Day 5-El Mitch,Feeding Center at the Dump (Teculután), Baby Rescues, last good-bye's till next time, and a Big Reality Check!

Unreal. That is what I can say about our last full day at Hope of Life. The day started out uneventfully, but whatever else we did that day seemed unreal. It was definitely a busy day, and to be honest, it wasn't until the next day what we saw, touched, and did, that really hit me hard.

Well what we did was an amazing opportunity for us and that was tour the hospital. We didn't have enough time to do it when we toured the rest of ministry earlier in the week, so, Carlos had lead that tour once again and told us once again, about how he dreamed about having a hospital, and now this dream became a reality. Initially, there was to be a two-story clinic that World Help donated. But, Carlos wanted do something bigger. As he prayed, God sent others who donated money to finish building it, and now there will be six floors and with a helicopter pad on top. This hospital will be free unless you’re in the top level. That level, as Carlos says, is for “VIPS”, those who have money. See the money that they will pay, will cover the rest of the floors. This hospital should be opening shortly in the coming months. 

Hospital

View from third floor of the Hospital

After finishing the tour, we went to another village called El Mitch to give out food bags for families and shoe distributions. Once again, we split up into groups, and I got to help fit shoe sizes before they went to get their feet washed and put the new pair of TOMS on. It was another simply amazing opportunity to serve these people, who have nothing.

As the kids were standing in line, I didn't realize that they may have stood there for a while, until a little boy was getting his shoes measured. He was standing in front of me, waiting patiently. As I asked someone to pass me a size, and as I turning around to fit him, he couldn't wait any longer for the bathroom and wet himself. His face, was in totally embarrassment and with my broken Spanish, I tried to assure him that it was ok and not to worry, with a smile. This just reminded me of how long they must have waited in line, because by the time we came, lines of waiting individuals have formed already. It is just simply amazing to watch these people wait in line for a bag of food and shoes. In America, we don’t have to wait hours and hours for a mere bag of food, we have the luxury of running into a store to buy almost anything. Same goes for shoes. Any color, style, any brand, right at our finger tips. Imagine just for a moment, if you didn't have that luxury… How different would life be for you?

After finishing up, and loading the buses back up, we head back to Hope of Life for lunch. After lunch, we headed to Teculután, which is one of the 78 feeding centers where Hope of Life serves hot meals. This particular place is not like another place we had been to. It was a dump. Literally a dump, where there is trash absolutely everywhere, where people live, and eat, and sleep. As we drove closer to it, our translator, Julio, who lived not far from that dump, asked us not to be afraid to show love to them as we do to others. They might be dirty and have nothing, but they still deserve to be shown God’s love and we were there to do just that. Julio was telling us a little more about the people and the culture and how they live in general, and what really stuck with me is when he said, “these people may not have anything, but are the most content people on earth.” Not one day will they say that they are doing bad. They still thank God for the life that He has given them. As I, and probably a lot of other teams members thought, how is it that they have nothing, live in a dump, and still be happy and thank God for all that they have? Many times, we complain about the smallest things, things that are non-sense, instead of thanking God. Why? Often times, I need to remind myself that no matter what is going on, I need to thank God more for things that happen in life, than complain because if those people that live at a dump are thankful in everything, why can’t we be as well? It really is a reality check. Though I’m not going to say that this is always easy, but I’m trying to get better at this.

This view of children, mothers, fathers was hard to fathom, until later (personally for me). I was ready to love on these people, no matter what. I got to serve very little of the food, but that for me meant that I was able to walk around and simply love on these people. I came upon this little girl, and immediately fell in love with her. As I was around her, while she sat on the concrete floor with her food, she gave me one of her hands to hold. She held onto it tightly and wouldn't let go.

Cutest little girl!

 Then her mother came up to where we were. I got to ask her mother, the child’s name and age. Her name is Kailee and she is three years old. This just stuck something in me because I also have a niece who name is Kailee and is two years of age. When the girl’s mother told me her name, I was a bit surprised because it is so different from others. It really isn't Spanish… But nonetheless, I had some connection with her, but can’t really explain why. After a bit more, she got in my arms and hugged me while putting her face next to mine.

