After riding in the back of a pick-up truck to feed the homeless at 11 - 12 pm last night and getting to bed much later, we were up early again this morning to work on the transition home for boys who are leaving CISNA. The home will house 4 - 6 boys who have turned 18 and, by law, must leave CISNA, the boys orphanage. Many of the boys who leave the orphanage have no where to go and wind up joining gangs for security, food, housing, etc. This transition home will provide an option for those boys who show interest in improving their lives and who truly have no other options.
The missionary, Kurt, was able to rent the home for $150 per week and pay 6 months rent up front, due to our assistance. The home has 3 bedrooms, a bathroom, living room, kitchenette and a very small courtyard. We started our work with prayer as a group; praying for the young men who would live there, for the man who Kurt hopes to find to stay there to mentor the young men and for those who will determine which boys get the opportunity to stay there. Then we broke into groups and prayed in each room of the house, in hopes that each room will be a blessing to those who will live within its walls. The work that we did there today was filled with painting, painting and more painting. Did I mention that there was no air-conditioning??? We were all melting and trying to paint brick walls as fast as possible, since we only had a half-day there today.
When we'd run out of paint and steam, we headed to lunch and then to CISNA to do activities with the boys there. We sang a few songs, in Spanish, of course, and then had the puppet show. These boys were too cool for a puppet show, but a few of them enjoyed it. Afterward, we did arts/crafts...made bracelets, necklaces, balloon animals, did face-painting and temporary tattoos. The face-painting and braided bracelets were a big hit, as well as the music on our iPhones! When they'd had enough arts/crafts, everyone went outside for a game of soccer. Everyone had a great time and Alli Chancellor scored a goal for our team! Before we left, we handed out treat bags and soccer balls for every boy there...about 30. They were thrilled! Many of the boys followed us out to the bus, ran after us and waved and smiled as we left. It was another unbelievable day, in which,in the lives of some wonderful people in need.
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