Friday, Final Day

The team spent the day bringing smiles to the faces of our friends at the Guirrola orphanage for special needs children! They did bible stories, face painting, played with bubbles, danced, and went out for lunch; a rare treat for the kids! 

                                                  

      

      

      

      

Please continue to pray for the team as they travel home on Saturday. More importantly, we ask that you not forget to keep praying for not just the children who were served this week, but the children we weren't able to visit as well. There are more than 150 million orphan children all around the world, and James 1:27 calls ALL OF US to do something about it. We hope that you will visit us at www.starfishorphanministry.org to find out about one of the MANY different ways YOU can make a difference to orphaned children in need, both locally and around the world!

James 1:27New International Version (NIV)

27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Thursday, July in El Salvador

                  Thursday turned out to be another busy day, filled with blessings for the crew! 

     

They got started early, and headed back to the village to finish up the home they began building yesterday. The day was filled with hard work and lots of excitement! Here are notes and photos...

                                    

"First thing this morning we went shopping to buy furnishing to compliment the donated items we brought for the family we are building the home for. The team split with one group finishing the house up the mountainside a ways and the other playing with the children down below. 

Yesterday there was a nice number of children who came out to play with us but it seems the word spread over night that we had come and many more showed up by the river to play with our team. 

                                   

After taking the family we're building for to lunch, it was time to set up beds, shelves, a rocker and table. It seemed that much of the community showed up to see what we were doing. 

                      

One of the things I really like about how this is done is that we not only bless a family by keeping them from becoming homeless but we also ministered to the whole community. We took a break and went down to gather packages of rice, beans and sugar along with flip flops and pillowcase dresses after which we divided into groups. Then we set out going door to door meeting the families. We ask them if
We can pray for them and what we can pray for. What an honor for these people to share true heart needs with is and allow is to pray. 

                                     

                                      

                                      

Afterward it was back up the hill to dedicate and bless the house before presenting it to the family. They were so humbles and appreciative. While showing the woman the things she had been given, she told us that God had proven to her His promise that if you pray in private He will reward you openly. She said she had only prayed to have a shelter for her children, a roof over their head but today she had been given a house. I told her He promised to do over and above what we ask and think. Today was a big day. It was an humbling day. I am overwhelmed to be able to partner with God and make a statement of His goodness and love to a whole community of people." ~ Vickie Tilley 

Please continue to pray for the family blessed with this new home, and the rest of their community!

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Well, one more day to serve this week! Pray for the team on Friday as they spend the day bringing love and joy to children with special needs. Pray for safety, peace, and patience!  Thank you for following along on this incredible journey to serve His children!

Wednesday, Time to build a Home!

                                                

       Wednesday, the team loaded up supplies and set out to a remote village in El Salvador to build a home for a family in need. Susan Hijos, the mission team we work with, had previously chosen the family based on their needs, but it was quite the buzz around the whole village...

      

 It was quite a hike to carry everything by hand up a distance to the site but all was taken in stride. 

                                     

                                     

                                     

                                     

                                     

                                     

                                     

First came placing the blocks for the floor which took about half of the day due to rocks and tree roots!

                                     

     

                                      

       

                                                          The Village Foreman?

                                 

       

                                             

                                             

                                                     Treating the walls and floors...

                                             

                                                             Finally laying floors...

                                   

                                                      And the walls are going up!

     

                                  

                                  

     

      

  While good progress was being made up top, members of the team played games, made finger paint pictures and had a bible story with the happy children down below. The family receiving the house was on site along with other curious neighbors and children all with smiles watching their home go up.  

      

      

      Please pray for the team's health and safety and for their faces, hands and feet to freely share the love of our Father as the house is finished Thursday and the community is served by them!