Our first day with the kids....AMAZING! Over 300 beautiful, happy, loving children. We love this place! Children with Hope and Orphan's Heart are helping these children to have a much better life...in Christ Jesus. These children would be working in the landfill for 10-12 hours a day, digging through the garbage only to make to make a few pennies if it weren't for this ministry. These children now are given a "safe" place to spend their days, as well as a public education, a hot meal, and the love of Christ. Already, our hearts are so blessed and it's only the first day.
The team was busy all day long. We began the day with a heart wrenching DVD of the ministry and a brief orientation by Pastor Pablo and his wonderful wife, Elizabeth. After the orientation we unpacked the 300+ pairs of flip-flops and much needed school supplies. A big shout out to Grand Island Baptist Church! You can't imagine the look on their faces when we opened the 8 suitcases FULL of the supplies and shoes. It was a touching experience to give out the flip-flops today...seeing the gratitude and excitement for "just a pair of flip-flops." We have the joy of giving out the remaining 150 to the morning group tomorrow.
Bruce, Larry, and Roger had an eye-opening shopping experience this morning. There is no such thing as a quick trip to Home Depot... 3 hours later they came back with the 8 items they needed. That's OK because they were able to do some much needed improvements to the dining hall. They will be hard at work the rest of the week helping in various maintenance projects around the center.
Patty, Susan, and Karalee, (Howie, too) helped with recreation (well OK it was really recess but we played hard!), helped prepare, serve, and clean up the lunch for the 300+ children and workers, and fitted the kids with their new flip-flops...and somehow managed to squeeze in serving and cleaning the afternoon snack). Whew!
The team enjoyed dinner together, sharing the WOW! moments of the day, and now are all tucked in and ready for a good night's sleep.
Thank you for your prayers...we couldn't do any of this with out them.
Stay tuned for day number two!
Love all the pictures. Can't wait to see these kids in person.
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