42 people in a fifteen passenger van

So while I haven't updated you all on the things that I was planning on yet, I thought I would stick with the present right now and let you know what has been going on with some of our kids in Fresnillo.

On a normal Wednesday Kids' Club day we take two 15 passenger vans and a normal size van to pick up all the kids in the neighborhood "Plan de Ayala." Our normal attendance for this Wednesday afternoon club is about 60 or so children. Today my roommate Becca was sick and not able to drive one of the vans. When we are short one person we have an "emergency route" in which we combine all the kids into two vans. Last week this plan worked just fine. However, today I had 39 children and 3 adults in the 15 passenger van I was driving!!! Our attendance was about 80 kids. Seriously, it was craziness. On the way home we took the limit of kids which is supposed to be 30 and it just took a bit longer to do another vuelta (trip) home.

Praise the Lord for all the kids that came to club, but at the same time I was so stressed out by running late and going to kids houses that I don't know all over the neighborhood that I quickly got frustrated on the way home with the 30 kids and me being the only adult in the vehicle. To give you a better idea of not knowing where kids live let me give you this example....

Question: Chuy, where do you live? (Chuy, donde vives? o ?donde esta tu casa?
Answer: In a grey house (una casa gris)
Detail: All the houses in our colonia are made with large, grey bricks some are painted but many are not:)

Thanks Chuy!! :)
This didn't actually happen today but it happened many times my first couple months here.


It was kind of like a little flash back to teaching in the Bronx with TFA which lasted the whole day instead of just 30 minutes. I stopped the van three times as kids were fighting and crying and standing up and waited for obedience before continuing our journey home. Let's just say that it was a long 30 minutes. But I also was thankful for some of the disciplinary skills that I learned from the teaching and going through hard times.


It is kind of crazy how easily I forget that the Lord is in control of all thing and that I am not. After the stressed filled ride home I stopped for a second to breathe and stop worrying that a kid was going to fall out of the van while I was driving and hoped that the next time I am in a situation like that (which is soon to happen again) that I stop luego luego (right away) and pray in mind and ask the Lord for guidance, authority and patience. How often I am like one of those kids wanting my own way, thinking that I know what is best for me, when in reality my heavenly Father is watching out for me, wanting to protect me and keep me from falling. He indeed knows what is best for me.