Today was an exciting & exhausting day. We had the opportunity to spend the morning at San Martín, dancing our hearts out, and the afternoon at Guirola, loving and feeding the kids. God blessed this day immensely and presented us with so many opportunities to be His hands and feet.
We started the day at the Sus Hijos warehouse, where the construction team had built the panels and floors to the house we will be building tomorrow. As Kurt told us that morning, it doesn’t matter if you think you’re capable of lifting anything heavy, we’re gonna be like 50 ants carrying a leaf together- there’s room for everyone. And just like that, as a team we got everything loaded and we headed off to San Martín.
San Martín is an adults special needs orphanage and there are so many unique and special things about this place. Simply, it is the happiest place on earth. We began by getting a tour of some of the little houses around the orphanage, because not everyone would be able to join us at the dance party we would hold shortly after, so we got the opportunity to spend time with them and see the orphanage. We sang songs, held, touched, and prayed over those we met. I loved being able to visit with them and speak to them, whether or not they could respond. 
After that, the dance party began. Give these people a speaker & some music you’ve got pure joy. We got the privilege of being able to dance & sing alongside these sweet Salvadorans for a few hours, as well as painting faces and nails! We finished it off with a bible story about David and Goliath, and getting the opportunity to feed them cookies and juice. 
God is so present at this place, I see it in the tias that work so hard, day in and day out, to care for these kids, in Sus Hijos for continuously coming back to serve and love on these people, and for the teams, all of us gringos for stepping out of our comfort zones, dancing freely, and loving without bounds.
I have been to San Martín many times before, but each time I am taken aback and in awe of the joy these people exude at the simple opportunity to dance
We stopped for lunch at States Diner, where we got to see how Sus Hijos is employing and teaching kids who have been in orphanages or on streets their whole lives how to maintain a job and make a living.
We finished the day off at Guirola, a government owned orphanage that houses mostly special needs children. This place is significantly different from San Martín in a couple ways. It is more well kept and clean, and the kids are taken even more careful care of. We got to push kids in wheelchairs all around the orphanage, dance with them, make balloon animals, and sing songs. I love being there because we get to focus on spending time with them. Whether that’s just holding their hand for an hour, or wheeling them around, or smiling and laughing with them, you can see their appreciation in their smiles and motions. These kids are so much fun, but they aren’t easy. These tías work harder than I could ever imagine. We were blessed to have the opportunity to feed them their dinner, but it was no easy task. Knowing the tías do this three times a day, for multiple kids is not only impressive, but only possible through the strength, grace, and patience of God alone.
My prayer for today is that the people we touched and loved on and fed, will not only be full physically but also spiritually. And that they heard us say “Dios te bendiga” and “Jesús te ama” (God bless you and Jesus loves you), and understand how much our Lord and Savior truly does care for them and love them so deeply.
“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord in not in vain.”
1 Corinthians 15:58
- Karina
No comments:
Post a Comment