This happened until we had to leave. While holding her, her mother moved her shirt over, and showed me that she was injured. It looked like something might have bit her, but when the mother tried to explain, I couldn't understand. I was so upset that I didn't know enough to understand! This just makes me want to learn more Spanish, so the next time I go, I can understand more of what people tell me and also so I can converse back. My heart broke for this little girl. Why do all these children have to live here? Why can’t they get a better chance at life, than collecting plastics and glass as their job?

Some of the kids that live at the dump

A home at the dump

As we left the food distribution, we went to walk around the dump to see more of where people lived and to hear more about how these people live. Then again, time came to leave. Some team members had tears in their eyes from all the sights. As we were leaving, Kailee’s mother was standing near the bus, as she watched us get on. I got to wave her a last goodbye, and with the mother’s smile on her face, I won’t forget these people that are close to my heart. My heart once again broke and a piece of my heart stayed there with Kailee and her mother. I do hope, one day, I will see them again!

Thank you to whoever captured this moment! It was Kailee with her mom wavy bye to our team.

We drove right to the baby rescues, after the dump. We drove into a town, then had to walk to the river, which we probably got to about a twenty minute walk. Since our team was big, only about 7 could go across the river to get the kids, while the rest were waiting on other side, to assist with help when they returned.

Arrived on the other side

Bringing the kids..

 It was a moment that, no one knew what to expect to see. As the boat was coming back to where our team waited, it seemed a bit chaotic. Some other people from our team came closer to the boat, to help with getting kids and bringing them to ambulance. As you can see from these photos, it was something you don’t see every day. We were rushed to get into the transportation to get to our other bus, and then to go to the rescue center. As we arrived to the rescue center, only a few people at a time could go into the rescue center to see how the process goes. Other team members who were in the ambulance, were walking out crying. It was hard to see and really feel these kids that could have been so close to death, if they were not found. I got to meet one of the boys who was rescued. He is 11 years old, who had the least of problems. He had a tumor on his lower back, deformities, and was also malnourished. He started crying when I approached him, and tried to cheer him up or talk to him so his mind was not on what was going on. It was definitely a tough seen to see. Here are some of the photos of the kids that were rescued... There was six in total.

16 year old- was 69 pounds

2 yrs 8 months- was 15 pounds

Her baby was 4 months old weighing at 5 pounds

Another one of the rescues

After finishing up, we had to head back to the houses to get cleaned up for dinner. We also got to say our goodbyes to the kids at The Rescue Center, elders home, and special needs home. We had only an hour to do so, and it seemed like it was much shorter! We came right in time when the kids were all washed up and eating their dinners. So once again we had to the chance to feed the children and just love on them. I immediately went to find Esperanza, and held her the whole time. This time, she was so much more alert than the other previous days, I loved it! As I talked to her, she was just smiling at me and looking carefully at me. I love that moment when you know the child is happy just by holding them and talking to them. After a little while, she ended up falling asleep on my hands. But when our time came to an end, I had to put Esperanza down and went to say my last goodbyes before leaving the rescue center.

Henry and Esperanza

Emilio and I on last night 

Love Diego's smile!

                                   


As we headed to dinner, I walked through the elders home and said my goodbyes to them. I came upon an elder who, actually knew English! He was such a sweet guy! He was like, your part of this group that is leaving tomorrow? I told him I was, and he was like, but we didn't have time to talk! I told him I really didn't want to leave either and would of loved to get to know him, and told him, that I will be back, hopefully soon!

Final night meal-so good!

Dinner time! This last night, we had some tilapia (which is a fish, for those who don’t know) and rice. Since it was our last night, the children from the Paradise home (orphanage) preformed some songs for us, and… we had a birthday party for Ana Paula who turned one, the next day, when we were leaving. It was a special evening and sad also because we were leaving the next morning.

Some of Liberty Students..

