It is 1am after our last day here. in 2 hours we get up to head for the
airport. I am just winding down after a long day and a short trip.
We
got up this morning to get in a quick trip to the souvenir market. For the
first time all week we saw some native culture and spent lost of money on it.
On the bus ride out of there we stopped near a guy on the side of the road
selling El Salvador national team soccer jerseys and flags. He approached our
open windows and made a sale, then another, then another. In all he must have
sold 7-10 items in 30 seconds. I think we made his morning. After that we
headed to San Martin. It is a convalescent center for adults and some children
with severe mental and physical problems. It broke our hearts to see a severely
disabled, bed ridden, 23 year old (who looked about 12) who had been used as a
drug mule as a child. (He had drugs sown up inside of him to smuggle them and
it all went wrong). We played and danced with the residents. We fed them
snacks and made crafts with them. Then we headed out for a quick lunch. After
lunch we spent the rest of the day finishing up the painting and plumbing at the
transition house. Kurt surprised us with a plaque that will go on the wall
with our churches name on it and the following verse…
Zephaniah 3:17New International Version (NIV)
17 The Lord your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will
take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer
rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with
singing.”
I thought that was pretty appropriate for young orphaned men,
lost in a world that has hurt them, trying to build a foundation for a good life
at this transition home. God will take great delight in you… He will save
you… He will love you… He will rejoice over you with singing. For me that
verse reminds me of when my children were infants and were sick with a fever. I
remember one night I say in the living room and held my then infant daughter
against my chest and sang to her all night long so that she would stop crying
and sleep.
That is what God is doing with these orphan boys. And the
amazing part is that he let us help.
–Hope to arrive home (In
Benton) by about 5:30 tomorrow evening. See you all then.
