This is one of those days that I am hoping the pictures are worth a thousand words - because I am pooped! The top photo is of Janet Michel the founder and president of Bridges of Hope. The young lady standing next to her is the wife of the couple chosen to receive the new home the men are building. I believe she had 5 children, and is 23 years old. The level of poverty is the worse I have ever seen and Janet and her husband expressed the same. The chompa the family is sharing has 18 people living in it and 6 people have died in the dwelling in the past few months. There is no running water or septic or sewer system. The second photo is one of the pathways between chompas. Many homes were made cardboard boxes, corregated metal, and plastic of may different varieties from plasitic bags to tarps. The homes seemed to be endless and almost none stood alone - but rather all shared a common wall. Add the heat and the humidity from the big rain last night, smell a bad sock that has soured and you might get the idea of how we spent today. There was at least 200 people in the area we were to help with children. The kids were petty good as shared the evangecube and 10 commandment game - but - Los Discipulos win if there would be a prize for entertaining the kids. They were great!
We left Los Victorious and headed out of town to EXODO orphanage. Leila came along to meet the director and see the program the Discipulos would perform and see the facility. The Discipulos were great for the kids! They even split up and shared some lessons with the them. A couple of the kids were starting to get the hand of it! I had tried to attach a video but there is something blocking it from uploading. It is about 5 minutes long - so maybe it was too big.
We went from devestation to delight. The horrible conditions at La Victorious - to visiting with the kids at EXODO. The kids have grown and changed so much this past year! I have one little guy that really remembers me. Edwardo wanted his photo with me - he is SO shy - but his smile tells how happy he was to see a friend return for 3 years.
It was a good day - but exhausting.
Prayer Request: Strength for the men that are going back to La Victorious to finish the house. Please pray for those struggling financially as well as in there everyday needs. Later in the day the whole team will return there to have a dedication ceremony for the house with the family. Pray for our travel safety. While most of the men are working the rest of the team and the Discipulos will be visiting Luceo Cristiana Juan Bueno (a christian school), where we will visit different classrooms and answer questions about the USA. Carol and I are prepared to tell them about Jesus too!
Sorry for any misspelled words. That spell checker still is not working for me on this trip and I also am falling asleep at the keyboard. :o) - and 1 more thing....Happy 40th birthday to my favorite litte leprecahn, CHAD. Visit www.whatmydadsaw.blogspot.com
PS - PRAISE!! The ground was not too muddy!
Love - y'all
