whistle while we work

It was another day of firsts for this trip. Today we spent the majority of our day working (and playing) at an orphanage. We had hoped to we would be able to visit an orphanage during our planning of the trip, but when we arrived it was not on the schedule. They are very careful not to "exploit" the kids in orphanages here, and have had some not-so-good experiences with teams in the past. However, James and Jenny have been so impressed with the maturity and servant hearts of our team, that they went ahead and made the arrangements for us. A really testimony of how great these kids on our team are.

The purpose of today, and tomorrow, was to help build a brick storage area in the back of the home. We moved 3000 bricks from the front yard to the back. Then Dave and crew started working on the exterior wall. The gringos worked on the front wall, and 2 professional masons started on the back/inside wall. After we got about 3 layers of brick done, they asked if we wanted to switch and do the back wall. So we switched, at which point they tore down what we had begun (obviously we are... scratch that, we were not pros). After healing up the wounded pride, we went back to it... We got a hang of it, and completed 10 levels before calling it a day. Tomorrow we will go back and finish the job!

While some were working on the storage area, others spent time playing with the girls from the orphanage. It was so nice for them to have that one-on-one time with the kids. The woman who runs the orphanage was so grateful for our team, not just for the work, but for spending time with the girls. She mentioned that this would be the highlight of their year! And it is ours as well. Again, you can see God's hand on bringing our team to love these children and complete a project literally started a couple of years ago. The were able to lay the foundation for it, but have not had the resources or the people to help since. Just recently they received money from another church in the US, which allowed them to purchase the brinks for us to build. Amazing!

It's hard to explain this orphanage. It's not like you would expect, but more like a home and family for these 13 girls who have lost their parents. What a wonderful ministry. Not only do they care for these ones who have no family, but they teach them the Word and help them to grow in their faith in Christ. It was powerful for our team to see.

Later in the afternoon we went back to the neighborhood we were in yesterday and held another session of our VBS. These kids so love us being there. They literally grab on to us when we leave, not wanting us to go. Our hope is that through us, they grab on to the Love of Jesus!