Mission: JOY
There is no greater joy than to see smiling children! From the first few minutes until the last goodbye of the day, bringing joy is our mission...and the team has been very successful in fulfilling this mission. Sharing God's love will make anyone smile and by being Jesus' hands and feet the team brings great "gozo" (Spanish for joy) to the children and workders. One beautiful aspect of sharing is that when you share joy, the joy will reciprocate and the giver will always recieve a blessing in return. This week the Malnutirction Center is FULL of joy!
The team members are now "old pros" at the malnutrition center. We begin each day by helping in bathing and dressing the children. The older squirrels and ducks go to "escuelita" (school) in the mornings and some of the team help there. Several of the team members are working with the bunnies and the chicks (toddlers). Others are loving on the babies in the canary room. Paul has been "Mr. Fix-it" all week but today he changed his first diaper in over 40 years!... he kept asking for the pins! Everyone works together in getting lunch fed to the 70+ children. After lunch we are busy doing projects (cleaning, organizing, and helping) around the center. Next is nap time (only for the children!?!) and after they wake up, the children are given a snack; followed by playtime (some days the train!). And by the time we have a chance to look at our watches it's already 4:30 and time to say goodbye for the day.
(sigh **sniffle**sniffle)
Joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22&23. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, JOY, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."
Four Houses in Four Days
Just when you think the days here can’t get any more amazing or exhausting, day four rolls around. The separate mission teams (one for the Malnutrition Center; one for the construction sites) were all jumbled around today as the construction team lost two of its main workers but gained two of the girls who had been working at the Center all week. Being one of the girls, I was a little nervous about going from changing diapers to building someone’s house and I didn’t expect it to be much more than a construction job. It was so much more. God works in funny ways, pulling us out of our comfort zones and into His Will….what an extraordinary change of pace. The construction team broke its previous house-building record, finishing a little before lunch, and I thought we would just pack up and head back to the hotel. Boy, am I glad we didn’t. After finishing the house, Caleb and I made a point to meet the children who would be living there. So, armed with smiles and an assortment of little toys and candy, we introduced ourselves to the little girl who would live in the house, Lidia. What a precious gift she is. Her enthusiasm for the treats we brought her was contagious and we instantly fell in love with her. She has the sweetest, most mature personality I have ever seen in a mere five-year-old; at the same time, she is still very much a silly, bubbly girl with a big smile and an even bigger fascination with cameras. For about three hours, we sat on the ground with her, taking pictures, showing her how to play with the toys, and just enjoying her company. Really I can’t describe how incredibly powerful of an influence she had on our lives. It nearly broke my heart to have to walk away from her when we finished, especially after she so sweetly asked if we were coming back to see her. It was all I could do not to keep her in my arms and stay, either that or just take her with me. Now I know what it means when God breaks your heart for what breaks His. Everyone is different so we have all been affected differently by various aspects of the trip, but for me, I know now what I should do with my life. Maybe you don’t know what you’re supposed to do yet, but if you do, do you remember when you first figured it out? It’s sorta a scary, overwhelming process of deep thinking and praying, but there is no feeling like the one you have when you know you’re on the right track. Lives are being changed on this trip and it’s a really neat thing to see. I am so blessed to be with such an awesome team; we’re really all like family now. We can’t wait to get back and see all of you, but don’t be surprised if we act a little funky at first. We have been changed in so many ways that it will be a rough adjustment getting back. Today, I pray that you will pray for our hearts to remain true to what God wants us to do and not get hung up on the past or future.
(Sarah Pappas)
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