Día del Niño

April 30th is the "Día del Niño", or Day of the Child, here in Mexico. On or around that day, schools, parents, government, businesses, etc. throw extravagant parties in honor of children in Mexico. The one constant at every party is...candy. Children are given bags and bags of candy. Last year, the school gave each child a two-liter bottle full of candy. Yes, you read right: the school! Last year Aaron gathered at least four bags of candy from various parties. We were suffering the consequences of his sugar high for months!

On Saturday, April 29th, we had a special activity at the mission for the children. Without doing an extra promotion, we had over 50 children come. They have learned to expect something special that day. We were able to share the Gospel with them (as well as "tostadas" and a big chocolate sucker). On Sunday, April 30th, over 250 children came to church for a special activity that involved skits, songs, games and, of course, candy! While the amount of money spent on candy is a shame, it is a wonderful opportunity to reach out to more children and their families.

Sunday was also a Día del Niño for me and AJ Gibson. Sunday night, Inter-City Baptist in Detroit called to inform us that the church had voted to give the University a substantial gift to purchase theology books for the library. I definitely feel like a child in a candy store as I get to purchase more books for our library! Thank you, Inter-City, for your generosity! I am glad that I get to spend it on something more significant than candy.