Day 27. Our last night in La Arenera

Wow. To say that tonight was sad would be an understatement. Not only did we have to say goodbye to the Garcia family who so graciously put us up in their house and became our family for three weeks, but we also had to say goodbye to all of these people that we love so much. We had to say goodbye to the people who have, over the last 4 years, become a family in another country. Ok, but let me start at the beginning of today. We got up bright and dearly and had a workday at the farm. We cleaned out a building and painted it and we laid 3 truckloads of gravel. It was hot and it was hard work, but we cant wait to see how Julio is going to use this new building. After our work day, Mark, Erin, John, Me, and Marleny went to Julio and Luci's house for one last delicious lunch. We came back to the hotel after that and got ready for tonight. Tonight was so much fun (before the goodbyes) we had a mariachi band and then the kids in Awanas performed a dance (that they had been practicing for the last two months) and a mime skit (that they had also been practicing for forever. All of my new favorite teenagers were in it. Andrea, my new favorite girl, was the lead in the mime. It was great. Once all of the fun was over it was time to say goodbye. "Te Amo mucho. Te Voy a extranar. Nosotros oramos. Proximo anos. Te amo mucho!" Thats what I said all night long tonight as I was saying goodbye. "I love you so much. I will miss you. We will pray for you. See you next year. I love you so much!" Its so hard to say goodbye to these little kids who have nothing. You never know what will have happened in the year that you are gone. Gabby's father of her baby and long time boyfriend left her during this last year. Eloisa married a 50 year old man and moved away. One of the mom's committed suicide. So much can happen. It sucks because we cant email them, we cant call them, and we cant write them because they dont have physical addresses. Anyway, I could go on and on, but the point is... Most of them are saved. That's all that matters. The Bible says that our life here on earth is like the blink of an eye compared to eternity in heaven. As long as they have salvation, life here is short. Julio is working on the rest of the village that isnt saved yet:) so I'm not going to fret about those that aren't saved. Thank you so much for helping to send me here. I will be forever grateful to all of you who were involved in me being here. As cheesy as it sounds, a good majority of my heart and John's heart is left here each year, and we cant wait to go back and see them next year. This month long trip has been an amazing experience. We will forever be grateful that we were able to embrace this culture for an entire month. Thank you so much. We go to Antigua tomorrow! I will update pics from today tomorrow!