Day 11

[From the team’s blog….]

Today, we visited two schools, doing 5 sessions.  The first school was a very poor school and the second was a 4-story building.  All of the presentations went as they have been with skits, songs, a message, and volleyball, but the most touching one of them was the third one.  It consisted of students from 7th-12th grades.  When the ministry team did the “Everything” by Lifehouse skit, the majority of the students were glued in.  There was at least one girl crying for sure and a few others on the verge of tears.  When the Pastor was talking to them afterwards, he had their undivided attention!  It was amazing to feel such a strong presence of God here!  God definitely had His hand in our presentations!

After the presentations, we headed straight to the orphanage. The kids were so excited to see us. They did not expect to see us tonight. As soon as one kid saw us, they all came running. The girls began playing games with them, such as tic tac toe and hangman, and sang a few songs, too. Then around 6 pm, the delivery truck showed up with the mattresses.  The kids and the orphanage parents had no idea that we were delivering these gifts!  They all were completely stunned and all clapped when they saw what was in the truck!  We quickly took pictures and then placed all the beds and pillows in each room.  When we were taking out the old mattresses, it was so exciting to watch them being replaced!  They were quite disgusting and one of the boys didn’t even have an actual pillow…he had a blanket stuffed into a pillow case.  All of them were so grateful!!!  It was awesome to see their smiles!  Afterwards, we got to hang out with the kids and make them an American breakfast for dinner–pancakes, eggs, and bacon.  Boy did they love it, especially the bacon!  For the next couple of hours, we loved on the kids and enjoyed being with all of them for the last time until next year.  They wanted us to sign their walls, notebooks, etc. along with taking a bunch of pictures with us.  It was a sad time of saying goodbye, and it will for sure hit us when we get back to the States!  Nevertheless, the opportunity to be with these children while on this trip has touched every single one of our hearts and the memories with them will never be forgotten!

3 more days – keep up the prayers for Dawn and the team!