Friday, July 19, 2013

Living at Consorcia

I rolled into Consorcia one afternoon to a huge health center unlike any I had yet seen in a village, boasting multiple rooms and two floors. The facilities have running water and electricity, and they easily accommodate the team. Consorcia is a sprawling village of over 1,400 people according to last year’s estimates.

The team is led by Kaley, and includes Anna, Charlie, Elina and the Filipina Sharon. On the afternoon I arrived it began to rain pretty hard, and right away Charlie and Anna talked about going out with the kids and taking an afternoon shower with them. If you’ve seen my early posts, you’ll know this is no act of random inspiration; it’s something these girls look forward too.

This group is the only all-girl healthcare group. The team dynamics are clean-cut and sometimes funny to behold- for example, the girls constantly disagree over who will do dishes next because they all think it’s their turn, as if it was a privilege.

That’s just one of their fun stories to tell. I could tell you how the girls were scared to use the bathroom downstairs because of the bumps they hear in the night, and their hilarious bucket solution. Or how they found a spider with a leg span of two hand widths in the bathroom as they bucket-bathed. There is no shortage of comical stories in this village!

There’s also no shortage of ministry in this village. The team has been having Bible studies with many families and sharing the gospel door to door. They’ve been having house church, which for weeks had no-shows, but now has had genuine believers coming seeking the Lord. Almost every night is Bible story night with the many children of the village, including singing songs and playing games. The team goes on exercise walks with the kids sometimes too, holding hands and singing songs and just talking. You’ll see pictures of the team holding hands and giving piggyback rides to the kids, and that’s a snippet of the action and heart of the team here.

Guess who got to name the baby, Juliana?

The children here, like many places, peer in constantly on the every move of the Americans. But here in addition to watching these kids write notes and draw pictures expressing their love and affections. The notes quickly pile up on the table through the day, each bearing a slightly different spelling of the American names than the previous. Even I got a huge stack of the letters during my short stay.

Be in prayer for the people the team is ministering to. They have met many who have eagerly received the word. Be in prayer that during these last days the team would continue to be strengthened by God to do His work. While there is little time left, God is enough to do great things.

I ate great while here, but if there wasn’t enough food for lunch I could always be sure that Anna had enough Clif and Nature Valley bars to fill me up.

-Brian & the Consorcia Team

These girls aren't afraid of playing in the rain






Bible stories with the children
Playing 'open and close the basket'
Going on an exercise walk in the evening
Being surrounded, as usual. 


Brown suger-fried bananas





The view from the balcony where we sleep

The birds who live in the health center, flying
around and nesting wherever they please




Our friend was fetching starfruit for us


The health center where the team stays.