AFE- Amor, Fe Esperanza- Love, Faith, Hope (by Andrea)

This past week I spent my time helping out at AFE. AFE is a tuition-free Christ-centered school for children who live in or near the city dump. The school has been open for about the past five years, and has been giving children who wouldn't otherwise have the oppurtunity to go to school the oppurtunity to recieve and education. I think that it is a wonderful ministry that gives kids an education in academics, as well as a wonderful way to learn about God, the source of all love, hope, and faith.
Upon arriving at the school on Monday morning I found out that they didn't have a kindergarten teacher anymore, so I spent the mornings teaching 2-6 children things like the alphabet and how to write their numbers. It was a challenge to try to keep the children's attention, and try to find creative ways to teach them in a way that they will want to learn.
After Monday afternoon there wasn't much for me to do after classes, so I traveled back into the city with some of the other teachers to visit some of the other ministries where some of the other team members was helping out at for the week. I was able to visit CEDER, and spend some time at the Micah House (see previous blogs for information on these locations).
Thursday evening we had the oppurtunity to take Toni (he is paralyzed from his waist down and only has limited use of his arms) to visit the Micah House, where a bunch of his friends live. Because of being paralyzed he has minimal oppurtunity to get out of his neighborhood, so it was a special treat to be able to visit his friends in the city. Josh works with Toni teaching classes and commented that, "It was such a blessing to see him in a state of complete joy and fulfillment. Karen said the next day in her class with him, they didn’t do too much in the way of bookwork because he just kept talking about that precious night. This is a situation in which the goal was to bless him, and we were blessed as well, in a way I can’t express."
It was a wonderful oppurtunity to allow God to use us and bless us at the same time.