Tiffany, Laverna, and Taylor

With Aracely, and Ana-Paula

Right before the performance

After dinner, we headed back up the mission houses so we could get our stuff together and then, we had a bon-fire! That was an awesome ending to our time there! Hugo (our translator) provided marshmallows, and Taylor got a guitar, and we did some devotions, also praising God through songs! 

Our last evening get-together

What an amazing time we had that evening. Of course, on our last night, we didn't get much sleep, but who needs it when it is the last night, right? Joking about the sleep.. lol Anyways, I definitely want to elaborate on the how the rescue happens, but will be on the next post. Until next time! 

                                          

                                             “There is nothing worth living for, unless it is worth dying for.” 
                                             ― Elisabeth Elliot

Day 4- Pueblo Del Rio, Jurgallon, Orphanage, Heartache, Heart-changing

Have you ever felt as though you didn't deserve to be accepted into a community so freely? Those who have gone on missions trips can perhaps relate to what I mean by that statement. I will further explain what I mean by this statement, hoping you can understand somewhat.

This was the first day we could “sleep” in as breakfast was at eight and we didn't need to get up until seven. I started my day earlier, as was routine, at five! Although I was tired, I couldn't sleep any longer than that. But starting off one’s day early, comes with advantages, such as more quiet places available for prayer and meditation on God’s Word. 

After breakfast, we loaded one of the buses with 400 food bags, TOMS shoes, chairs, tables, and few other things that we needed for the day.

 Before we headed to Jurgallon (at least I think that is how you spell it J), we stopped at Pueblo Del Rio, the village where Thomas Road Baptist Church(TRBC) has been working on various projects. For a long time, no one really knew that this village existed, as it is near a river which is well hidden. The bus was parked at about a twenty-minute walking distance from the village. Drawing closer to the village, we saw people and children all peeking out of their windows, with curiosity. At first, there weren’t too many children in sight, but as we walked into the church that was built by TRBC, children started coming, mostly with just siblings, but also some with their mothers. We took advantage of this opportunity to give out stuffed toys, candy, bubbles, crayons with colored paper, and other little things we brought for the children. To watch their faces receiving these gifts was priceless. Each child attempted to grab as much as they could, as you can see in these photos below.

Water well at Pueblo Del Rio

Inside the church TRBC built

After finishing giving out what we can, we started walking back. As we walked towards a “little hill”, we had to wait for cattle to walk by before we could continue onto our destination. What a scene it was!  Never coming across anything like this, it definitely caught us off guard!

Once we got to Jurgallon, we witnessed people waiting for the food and shoe distribution. Our team was broken into three groups, some helping with the food distribution, some giving out shoes, and others washing feet. Since our team was bigger, we had to switch off on some things. At first I got to wash children’s feet, as it was mentioned in another blog I wrote earlier, but after I switched off with other team members I had some time to communicate with the locals, or attempt to with as much Spanish as I knew. Before I could find some children to chat with, a little girl that found me first. When I say she found me, it almost felt like she choose me. Or maybe it was God that let her choose me in order to break my heart for what breaks His.

See what I didn’t realize till later was that I washed one of the girl’s friend’s feet. The girl that broke my heart is the girl in the blue, as you see in the picture.

The girl in the white, was the girl who’s feet I washed. They were sitting next to each other as I washed one of their feet and Robin (another lady on our team) washed the girls feet that is in the blue color shirt. Though I asked her name, I couldn't remember what-so-ever since there were about four of the girls standing around and I couldn't remember each child’s name! But what I did remember was her age and how many brothers and sisters she has. She is thirteen with 7 siblings, 5 brothers, 2 sisters, and her. These girls just continued hugging me to the point where I thought I’d lose my balance! :)  I cherished these moments with them, but time came when we needed to load the buses back up. As we were doing that, the girl in the blue carried boxes with me and helped with loading everything up! She remained around me and wasn't ready to leave my side. While walking back to the bus, she walked along with me, clinging tightly to me. My heart was not ready to leave, nor to leave this little new friend I had made. Even as I got onto the bus, she searched for me, and when her friend first spotted me, she pointed her in my direction. I waved to her and she continued waving back to me. My heart broke for her to the point where tears started streaming down my face. As I was watched her, as the bus started pulling away, she too, was wiping tears away. These recollections, still bring tears to my eyes each time, because as I previously stated, it was as she that choose me. This stands as a reminder for me that, this is the way in which God chooses us. He choose us to serve Him, and He chooses us to go on  such trips for a reason. Also as He chooses us, when people stray from Him, it breaks His heart more than we know. If this situation broke my heart as much as it did, I can’t imagine how much His heart breaks for His beloved children, who choose to fill their desires rather than serve Him.

