I am home. Back in Omaha. Enjoying being home. Reflecting on the past year of my life. This incredible, life changing year. There are SO MANY people from around the world that I want around me all the time. Incredible people. I wish they could all be with me now, in one location.
Well, since I am thinking about them, I wanted to share them with you. I want to highlight the individual that stuck out to me in each country. The person that, when I think about this country, this is the person I think of (well, in some cases, people I think of). These are the people I miss most from around the world. These are the people I very much love.
EL SALVADOR:
Teresa, Vicki, and Victor. We called them the tortilla ladies. (not Victor, he was Teresa's son). We went there every day to get tortillas for lunch. They were so friendly, very patience (since we didn't know much spanish), and so kind. We came so often that we became very good friends. Here, they had invited us over for a meal.
HONDURAS:
Tony was our ministry contact in Honduras. He works with the street kids of Los Pinos, one of the most dangerous communities in the world. His heart for these children and his vision for the ministry there, Zion's Gate, is incredible. He loves these kids and he wants the best for them. Here we are on the Zion's Gate property after completing the first tree in our landscaping project.
NICARAGUA:
MARIO!!!! When I was looking through my pictures, this one brought me to tears. Mario. He is a sweet man that lives in a nursing home in Nicaragua. We loved going to visit him. He had such energy and a great sense of humor! We gave him this picture of us when we left. He, in return, gave us something out of his goody bag (which ended up being a mini stick of deoderant!) He also gave me a book in Spanish about a teacher. The top photo is us looking at that book and picking out crazy looking photos that looked like my teammates.
THAILAND:
"Sally". She is the person from this trip that is the most near and dear to my heart. She changed my life, my perspective. "Sally" is a ladyboy that works in the red light district in Thailand. I loved getting to know her. This country and these people are so close to my heart.
Thailand is so dear to me, I couldn't just pick one person. "Melissa" is a little girl who sells flowers in the red light district. Here I am with her and her aunt. One of my favorite days in Thailand was when this little girl came running up to me for a hug when she saw me. It was when I knew that she knew I cared deeply for her.
CAMBODIA:
Seakhouy! She was one of the students in the English class that I taught in Cambodia. She is SO sweet and loves to learn. We also went out to eat together and she helped me find the bananas in coconut milk dessert that I loved!
MALAYSIA:
I am not sure of this little girl's name. We would find her with her mother on the street corner when we went out on Wednesday to talk with the prostitutes and other on the streets. She would NOT smile the first time we met her, but by the last week, she was laughing and playing with us. She LOVED the balloons! Here we are at the shelter. We brought her mother and siblings to the shelter for some food one evening.
RWANDA:
Rwanda is the country where the children stole my heart. They would all run up to you for hugs, kisses, and just to have the opportunity to touch you. They needed so much love! This little girl is the child most dear to me from this trip. We called her "Colombo's sister" (she has a twin named Colombo). I love her. Her and her brother are very poor children. Again, when we first met them they would NEVER smile, but by the end of the month there were so many smiles! (as you can see here!) One day we brought several of the children to our home and gave them baths and my teammate Anjali gave them new clothes. This is Colombo's sister trying on her new clothes!
KENYA:
These children in Kenya lived just down the street from us. Every time we would head their direction, they would come running to us! We started making extra trips their way just to hang out with them.
TANZANIA:
Honestly, in Tanzania, I didn't make many connections. I was exhausted and I had fainted, injuring my ribs pretty badly. BUT, the teammates I had that month were incredible! I could not have asked for a more fun, encouraging, and perfect group of teammates for this month. Here is a photo with most of them. Missing are Justin Marshall and Tabby Hubbard.
NEPAL:
This little boy I only knew for about an hour, but he made an impact on me. We were on a bus ride back from the village to Kathmandu and our bus stopped in a small village to pick up bananas. We started playing with the children and this little boy was the brave one to approach us first, even when all the other kids were afraid!
INDIA:
Here are a few extra photos of our time in India, since I haven't posted many yet. The last week we were in India, we worked with an amazing orphanage. These children are incredible. The owners of this orphanage are incredible. You can tell they really love the children and you can tell the children know they are loved. Here, we are helping the children with an art project.
Joetea, Monika, and Dancy. Three of my favorite girls from the orphanage. I LOVE them!
Not sure of the name of the boy in brown, but the other two are Dinesh and Joshua. Some of my favorite boys at the orphanage.
And Joshua again. I had to show you a picture of him smiling because he is SO cute!!
These are the faces of many of the people that made the most impact on me.
These are the faces of the people I love.
This has been an incredible year. No words can describe how thankful I am for everything I was able to experience this year. How grateful I am to have met each of these people. How loved I have felt by all of your support in helping me along this journey.
THANK-YOU from the bottom of my heart!
