Third Trip January, 2010 Day 5

OK, so if I had a hard time with enough superlatives to explain how amazing yesterday was it will be hopeless to try to accurately describe today. All I can say to try and illustrate it was that we were under the Niagara Falls of grace all day today! We started out our day by once again meeting in the courtyard and praying these verses aloud to the Lord,

Lord, you have given me many precious and very great promises, 2 Peter 1:4(ESV) which are all Yes and Amen in Christ. 2 Corinthians 1:20(ESV) Now be it to your servant according to the word that you have spoken. 2 Samuel 7:25(ESV)

Give me to draw water with joy from these wells of salvation, Isaiah 12:3(ESV) to nurse and be satisfied from Jerusalem’s consoling breast; Isaiah 66:11(ESV) and now, O LORD God, let the word that you have spoken concerning your servant be established forever, and do as you have spoken. 1 Chronicles 17:23(ESV)

Deal with me according to the tenor of the everlasting covenant, which is well-ordered in all things and secure, and which is all my help and all my desire. 2 Samuel 23:5(ESV)

Turn to me and be gracious to me, as is your way with those who love your name; Psalm 119:132(ESV) do more for me than I am able to ask or think, Ephesians 3:20(ESV) and supply all my needs according to your riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19(ESV)

Then I reminded the team that when we are ministering to these children today we are really ministering to Jesus through them and as we learn to love them, we learn to love Him more. We returned to Ciudad De La Nina today and had a big cook out with our friends there and the boys from Amparo De Ninos. We served somewhere around five hundred hotdogs with potato chips, soda, cookies, and twenty five gallons of ice cream with all of the toppings. Kamala and Teresa set up a beauty shop and gave the girls manicures and painted nails. Chuck and I had a little adventure that was quite unexpected as well. We heard some girls screaming about a cow behind the kitchen and went to investigate. There was a steer that was trying to get scraps out of a plastic trash can and his horn had poked through the side and the trash barrel was stuck fast to his head. He was thrashing about on the ground trying to get it off. I started to turn away thinking surely it would eventually get it off himself when little Heidy looked up at me with the most pitiful little girl look and said, “Please Padrino (Godfather), help him.” Chuck and I tried several times to get it off and nearly got thrown ourselves a few times. Finally I found an old broom handle and we cornered the steer and I pried the barrel off and we let the steer loose. Well unbeknownst to us a large crowd had gathered to watch the spectacle and when we finished a loud cheer went up with several high fives. My favorite part of course was when my Goddaughter Heidy jumped into my arms and said, “My Super Padrino!” The most wonderful part of the day was the many hours that we spent visiting with and playing with and teasing and loving on these two hundred and forty beautiful children. Every member of the team had three, four, five, or more children following them everywhere, holding their hand, talking a mile a minute and just generally enjoying being together. I’ve experienced this before but it never ceases to amaze me how we come here to show the love of Jesus to these children and teach them about Him and they end up teaching us more about Him than we knew. I love the line from Steven Curtis Chapman’s song What Now which says, “I saw the face of Jesus in a little orphan girl, she was standing in the corner on the other side of the world.” It is so true that He is to be found in places like we were today. At last it was time to leave and we made our way to the vans with a throng of children hanging on us and begging us not to go. There were many tears and hugs and promises to return soon. As we were slowly driving out of the compound, a little girl who had spent every minute of two days with Chuck ran in front of the van and around to the front passengers door where Chuck was sitting with the window rolled down and his arm on the sill. She jumped up and grabbed his arm and hung on it as the van rolled to a stop saying “You’re not leaving are you?” You’re not leaving are you?” Chuck picked her up and gave her one last kiss on the cheek and one last goodbye and then we were gone. There wasn’t a dry eye in either van. Even our hired driver broke down and cried. I don’t know all that God has planned for this ministry and my family in particular but I have seen more miracles in the last six months since first coming here than in the rest of my Christian life of twenty seven years. The number of amazing providences that we have all witnessed this week alone so far is astounding. To God be the glory!