After having lunch, and coming back to Hope of Life, we were asked to paint the baby rescue center while the children spent the afternoon outside. We again split into two teams. Being in the first group, we painted inside the biggest room at the baby rescue center, then we switched off with the second group that finished painting the hallways. As we waited for the second group to finish, we got to play with the children outside. Most of the time, I got to hold Esperanza! What a precious child she is!

Painting the Baby Rescue Center

Jenri and a friend overlooking :)

After finishing up, we had to clean up swiftly, as we were heading over to the Orphanage for a pizza/ piñata party! When we got there, I went straight to the upstairs area which can be classified as their “play area”. I spotted a boy towards the back, laying alone trying to watch a movie that was on for the kids. I went over to him right away, starting asking him questions and also just trying to break him out of his “shell”, which I love doing! This boy’s name is Carlos, who is nine years old. I asked him if I can take a picture with him, and he said only one… So we took this one.

Well a picture on my camera, at least one..

And a picture on my phone with him!

I tried to play with him a bit more, but he was too shy. So I showed him that I was going downstairs where the tables were so he knew where to find me, if he decided to join. As soon as I walk down and sat down, about two minutes later, he came running down the stairs towards me! My heart melted! As he sat on my lap and we spent time together drawing. We then proceeded to the playground with him; as we were running around, my heart was captured! My heart ached knowing that this boy has no family. He is an orphan. It was breaking me inside, but in that moment God reminded me that He was giving me this opportunity to show him love as the He has first loved us.

My favorite picture of all times!

 Funny thing was that as we spent more time together he wanted to take so much more pictures with me and then also with him showing me a heart, and then telling me that was for me. How can your heart not melt? I got to meet few other kids that I fell in love with. They are such precious children that have huge hearts as well. Once time came to leave, it was hard once again, with the kids that were around me most of the night, hugging me not once or twice, but many many times, it was difficult.

Walking away to the bus, a team member mentioned to me, that after seeing me all day connecting with children from everywhere, he said “you’re just a magnet to them, they love you.” I started tearing up once again because I really fell in love with all the children that I met through the day, and my heart broke that I was leaving them. What I wrote that evening about the day was, “I’m honestly not ready to go back and really don’t want too…” It is hard knowing that you have to leave, but once again there is that hope knowing you will be back one day soon! One thing that, every time I drove in the yellow bus or see one that passes me now, my heart breaks from these moments, remembering the looks on the children’s faces as we were leaving. My heart is forever changed.  

As the day ended, once again we got together for devotions, and also talked about what God revealed to us, or what has made us think. One of the girls mentioned how when we went into Pueblo Del Rio, the children who came to us seemed, as though they were cleaned up for us. The parents tried to dress them in their best. It made me think, who are we? It is not as though we are famous or special in any way, but yet they tried dressing their best, to represent themselves well. We were accepted into this community so well. They didn't have to try their best, but they did. This is what I was referring to that sometimes when you are accepted into a community, you may feel as though you don’t deserve it. 

Stay tuned for next time for more about the baby rescues, feeding center at the dump, as well as other mission trip events. God’s blessing to you all! 

Feel free to comment or ask questions, I can always try to answer them :) 

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13

Day 3-Hope of Life, food bags, Baby Rescue Center!

Don’t be just dreamers, be dream makers!

…a quote which has stuck with me since I first heard it from Carlos. On this day, we got to tour the Hope of Life ministries with Carlos (the founder)! This was exciting in itself, since we got a taste of the founder’s passion through the tour. God used Carlos to bless the people of Guatemala through Hope of Life ministries and this blog is not enough to explain it all. He is truly a man of God who loves serving His Master, and will continue as long as the Lord provides him with strength. 

