Orphanage Trip

Patty had to bail out on this trip because she was not feeling well Friday afternoon. If you have read some earlier posts, she had a real bad battle with the flu over a week ago. By Friday afternoon she knew she would not be able to go, and for those that don't know her, it had to really be bad for her to back out of an orphanage trip. When I got back late last night, she was in bed, but awake. She sounded horrible and her cough sounded like I don't know what. She went to the doctor this morning and guess what? She's got pneumonia. She was given a strong antibiotic, and inhaler and some stronger cough medicine with codeine. The doctor told her no work for at least two days which means she won't be going back until Thursday. The antibiotic should be working well fighting off the pneumonia by then.

So now on to our orphanage trip. We left about 6:30 or so and barely made it to the border by 10. Got to the orphanage around 11 PM or so. We had a group of 8 and Robert and his friend Scott and their girls met us there. All of the girls in our group got one of the rooms in the apartment. Robert and Scott and their toddlers got the other room. All of us guys in our group slept on the tile floor in the kitchen. It was really cold, probably in the 20's and there is no heat. But the kids in the orphanage don't have heat either. Just blankets. I did not sleep well that first night. Not really because it was cold, because the sleeping bag I was in kept me warm enough. The tile bothered my hips because it was so hard. But I ain't whining. Those kids sleep in the cold or heat (depending on the season) each and every night without the benefit of heat or air conditioning.

The next morning we were able to distribute gifts to the kids. It was very rewarding to see the looks on their faces and the excitement in their eyes. There were several other groups that came down while we were there handing out gifts to all the kids. We spent the day just loving the kids and hanging out with them. At one point I had a kid on both knees while I was sitting out by the basketball court, with others gathered around me and just hanging on me. The story about Jesus ministering to all of the little children entered my mind. Oh don't worry, I don't compare myself to Jesus, but I just had that picture in my mind of all the kids sitting in Jesus' lap and gathered around Him.

One thing that really touched me involved the De La Paz siblings that my co-worker Leslie and her family sponsor. Leslie gave me a bag of gifts to bring down for them. They did not want to open them in front of us for some reason. But we handed them out and they took them to their rooms. Later that day they showed me a photo album that Leslie had made for them. They had a very tiny picture of their mother that they gave me on an earlier trip. Leslie wanted it so she could have it re-done and enlarged. She made them a photo album with the enlarged picture of their mother, pictures of them with Leslie and Paul and pictures of Leslie and Paul and their own kids. The kids were SO proud of the photo album.

Now on to what nearly brought me to tears of joy (and it WILL bring Leslie to tears of joy). The De La Paz kids handed Hannah a gift bag with gifts for Leslie, Paul and their family. Orphans...giving back to someone else. How awesome and touching is that?

Robert and Scott and their girls had to leave Saturday. Us guys got the bedroom that they were occupying and I slept like a rock that night. Sunday was spent hanging out with the kids, observing another group from Phoenix that came to minister to them, and this group also provided a huge tamale dinner to the kids. These kids normally get beans and rice 3 meals a day. Later in the day we did the Pinata party for the December birthdays and I got to watch the boy I sponsor (Jesus Guadalupe) take a swing or two or three and then he cheated and poked it which opened a hole in the Pinata.

I also was able to see the house Hannah will be living in when she moves down there in January. A very nice little 3 bedroom place with a fenced yard. It will be awesome to be able to stay at her place on our monthly trips instead of worrying about another group staying in the apartment on-site and having to fork out money for a hotel.

On the way back we were able to meet my parents again in Tucson, as well as my Grandma and my cousin and her husband. I was able to drop off our Christmas gifts and also enjoy a short visit with them.

I am sure I will have some pictures to throw up on here whenever I can get them from Hannah. I forgot Patty's camera and did not take any, but Hannah takes plenty for everybody.

Talk about doing church man, we did it this weekend. And we did not even step foot into a "church building". We did church by caring for the poor and the orphans. That's what it's really all about. I am learning this more and more on this journey of following Christ.

Be MoVeD!