Third Trip January, 2010 Day 4
I honestly cannot think of a superlative strong enough to express how wonderful today was. We met in the courtyard of the hotel this morning as a team and prayed these verses to the Lord.
O that the favor of the LORD my God may be upon me; prosper the work of my hands upon me; yes, establish the work of my hands. Psalm 90:17(ESV) Save me, I pray, O LORD! O Lord, I pray, give me success! Psalm 118:25(ESV)
May my sons in their youth be as plants full grown, and my daughters like corner pillars cut for the structure of a palace. May my granaries be full, providing all kinds of produce; and may there be no breaking in or going out, no cry of distress in the streets of your people. Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall! Blessed are the people whose God is the LORD! Psalm 144:12-15(ESV)
Let me be blessed in the city and blessed in the field; Deuteronomy 28:3(ESV) let my basket and my kneading bowl be blessed; let me be blessed when I come in and when I go out. Deuteronomy 28:5-6(ESV)
Let your good providence so order all events concerning me that they may be made to work for good for me, as you have promised they shall for all who love you and are called according to your purpose. Romans 8:28(ESV)
Give me to trust in the LORD and do good, and then I shall dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness; Psalm 37:3(ESV) and be pleased to bring forth my righteousness as the light, and my justice as the noonday. Psalm 37:6(ESV)
Let me be hidden from the lash of the tongue, and not fear destruction when it comes; Job 5:21(ESV) let me be in league with the stones of the field, and let the beasts of the field be at peace with me; let me know that my tent is at peace, and let me inspect my fold and miss nothing. Job 5:23-24(ESV)
And if God will be with me and will keep me in the way that I go during my pilgrimage in this world, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I may come to my heavenly Father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God. Genesis 28:20-21(ESV)
Then we were ready to go! We rode out to Ciudad De La Nina, a Christian orphanage in Madrid which is about an hour from our hotel. Beverly, Brooke, David, and I sang praise and worship songs all the way there. I don’t know what the rest of the van thought but we had a blast anyway. Ha Ha. We arrived and immediately realized that the girls from the half-way house on Tuesday were also there because they knew we were coming! It was a joyous reunion to start out the day and then we began to meet and visit with the one hundred sixty girls who reside there. This orphanage is in the countryside and it is beautiful. They have a large courtyard with grass and big trees. We played football, frisbee, stickball, and a Colombian version of dodgeball that was really fun. When we tired of the games we sat around in the shade and each of us would instantly have a group of six or eight girls around us asking questions and trying diligently to help us improve our spanish and help them improve their english. There were so many cute, sweet little girls that we just couldn’t stop commenting to each other on how wonderful they were. My sweet Goddaughter, Ginary, has been keeping up with my cameral all week and she has taken several hundred really good pictures. She got some really wonderful shots today. We literally sat around and visited for several hours. I was able to see many of my little friends from last June. Sadly though, one that I was looking forward to seeing, Brenda, was quarantined with fourteen other girls with mumps. We stood outside of their dorm and talked to them through the windows. We had a wonderful traditional Colombian lunch on the ground and late in the afternoon we assembled in the large dining hall. The girls had a very nice traditional dance that they performed for us and then I was blessed to share the gospel with them. I explained to them the power of and necessity of the love of God. It was God’s great love that motivated Him to share the greatest gift ever given, His son, Jesus Christ and when we receive that gift by faith then He fills us with that powerful love and we can then love others and that was why we were there today to pour out on them that love that God has put in our hearts for that is the real Christian life, God first loved us so that we can love Him and then love others. I thanked them that they had already shown us how much they understand this truth by the way they poured out their love for us today. After the message, Rebekah, Beverly, Brooke, David, and I sang Here I Am To Worship, Come Now Is The Time To Worship, and Agnus Dei for them. They shouted and clapped and begged for more. It was really fun. My Goddaughter, Heidy, who sings beautifully was so thrilled to be able to hear us sing that when we finished she jumped into my arms and said, “I love you, I love you, I love you” in english. We then gave the girls their big red gift bags with pajamas, a spanish New Testament, etc. They were very grateful. We got to go back out into the park or square and visit a little longer before we had to go. The girls flocked around us so thick saying goodbye that it was hard to get into the vans. But it was a happy goodbye because they know that we are returning tomorrow for a big cook-out at their place and we will be joined by the boys from Amparo De Ninos that we visited yesterday. It will be a fantastic day. Suffice it to say that the multitude of sweet conversations, prayers, hugs, smiles, laughter, kisses, and the many little providences of God today would take many more paragraphs and authors to capture but we had an awesome day and are very grateful for all of the prayers. I can’t help but share something with you that my little Goddaughter, Heidy, said to me tonight after we got back to the hotel. She said, “How can my Godfather, a man so big in every sense of the word, love someone so small and simple as me?” I didn’t know that there were depths of my heart that this little girl had not reached yet but she continues to surprise me by penetrating into uncharted territory and claiming it for herself. I think I learned some new lessons today about that powerful love of God. Thank you Lord!