Every Saturday I spend time at Meme's Rio soup kitchen meeting people, playing with kids, and helping with children's church. We usually have anywhere from 25-40 people every Saturday, most of these being children.
A typical day at the soup kitchen usually goes like this: I arrive around 11:00 and help the rio women with the last preparations, runs to tiendas, etc. Around 11:30 my group of little neighborhood girls and I head off into the neighborhood to invite the people to come to the comedor for a warm meal and a church service. At 12:30 the people begin to arrive and we get organized for the service. The service begins with worship all together. Most of the songs we sing are older hymns with a lot of hand clapping. Just a few weeks ago my friend, Cheque, began leading worship with the guitar and began teaching the people some more contemporary worship songs. Now we have a mixture of the old spirituals and the newer praise songs. After the worship service the adults stay for a message and the kids split up into classes based on age groups. I head to a table in the back of the comedor with the littlest kids to help with their class. We sing together, listen to a Bible story, use the felt board (oh yeah! That's my day and age!), and color pictures until the parents are finished. After the teaching time we all share in a meal together. Each week the meal is different. We have everything from enchiladas, to tacos, to chicken soup and always tortillas!!! During the meal there is time to talk and fellowship with the people. To ask about their lives, their needs, and to pray with them. I love it! After the meal the service is over. These past few weeks I have hung around and played with the kids after the meal. This has become one of my favorite times. We play all sorts of games, Cheque plays the guitar, and we teach them songs and motions. I can honestly say that Saturday has become one of my most favorite days of the week!
Here is a clip from the worship service at the soup kitchen.
