Wow. We have now completed 3 days of ministry. It is has been a very emotional and physically demanding week, but so worth it! On Tuesday, our team woke up at 4 am and the bus picked us up at 5am. Three boys that live at the property we stay at came with us. They were there to guide us through the city and help us during the day. So, the 7 of us girls and the 3 boys headed out on the bus. We rode about 30 minutes and got to a city. It was still dark. We walked through the city looking for the next bus that would take us to where we were going. I was so glad Christopher, Ariel and Fernando were with us. I didn’t’ feel scared at all. It is so cool that just a few months or even weeks ago, these boys were the ones that were on the street. I am so glad God has rescued them. We loaded the next bus and had about an hour and half drive. Needless to say, we all fell asleep. We woke up in another city and Gracie was there waiting for us. She is an amazing woman. Just listening to her story was so inspiring. She has been taking down sex traffickers, rapists, and corrupt police. Her mission is to stop the violence in this country. She has a home with girls and kids who have been rescued from rape, incest, or any other violent crime. Our role was to just love on the kids during the day. There were 3 boys who were children of incest that their mothers have abandoned them. My heart melted when I met them. The house also has 2 cerebral palsy girls, in which one of them was left to die. She now has gained weight and is doing very well. There were also about 5 girls with babies ranging in ages from 1 month old to 9 months old. The girls live there and are able to have school and a safe place to raise their kids during this recovery time. The one story that broke my heart was a 12 year old who got pregnant from her mother’s boyfriend. She has a 1 month old. It was so sad to see how she was just a kid herself. I fell in love with her baby. I held her as much as I could. It was a great day just showing them love and giving the moms a break for them to be girls. It was very sad to leave that afternoon, but I am confident that they are in a great place and God is going to continue to work in their lives through Gracie’s ministry.
Day 2 was a whole different ballgame. We left at 6am (woo hoo) and drove to Denny’s. It was great to have an “American” breakfast and have access to the Internet. It definitely was a refresher and got us pumped up. We loaded 10 of us in the back of a pickup truck. We drove about 45 minutes up to the top of a mountain, while singing as many songs as we could think of. (Do Re Mi was our best). It had a breathtaking view. We walked down to the field and started carrying rocks/boulders to where a dam was being built. We got so dirty, but it was so much fun. The most challenging thing was 3 of us wheeling a wheel barrel down a hill full of rocks of all sizes. We laughed through it and didn’t mind if we were covered in dirt, mud and horse poo. We just embraced it and were so grateful for the view we had and the blue skies and breeze. Miss Theresa, the woman who owns the farm and also fights against violence here, was so amazing and good to us. We got to stop at burger king on the way home and have a coke with ice and French fries. Internet was there too, so it we were spoiled!
Today was a great day. We were able to sleep until 7 and the bus picked us up here at 8. We drove about 10 minutes and went to the top of the hill and got to a school. We were going to be teachers for the day. I was put in the 1st and 2nd grade with Elissa. We went over math-rounding and adding and subtracting double digits. It was challenging at first to remember, but we quickly fell in the grove and made it work! We had recess and did vocabulary and spelling, and then I took the 2 2nd graders and read two stories. After lunch we sat in their Spanish class, which I liked because I learned some words. I really liked teaching. My sister is a teacher and I have sat in her classes a lot, but today I thought I might like doing it too. We shall see if that is God’s plan or not. Our school day was over by 2 today, so we had some time to relax. We walked down and got a taco and a soda and just enjoyed the weather and the quiet afternoon. Tomorrow we get to go to the mall and see a movie and use the Internet. Thank you Jesus!
Thank you for all of your prayers. I truly appreciate them. Keep them coming!
