Global Outreach Website

Well we spent a very busy Father's Day going to church, lunch and to the orphanage. Now we are here at the ministry center awaiting our Sunday night pizza.  :)

Church was much as I expected with both languages going on at once.  What I did not expect was to see two friends I had met in Atlanta that are from Guatemala.  Eric, whom I met at our February Clinic for Life on Life Discipleship and Juan Pablo who was our guest worship leader two years ago for Spotlight.  It was so great to see them and get to have a bit of conversation with them.  The message was great and I had the opportunity to speak with the pastor after and let him know how much I enjoyed it.  It was a little distracting to have someone translating into a mic and receiving the translation via radio (ear buds) since the static was almost as loud as the translator's voice.  But once you got past that the message was awesome! 

Then lunch at Chili's. (I know...I thought we were on a mission trip, right?)  We had to earn it though.  We walked from where the bus parked to where we thought the entrance was located.  However, there was some new construction going on and so we had to take the long road.  Oh well.  I'm sure it won't be the last we'll be walking.  Then back to the ministry center (after the long walk back to the bus) to change clothes and head to the orphanage.

Haley, Tracy, Jack and Samantha and I spent most of our time in the baby/infant room.  As Samantha entered a sweet little toddler came running up to her and gave her a huge hug!  Haley immediately had a little one in her lap and he wouldn't budge.  Wait til you see the pictures.  They were so precious.  We got to play to our hearts content.  People (mostly the other Americans that were there, but some Guatemalans who worked there) would come in and out and take some with them or bring some back and so there was never a shortage of babies to need/want our love and attention.  I got to feed Omar.  Leslie was a little fiesty but so much fun.  Sala(Tracy's favorite) loved to scrunch her nose, open her mouth and squint her eyes as I asked her in my broken Spanish, where her nose, mouth and eyes were (would have spelled it all out in Spanish but I spell it worse than I speak it!).  So cute!!! The hard part was putting them down to recieve another one.  They would often cry when their little feet hit the cold tile floor.  As I reflect on the time there, I think I can feel a bit how our Heavenly Father must feel when we take time to sit in His lap and let Him love on us.  How sweet it was to have those precious little ones just want to sit in my lap just because I let them.  When I first walked in I didn't really know what to do.  Others were already there and loving on the babies but I felt left out somehow.  But the moment I sat on that floor and turned my attention to one, others immediately were drawn to me. Isn't that an awesome metaphor for the Kingdom.  When other see the way the Father loves us they are immediately drawn to it and have to investigate.  I'm go glad the Father is not lacking in loving arms to hold all of us at the same time.  The more the better, actually. 

I wish I could share what the rest of the group did while we were there but my entire time was spent in with the babies and toddlers so I have no idea how they were blessed by the kids.  I don't know who was blessed more, the little ones who so long for love and attention or me.  They didn't care if I spoke their language, if the words were pronounced correctly or even if I made them up.  They just loved me and I just loved them!

Hopefully Tracy is blogging tonight too and you can get her perspective on our day.

Love from the team,

La