Wednesday

The team is finally all together! woot woot! The remaining 5 of us flew in today.

The team spent the morning at an orphanage called the "Mother Teresa home." Our teams have been going to this orphanage for the last couple years and I just love it there. The facility is far from luxurious and they are way under-staffed. However, the place is run with love and kindness. The kids have their basic needs met but due to the under-staffing most of the kids aren't loved on nearly as often as what they should be. Our teams love going there and spending a few precious hours doing just that....devoting our time to simply showing them God's love for them.

After the Mother Teresa Home the team headed to the city dump. Over 1,200 people (men, women, AND children) call the dump home. They find shelter in the scraps of cardboard or plastic they find and they make entire meals out of the "trash" that the rest of us throw out. The team took beans, rice, tortillas, and water out to the dump and served a warm meal to those living there. For most of those people it will be the only warm meal they get all week.

After handing out the meal our team put on a make shift carnival at the dump. We had games, prizes, popcorn, cotton candy, and so much more. The kids LOVED it.

Our final stop was Bencaleth. It is a special needs orphanage. For those of you who have followed my blog over the years you've heard me speak of my Izzy. Jen and I found Izzy nearly 3 years ago dying on the side of a mountain. She has come a long way since then and is now living in this special needs orphanage. It was the perfect way spend my first day in the country! The team spent time pushing the kids around in their wheel chairs. Much to the kids delight Mike insisted upon playing bumper wheel chairs. Some of our group was content to simply sit talking to the kids.