We ventured outside the Ranch for the first time this week and bounced down the hill in the buscito to the little town of Santa Cruz. Two of the older Ranch kids, Cindy and Angela, joined us to act as translators. We met up with Astrid, who was designated by the local church to lead us to the homes of the three families to whom we were giving water filter systems. A couple of the homes were out in the boondocks.
At each home we demonstrated how to use the filter system and shared how it served as a spiritual object lesson. You see the dirty water in the top bucket is like all of us. It represents our sin. The filter cleans the water just like Jesus cleanses us from sin. And the pure water in the bottom bucket represents our redeemed lives and the living water that Jesus gives us.
The homes we visited were all very modest. The families are all members of the local church, and they were all very thankful for this new blessing. Not only will it improve their health it will also save them money.
Our last stop was with Maribel in her tortilla-making shop. She makes about 700 tortillas a day over a wood burning stove and sells them at the equivalent of 25 for a dollar. So, if she sells all her tortillas then she will make $28 dollars a day. A pretty modest living.
Steve Nelson, the coordinator for Ranch teams, drove us into the city to have a special lunch at a very nice restaurant near the old airport. We ate family style. The food was quite delicious, and the presentation was very nice too. They spoiled us!
Later in the afternoon we spent time with the kids in the art room and at the playground at the Ranch's school, Ebenezer Academy. The more time we spend with the kids the more they open up to us. In particular, spending the whole day with Cindy and Angela gave us the chance to speak with them about their Ranch experience, their future plans and how we could pray for them. They will have both graduated from the Ranch by the time any of us returns on another trip.
Here are a few pictures from the day:
Distributing Water Filters
Our Delicious Lunch
Artists at Work
