.

While a full soccer game was going on, others of us were talking to some of the older and younger children. Lisa helped a girl named Daira with her English homework, which started a conversation on the differences between living in the United States and living in Argentina. Some of the volunteers from Saddleback Buenos Aires got out some nail polish and all the little girls clamored to get nail polish and stickers on their nails. Then some of us adults had our nails done by the boys in the orphanage – Max and Lucho were particularly eager to go to work with the nail polish. Tracy found a little 2 year old named Mia, who loved the nail polish and then reciprocated by braiding Tracy’s hair.

By now most of the children were interacting with us. We tried some baseball with the children, then Liz took out the crafts and the kids tried some bubble painting and chalk drawing. Morgan taught some of the kids how to drum, and gave them drumsticks she had brought. Tim worked on the grill the entire time and finally got it hot enough to grill hamburgers for our lunch.

Tracy directed our children to perform a couple skits. While Ariana narrated as Jesus, the kids put on the skit of the Good Samaritan, where John was the victim, Morgan and Addi were the robbers, Kyle and Katia were the priests who did not help, and Jack was the Good Samaritan. After that, we did the 10 Plagues in Egypt. Ariana narrated again, Myra was Moses and John was Pharoah. He had fun saying “No” several different ways and in both Spanish and English (which, surprisingly, is the same). The kids had fun raining plagues down on “Egypt” (aka our audience) – blood, frogs, gnats, flies, hail, locusts, livestock dying (performed brilliantly by Jack and Kyle), boils (performed with panache by Kris), darkness and the angel of death. The children of the orphanage enjoyed the skits and loved having stuff thrown into the audience.

After that it was time to eat. It was not an easy task feeding over 20 children and all of us. We noticed that the kitchen barely had running water, and the kids all ate at 3 sparse tables with no plates, just paper towels on which to put their food. But all had healthy appetites.

John made a decision to leave the craft suitcase at the orphanage for them, neglecting to realize that it contained all the craft supplies for the entire trip, including crafts we were going to make at the Tigre event in a couple of days (whoops!).

Soon after lunch it was time to board the bus for the long ride back to Buenos Aires, this time in rush hour traffic. One of the Saddleback BA volunteers had to pick up his kids from school, so we dropped him off on the way. Once we were back, we walked to a local restaurant to get dinner and discuss our experiences at the orphanage. We were interested in our childrens’ point of view, so we split up to discuss the trip with children sitting with adults who weren’t their parents, while enjoying pasta, chicken and salads.

After eating, we went by our favorite “vegetable” stand. John told the kids that they would not be getting vegetables today, because the children at the orphanage never have the opportunity to eat vegetables (the good kind” 😊). This disappointed the kids, but it was fitting that they think outside themselves and put themselves in the orphans’ shoes.

Back at the hotel, we all shared about the orphanage and what impacted us the most. Jack spoke about getting a child to participate in the soccer game when he had been sitting in a corner by himself. Katia enjoyed painting a little girl’s nails and braiding her hair. Kyle enjoyed playing soccer and hanging out with the kids. Ariana mentioned a child kicking the soccer ball into the barbeque and mentioned at dinner that she doesn’t think she’s doing a good job translating because Argentina speaks more Spain Spanish, and she has learned Mexican Spanish (not true – she’s doing a great job!). Morgan enjoyed teaching the children how to use the drumsticks to drum and how one little boy wanted to learn to twirl and flip the drumsticks. She also enjoyed showing the children how to make an origami dragon. Addi mentioned that the kids really enjoyed the bubbles, and that she had an interesting time on the seesaw with one of the girls (let’s just say the little girl got a lot of air time!). The kids commented on how the animals were all over the place and camouflaged with their surroundings. Sean was surprised some of the dogs were still around 2 years after his first trip, as they hadn’t looked like they were in great shape then. But the dogs and cats seemed happy even though they weren’t in the best condition. We also had a close call with Tina the parrot – she almost ended up staying in the orphanage, but Jack was able to get her back so she can continue the trip with us.

For Tracy, it was the little 2 year old girl Mia, who was both very sweet braiding her hair, but also fiercely independent, sitting at the table with the other children, rolling up her sleeves and wanting a full hamburger. She also was very protective of the sidewalk chalk and didn’t like it when other children took some themselves.

Sean pointed out differences from the first trip he made to the same orphanage on his PEACE trip 2 years ago with his older daughter. Two years ago, Sean’s PEACE Trip were the first visitors to this orphanage, and the children were overwhelmed when people visit them and cried when they left. Now Saddleback Buenos Aires visits the orphanage every 1-2 months, so the orphanage children are more reserved when they have visitors. Sean also mentioned that he was sad to see some of the same children he met two years ago, still at the orphanage. He was also sad to see so many girls, as he has daughters, but he noticed that the older girls were very helpful with the younger children.

Liz noticed that when the children got frustrated, they would hit each other. Myra loved the sports – she was out there kicking the soccer ball with the best of them. Jessica talked to a girl about the other children – she treated the other children like her family. She also loved the skit.

Tim said it was like an extended KSG night, with play time, then a Bible lesson, then a “snack”. Everyone praised his efforts on the barbeque, which took over an hour to get started, but we finally had enough burgers for everyone and more. Kris talked about some of the kids grabbing his hand and sitting on his lap. He felt that these children were just like children who come to his house to play with his kids, but instead they’re in an orphanage without any parents.

Joy felt that some of the kids might have developmental disabilities. As the mother of a developmentally challenged child, she felt that her son is a gift to their family, but the parents of the children we met today were missing out on being with their own children. She was also amazed by how many children wanted to see their photos on her camera.

John found it was difficult to see the conditions the children live in – the toilets that don’t flush, the sinks that don’t work outside the bathrooms, the kitchen. He worried about the older girls – who is talking to them? What will they do when they get older?

We discussed why we don’t bring them toys and clothes when we come. If we don’t bring enough for everyone, some of the kids might get bullied so that others take their things. Also, we don’t want to give the impression that Americans are just there to bring them things. We want to spend time with the children and appreciate them for who we are. Sean mentioned that their last PEACE Trip raised funds so that the orphanage kitchen could have running water upstairs – when they visited 2 years ago, the orphanage owners had to cart water up from downstairs for every meal.

After our discussion, we turned in to discuss our experience at the orphanage with our own families and then get some sleep.

Tomorrow: Back at the Tigre Church to discuss children’s ministry.