Hola!It has been another wonderful day of ministry, excitement, interesting food, etc here in Lima, Peru. We visited two boys´ homes today--both for kids who had been living on the street. The boys at the second home were older and had drug addictions. We met lots of sweet boys at each home. There was one super sweet little fella at the first home named Bryan (that´s not how he spelled it, but...). He is 10. I got to help put his new shoes (donated by someone during a Shoes For Orphans Souls shoe drive in the USA) on him. They were really cool and fit him well. He had a big huge beautiful smile on his face! I got some awesome pics of me and him but I have no way to upload them yet!
Anyway, at one point I gave him a big hug and he hugged me back and neither of us wanted to let go. I told him Te amo y Jesus te amo--I love you and Jesus loves you. We had a time earlier during which members of our group (Orange--the radio representatives) had shared their story of coming to know Jesus with the kids--and also read them a story and talked to them about praying to God. Julie, one of our AWESOME translators who is a Drama Teacher, was really expressive and dramatic in her translations. Most of the kids understood quite a bit about God and Jesus and the Bible, actually! :) And little Bryan now knows that God loves him, Jesus died for him and there are Americans like me who love him and care about him.
I learned later that Bryan is a true orphan. His parents died a few years ago in a car accident. Also, he was adopted somewhat recently, but was then sent back to the Boys Home. A sad fact, but Bryan has hope. I could see it in his smile. And I could feel it in his hug. It was a blessing to be able to show him affection.
Speaking of showing affection, the goodbyes here at the orpanages are very hard. We all wish we could stay longer. I wish I could hug and hold each one and tell them that they are special and that God and I love them. But the goodbyes are also very sweet. The custom is to say "Adios" or "Ciao" (pronounced "Chow!") and then give and get a hug with one arm and give and get a kiss on the cheek. Some of these little guys today didn´t want to let go.
There´s more to tell but I need to go to my room and get ready for bed. I am already being told to be at meeting places at least 5 minutes before everyone else is told to arrive. :( I´ve done well the last couple of times. ;)
Beunos Noches!Jennifer(A little boy named Isaac at the first Home we visited today called me Jennifer Lopez)
PS-stay tuned to WBFJ or check out www.wbfj.fm for more info and reports on my trip!
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