Windows of Hope

Tommorow will be our last day in Quetzaltenango. We have been here for 2 weeks and tommorow we will have to say good bye to the kids that we have been with for two weeks. None of us are looking forward to it.

This will be a short blog but I just wanted to give you a window into some of the beautiful moments that we have had at the government orphanage.

Each day we sing songs with the kids in the orphanages about Jesus and they love the songs. Yesterday I was sitting under the playground scape watching some of the other kids play futbol...which is an all day activity....and as I was sitting there with one of the special needs girls in a wheel chair, another special needs boy sat very close to me. I began to sing to the girl in the wheelchair and she immediately made eye contact with me and began to sing along in Spanish. The boy also began to sing with me and when I finished, he said sing more! So I asked him what he wanted to sing and we began to sing a song that we had sang earlier that morning. Also, today, it was cleaning day in the orphanage and as I was scrubbing the bars that surround the stairs so that kids do not jump of with a wet rag, the boy who had found me the day before picked up a rag and decided to help me. Surprisingly, he looked at me again and said, Sing! So we began singing. This was one of my favorite moments at the orphanage, as we scrubbed the bars and sang. He was actually a pretty good singer and remembered all of the words. Other children in the orphanage could hear him sining and another boy came over and helped us clean and also o began to sing. There is nothing more fulfilling that scrubbing bars with 2 little boys that are praising the Lord. This boy cannot do everything that the other kids can do, but he can praise his maker. When he loves people, he does so purely with no self motivation and that is one of the most refreshing things that I have ever seen.

Another time, I passed by the craft station and looked through the window. As I looked in I saw our team mates and little kids dancing their hearts out. I entered in the room it was one of the best times that I have had here so far. Every one was dancing and smiling. Around this orphanage, there is so much fighting between the kids because there is not as much discipline since it is one adult to every 15 or 20 kids. Imagine being in a family of 15 kids and having to share everything on your back. So for me to see these kids having a wonderful time and just dancing was also like a fresh breath of air.

This story is from one of the fathers that came from the individuals group. He was explaining to one of the kids that his daughter was with him at the orphanage. Just as it dawned on him that this might be a sensitive subject, considering the fact that these children do not have active parents in their lives, the child pointed upwards and said that his daddy was God.

Another time this week, I was sitting under the playscape with a girl upset about her family as a man with a Bible also sat around a group of kids. As I evesdropped into their conversation he began to talk to the kids about boundaries. He explained that even though these kids had boundaries and were essentially trapped inside of the 2 story walls with barbed wire at the top, they could be free in their hearts if Jesus was King of their hearts. He also explained that even though peope who lived outside of the walls were physically free to go and come as they wanted, many of them were trapped and living in walls in their minds and hearts because they did not have Jesus. It was so encouraging to see more and more kids gather around him and respond to what he had to say. I talked to him later and he explained that he and his wife ctually came to the orphanage several times a week to build relationships with the kids and share the love of christ with them. I am not exactly sure if he worked there, but it is so good to know that these kids getting constant attention from a father figure who cares about them and is actually reading the Bible to them and discussing their feelings and pasts on their levels.

Pray for us tommorow as we say goodbye. Pray for these kids that they would be free in their hearts just like the man explained. In Acts 17 it says that God has us all in places where we will seek Him. Even though many of these kids are in this orphanage, they are learning about Christ.
I am learning each day that even orphans who seem to have nothing, can have everything if they know their maker. It has been a severe test of my faith to trust these kids over to God. So many times I see their faces, there snotty noses, their dirty dipers, their scabs and scars and warts, their dirty fingernails, their lice, the barbed wire fences, their ripped shoes, their tears that go on for hours, their empty eyes, their balled fists ready to defend their territory, their look in their eyes that yearns for attention and I just ask, God where are you in this? But I have to trust that God loves them more than I could ever love them. God doesnt abandon us and sometimes what appears as abandonment is just Him letting us be in a position of need for Him. Sometimes we wouldnt seek God if we had not gone through hell on earth. Sometimes Gods way of showing mercy is by allowing us to experience unspeakable troubles so that we look to him and are able to spend eternity with him in unidentifiable glory and happiness. Mercy is not always apparent, but God is merciful. Pray for hope.

We have had another team of individuals with us this week at the governernment orphanage and they have been a true blessing. It has been wonderful to serve alongside of them and we have been so encouraged by their energy and passion. Pray for them as they home this week that God would continue to let this weeks events touch and shape their lives.

Thans for your prayers!!