Written by Guest Blogger – Marta Padilla Peralta

In January, Esteban and I had the awesome privilege of being a part of the Gordon College Field Hockey team’s mission trip to Cercadillo—what a gift! The first half of the trip was filled with Three Kings Day parties and festivities. We had a party for all the children on our first day in the village. The girls dressed up and acted out the story of the Three Kings going to visit Jesus and we spent a long time playing games with the children. In the following days we had a special invitation only party for the children who have been faithful in coming to Ina’s programs—one for the pre-school children in the village and one for the older children at the TIME center. It was so exciting to see the pure joy on the kids’ faces as they boarded the bus to ride to the TIME center, and as they played games and won prizes. It was a day of much laughter, smiles and just a little bit of wonderful chaos. It was especially wonderful for Esteban and I to see how much the children have grown and matured because of God’s grace in their lives and because of Ina’s consistent and dedicated presence.

The second half of our trip was spent holding a field hockey camp for 25 adolescent girls in Cercadillo. The team brought enough sticks, balls, cones and pinnies for themselves and the girls at the camp. What a joy it was to watch the girls begin to love field hockey just as much as we do! They picked it up much more quickly than we thought they would, and were almost running circles around us by the end! One of our favorite moments from the camp happened on the third day—we gave them a 10 minute water break to rest. Before we knew what was happening, they had all divided themselves into teams and were playing a pick up game during their break time! We were thrilled to see them taking ownership of the sport and making it their own.  During the camp, we spent the afternoon doing crafts, teaching the girls English and sharing a Bible Study. The whole theme of our camp was Proverbs 31:25, “Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.” The last day of the camp we had the enormous privilege of taking the girls to the Parque del Este, which is the park where the DR’s national field hockey team practices and plays. After playing on long grass for a week, it was so fun to play on turf with the girls, and let them get a feel for the real game! One of the coaches of the National team was even interested in sending trainers out to Cercadillo to help develop some of the girls with more potential. We ended the camp with some pampering back at the TIME center—nails and brownie sundaes. We also made a video of the week and were able to show the girls that day. They loved seeing themselves on the big screen and the room was filled with laughs, squeals and giggles. Overall, this was a beautiful week filled with big smiles and big dreams, and the Gordon Field Hockey team is excited about continuing this connection for a long time!

First Day of Field Hockey Camp

Warming Up

At the Parque del Este—what a treat!

We were all very blessed by this time together!

NOTE FROM INA:

Mom’s accident occurred at 2:30 AM on Monday, January 6, the day we had the two big 3 King’s Day parties scheduled.  Also the field hockey team from Gordon College had arrived two days before and were eager to start their field hockey camp with our youth girls from Tuesday to the following Friday.

Marta and Esteban Peralta arrived at the hospital in the early morning hours to assure me that they would carry on with all scheduled activities.  And I had no doubt that they could definitely take care of all the previous arrangements as Marta and Esteban worked with us in Cercadillo for quite a while before moving to Massachusetts.   As you can tell from this blog entry, God provided exactly the leadership that was needed while I was in the hospital with my mom.   And my youth girls are excited about more field hockey experiences in the future!

Yes, you read that correctly, I meant to write “sheets” rather than sheep.  This is another of my infamous multi-subject posts.  I started this post in late December/early January but was experiencing the infamous, often-occuring internet problems.  And then, well everything changed so quickly with Mom’s accident.  So let me try to finish this now that it’s April!

Let’s start with the shepherds . . .

or the annual Christmas pageant in general.  2013 was the third year in a row that the children of Cercadillo led us in visualizing Luke 2 on Christmas morning.

Every year the children take more responsibility in the preparation.

Edileini "guarding" the star

Elida and Kids Preparing the Manger

Niñola having a good bit of fun hanging the star.

Shepherds Waiting

Angels

Angels Waiting

Sheep Waiting

Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus and an Angel 🙂

Cast of Christmas Drama 2013

A flag routine performed by our children has also become a part of our Christmas morning traditions.

And now to the sheets . . .

Perhaps some of you will remember that we were given 1000 lbs of milk bags from Canada.  (See blog “Milk Bags into Mattresses.” ) Many of our families have been busy making mats to use for beds.  We told the women that if they made a mattress, we would give them a set of sheets.  Mom and I spent a morning in late December visiting in homes of those who had completed their task.  You can imagine how thrilled the moms were to have a set of sheets for their children’s new “beds.”

Mattresses in Progress

I was extremely surprised and pleased by the ingenuity of some of our families.  They used the bags to make walls to divide room in their homes!

Children in front of a new wall at Marcelina's.