Wednesday, July 20
“After a marathon day yesterday, today we had the opportunity to take the San Martin group to the beach for some fun in the sun. The San Martin orhanage is specifically for special needs adults and children, and they are each very special and sweet in unique ways. We met them at a beach house at 9:30 this morning and they immediately all hit the pool first. The we moved to the black sand beach and everyone really enjoyed the water and waves. We also had a Michael Jackson dance party going on pretty much all day as well (Pablito has some moves). After a lunch of Pollo Campero we hit the beach some more, flew some kites, and busted open a Sponge Bob pinata. The group really enjoyed the day and they all behaved very well. Getting to spend the entire day with these guys was such a blessing to me. I got to see how sweet and nice they were to each other when they shared the kites, played together, and danced with each other. Although communicating with them was still somewhat of a challenge, a hug from one of them was worth a thousand words. Buenas noches, mi amigos…….. P.S. David says “Wasssuuuup!” – Derrick Helm

Today we had the amazing opportunity to take some of the San Martin special needs children to the beach! They hardly ever get the chance to go anywhere outside the walls of the orphanage, so it was a special treat for them! They had a blast in the swimming in the ocean and the pool, playing games, busting a pinata, and most importantly, dancing to Michael Jackson! It was such a blessing to see the smiles on their faces!

Tomorrow, the girls on the team will be going horseback riding with the teenage girls from CIPI while the guys stay back and work on their curtain rod project. Would you please pray that the CIPI girls would be able to set aside their complicated life situations for the day and feel like we are their family? More than anything they need to feel the love of a family and God…