It is Tuesday and I have not written since Sunday! There is so much going on around me that it makes it nearly impossible to try and stop and write everything down! So while I am waiting for day two of painting to begin, I will try my best to fill you in.
Monday was day ONE of labor. Other missionaries before us have constructed a beautiful administrative building for the workers here. A two story building with offices, beautiful staircase, conference rooms, kitchenette , physical therapy room, and even a clinic! The people at Mustardseed and Hogar Belen are thinking long term. Within a few years it will be up and running and they’re going to need a doctor and a nurse. I’m making connections already! I am not totally sure if this is where I’m supposed to be in the future, but we will see. Anyway, it is our job to paint it (inside and out).
We got the whole inside painted in one day, and even started on the second coat! We will finish coat two on Tuesday. Painting was so fun! We sang songs, told jokes, and bonded over monotonous, yet…ever so meaningful manual labor. The paint was much thinner and way more liquid than we are used to in America. The brushes are cheaply made and there was not enough newspaper to put down on the floor. We have to be extra careful and skillfully paint with super liquidy paint without it dripping all over the floor. Tough…but manageable. You take tiny things that that for granted every day. Please allow me to go off on a tangent for a minute…
We take A LOT of things for granted every second of our lives!
Let me give you some more insider on the orphanage here.
-we cannot put toilet paper in the toilets because they use the septic tank.
-only flush every three uses because there is not enough water to go around.
-showers were military style (wet yourself, turn off water, lather up, rinse off, done)
-no hot water, EVER. (even for washing dishes)
-what’s a dishwasher?
-water must come from a huge jug at the front of the orphanage
-drinking water is delivered weekly. If you run out, you run out.
-if you are a missionary without a wisp for a toothbrush, your drinking water becomes your rinsing water.
-tortillas are made fresh
-clothes are washed by hand
-chickens go from friends…to food.
-a guy cuts the grass with a machete
-what’s a lawnmower?
- they grow all their own food
-no windows, only slits so breezes can come through.
-what’s an air conditioner?
-alarm system= three wild dogs
-scaffolding for painting= homemade ladder made out of wood.
These are only SOME of the things that are economically different from us!
3:00pm reflection with the workers and kids from Hogar Belen:
Everyone comes together to sing songs, praise the Lord, and read His word. My favorite sound: clapping hands to joyous melodies, both kids and workers alike. No matter how “disabled” they are, they know exactly who their Lord is and what it feels like to praise Him. Some might argue that “they” are simply responding to the music and they are enjoying it because that is what most kids do. Except the fact that “they,” the kids, were singing their songs of praise. Some looking to the sky, and some touching their hearts. Some bowing their heads and some closing their eyes. It was not merely a game of “monkey see monkey do,” they know who their Heavenly Father is and they know who provides for them. They know His love more than we could ever fathom. Someone who cannot remember their mother’s touch knows what it feels like to be held by their Father. Someone who gets ignored by the world is always heard by their Lord who cares. It is so beautiful to think about. Their eyes, ears and hearts are open to His voice. Man, I wish I were more like that.
Our first time playing with the kids by themselves was so FREEING!! Seeing the kids run outside to play with us was so…humbling. They didn’t care that we were sweaty, gross and tired. They just wanted to be held, loved, and played with! They didn’t care what we looked like or that we sounded ridiculous trying to communicate with them. They didn’t care that we couldn’t understand them. They communicated in a way that everyone understood: with love. The more we saw that they didn’t care, the more we did the same.
We embraced the drool, the pee, the acid reflux. Some of them just wanted to grab us by the hand and go for a walk. They wanted to share their world, their home, with us. They took us around and showed us these little baby chicks that had just hatched a few days earlier. They told us through Spanish, show and tell, charades, sign language- however they could get it across, we heard loud and clear! Every step they took was an adventure. Some of them, every step they took was another miracle. Every hug was like chains being ripped off my body. They were so FREE!! It really showed me what really matters in life. Your occupation, although it pays the bills and some are fortunate enough to love what they do, could never fill you like the joy of the Lord! All the money in the world could not buy the glow around these kids when you said their names! When you held their hand. When you played a silly game of patty cake where you didn’t know the rules and you could never ever win. When you spun and spun and spun until YOU could throw up too! When you kicked around a soccer ball and missed it, and they laughed. When you stink at the games they play, but they let you play anyway, and make you feel like the best player on the planet. Gosh, I think I am falling in love. Thank you Lord, thank you.
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