Groovy Tuesday

Mark 9:35-37 - Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all."  He took a little child and had him stand among them.  Taking him in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me: and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.

Each day we begin our day with devotions.  We are able to have them in the restaurant of our hotel, which is a blessing in itself.  The owners are so gracious and treat us so well!  We began our day by talking about being a vessel to be used by God.  It is something that each of us takes to heart and that we are able to be the hands and feet of Jesus each day. 

So, we began our day at Nueva Esperanza.  Our team was greeted with lots of Tia! Tia!  With Kara's help we have found that this is a loving term for aunt and refer to most women that way.  We prepared for a round robin of games, music, story telling, and coloring!  Coloring is a big hit with the kids!  This round robin enabled us to be able to make contact with all age groups and interact with us in the activities that we planned for the groups.  The sun was shining so we were able to take the kids outside for games!  The only group that is not as mobile are the babies in the nursery.  What a precious bunch!  Some raise their arms to be held and some sit in their cribs to observe what's going on around them.  It's hard to leave them at the end of our time.  Please keep this group in your prayers as we try to reach out to all of these children.

Again, our group split up today, so our determined construction team could devote their time and energy to remodeling the ABC Center.  They made huge progress by building benches and a desk and were able to paint Kara's future room.  Praise God!  Please keep lifting them in prayer... they have the momentum and the energy and want to keep putting forth their best efforts to complete as much as possible during this week. 

After our morning sessions, we went to the food court for lunch. A Honduran soccer game was on and it was cool to see how excited everyone was when they scored a goal...very similar to a Steelers touchdown!  So, on we went to Mujeres.  Again, the worship blew us away!  Olga, one of the Orphan Helpers staff, does an amazing job of leading these girls in preparing their hearts for the message that follows.  The girls were willing to show us some dance moves to one of their worship songs...talk about groovy!  It produced a lot of giggles and so much fun for all of us!  Elizabeth delivered a beautiful testimony of transformation orchestrated by the grace of God. The message of forgiveness and redemption was powerful! And, reminded that his mercy and grace is available to everyone and will use each one us to show His love if we allow Him into our hearts.  Crafts, scrapbooking, and games were on the afternoon agenda.  The girls loved getting their picture taken and found that playing soccer with them is like speaking a universal language.

We are at our halfway point for the week.  We ask for your prayer support to maintain our strength and focus as we continue on in the next few days.