A brief summary about Carlos: at sixteen he had moved to America from Guatemala. In pursuit of his dream to make money and marry an American lady, Carlos started a business and married Cheryl. He accomplished both. But then, he became sick; not just a cold sick, but dying sick; which left doctors puzzled and helpless, unable to offer a proper treatment. Deciding that he wanted to die in the country of his birth, Carlos moved back to Guatemala. He secluded himself from everyone in a house, because he couldn't even get up from bed and he didn't want to face anyone. One day, an elderly blind man came in the house and begged him for money. He just told him where to take the money from because he couldn't move. After the beggar left, Carlos started to cry out to God for healing. For three days, he pleaded to God that if He healed him, he would dedicate his entire life to serving Him and the people of Guatemala. On the third day, struggling out of bed, he managed to limp over to the building next door. This point was when the ministry was born. Although Hope of Life started off with the just an elder’s home on 1 acre, God blessed Carlos’s ministry, as now the ministry sits on 3,000 acres! This organization includes ministries such as an orphanage, the Baby Rescue Center, an elders home, a special-needs home, warehouses for supply storage, a tilapia farm, several greenhouses, seventy-eight feeding centers (that distribute to villages), and many others.  We have learned that Hope of Life reaches out to approximately 2.5 million people around them.  

We started with a tour of the warehouses, then continued to the Baby Rescue Center, which was the first time we saw the children and had all our hearts captured by them. We continued onto the special needs home, orphanage, school, tilapia farm, and little village within Hope of Life called Aldea Esperanza de Vida. This village was made as a safe haven for women who have been abused/raped and their children.  

Following our tour of Hope of Life, we headed back for lunch, after which we bag closed 2,000 lentil food bags. Each bag consisted of 50 meals, and there were 5 bags in one bigger bag, which provided 250 meals for each village family. We split into two groups where one group food bagged, while the other re-packaged paper towels, napkins, toilet paper, and other toiletries. After several hours of packaging, we helped move several furniture pieces from one warehouse to another.

         

Having some downtime thereafter, we got the opportunity to spend more time at a ministry of our choice before dinner. I headed over to the Baby Rescue center, as did many of other members of our team. Many of our team members were able to feed the children their dinners and just really love on the children. What precious moments those were! That night, Emilio, a 14 month old, was in my arms most of the night. Initially he walked about, playing, but soon after started crying. As I picked him up, I immediately felt how hot his little body was. He was running a fever, and one of the ladies who works there, explained that he had some shots done earlier that day, so he was sore as well. As I hummed him a song, he just relaxed in my arms and fell asleep. The time flew by too quickly as we had to head back for dinner. The children weren't happy as we were leaving, but they needed their rest for the night. 
As we left, a song by Audio Adrenaline came to mind called Kings & Queens. The lyrics are, “When we love, when we love the least of these, then they will be brave and free.” Merely loving on these children will make a profound difference in their lives.

                                                                    Before little Emilio fell alseep..

                                                

  Most of the children that are there are left without parents, yet in the midst of their heart-wrenching stories, we are able to be the hands and feet of Jesus and demonstrate His love to them. In addition to the teams that visit Hope of Life, the individuals who work there are being the hands and feet of Jesus on a daily basis for these children. It is reassuring to know that these children are loved and will be loved throughout their lives. 


After dinner, we got together for devotions during which we heard from Savannah and her story about Isaiah. Though God took her son away only 25 days after being born, He used this event in her life to bring numerous individuals to Himself. Savannah has a huge heart and is allowing God to work through her in wonderful ways. I’m blessed to have met people like her, who have wholly surrendered their lives to God. 

One thing I failed to mention in the last post was, if you want more information about child sponsoring either from Guatemala, or any other country, please visit: http://worldhelp.net/sponsor-a-child/. You can choose from about 18 different countries. More detail is provided at the end of that website.

Thank you for reading, and... Stay tuned for more to come… :) God Bless You!