Day 10

Praying with families

On the left-baby with clef-pallet((?sp). On the right baby with hydrocephilitis

We met our new ex-gang boys today. Here we are with Mansanto (Apple). We think he was being funny when he introduced himself and told his name because the interpreters (from his home church laughed, but didn't tell us his real name. He seemed to be the "clown" of the Los Discipulos (the Disciples in English) group. There are about 35 members of this amazing troop, but we will probably meet only 7 of them. The will be assisting us on all of our projects. They are just young men that gave their hearts to Christ - after a heart-wrenching life of poverty and abandonment. They laid their lives out before us today, not knowing if we would reject them or not. At no time did any of us feel intimidated. It is immediately obvious that God has changed their hearts and HE is truly molding men of God from what others tossed asside. We heard their testimonies and were moved to tears at times. They too fought back the tears as they revisited the hell they once lived here in El Salvador.

After sharing lunch and our 5 interpreters and the Discipulos we all headed to Bloom Children's Hospital. To find out more details of this facilities, one of our team said they looked it up on the internet. We had 100 stuffed animals to give to the children. We were instructed not to allow ourselves to cry, so the team was aware we would see some heart-breaking situations - and that we did. My camera battery died after we were in the first unit with young babies. The baby in the above photo is only1 day old baby. It is speculation on our part but the baby seemed to be blind and had hydrocephilitis (sp?) (water on the brain) There were a couple of other babies with that as well, and one that will undergo surgery this week for a clef-pallet (sp?) We gave out toys and prayed for them and with some mothers in this unit.

It was also a blessing to watch the Discipulos minister to people. This was their first time to do this in Bloom. We saw them moved with compassion and heard them pray for many children and parents throughout our tour. Seeing that was as touching as meeting the children from all over Central America that are patients at Bloom. It was a really good experience that I know changed many lives.

Tonight we talked our driver Jordan) into taking us to an authentic Pupusaria for dinner. I know, it sounds like a possible intestinal disorder - but the the pupusas are delicious! Carol and I each had 2! We hope to have a chance to learn to make them when we visit Leila again on our free day (Friday).

Prayer Requests: Pray for my husband, Ted. He had a tooth pulled on Monday and obviously I'm not there in Indiana to comfort him...bless his heart....Pray for the kids at Bloom. We will have photos to share and the director asked that we PLEASE pray for the kids we met. Pray for our Tuesday project - an eye glass clinic. We will be fitting people with reading glasses (magnifiers). Our project is from 9 AM - 4 PM and is in a very impoverished area called La Fosa. We also will share the gospel and pray with our "clients". Blessings to you all. The week is going quickly!!!!!