"Oh, How He Loves Us"

Day 3 - Thursday afternoon, wrote 7 pages

     So far on the trip I have decided the two three things I've enjoyed most are:

1. Playing with the kids!
2. Showering after playing with the kids & washing off the "dirt +/ pee" smell, as well as any remains of being sneezed on
3. Finding bruises all over my legs from said children - 11 so far

     Today looked like: Up at 8 to leave at 8:30. Got to Freedom Park + wait (then go on) home visits split into two groups (our group was 2 of the "Sisters"/clinic workers, Chris, Kristie, Kristy, Taylor, and myself). We went DEEP into the Park and were gone for like 4 hours meeting people, taking some care packages of food + jugs of tap water -- SUPER hard to come by for any of them -- to as many people as we could, then we kept going and prayed with everyone we could. We gave kids candy & took their pictures and showed it to them -- Kristy and I were scolded a few times by Chris to stay closer to the group because we kept getting distracted by good photo op's/sweet children. We got to hear summaries of almost every care-package-receiver, which was really cool!

 I gave her candy then took this with her -- oh my gosh, sooo shy! Well, that is until she came around multiple times later with some friends scoring more candy off of "the white people" haha

 Taylor & a precious baby girl... :)

 I do not know if we ever picked up on the joke, but I loved to see them laughing and having a good time amongst how we percieve their lives to be.

This is Timbi: his mom got really sick receintly so we are going to pay for her to go to the clinic on Monday (because it is close for the weekend)... Hopefully they can do something.

Home visit's group! :)

Then we went back to the vans where we had our pb&js, then Jenny and I waited for Jacki (OVC contact)then waited for our photography class teenagers [5 guys (pictured below), 1 girl (not pictured) - they were all somewhere around 18 years old]. While we were waiting for them to show up for our little OVC class, Jenny and I'd take turns popping over to the arts & crafts room/building/boxcar, then swung by the Cresche (daycare) and shot a few pictures in each of those places.

 I love how much personality was captured in this shot!

To see their reactions in a video Kristy took (then uploaded to Facebook) when they got to see this picture on my camera click here!

 Word of mouth makes this little room even smaller!

Imangine cramming 30+ children into this room for daycare all day every day, only leaving for the "bathroom"/a few minutes on the jungle gym all week... Insaine.

We eventually made it back to the teens and got things rolling.  Holy crap were they into it! Some of them were all over the place with the (donated digital Kodak) cameras! They all spoke English - which helped SO much. We started with the camera operating basics: on/off, review, delete, etc. then let them at it. Starting in the class room, then opening their options by heading out front near the police station, then to the clinic + playground, then behind our classroom to where arts and crafts just got out and they went wild - finger shutter trigger happy! SO COOL!! ( => especially since only 1 or 2 of the teen had used a camera beforehand. We taught most of them how to zoom and use it...)  [For the rest of our visit to FP, we collected the cameras so we could upload their pictures and print some for them. Every time we went back, if they were hanging out waiting for us (basically every day) we'd just sign it out to whichever ones were there then ask them to have it back around the time we had to go for the day.] On our last visit to FP we left a bag with the 6 cameras for them with Jackie that they can borrow from her while she is there.

Then we went over to the construction site to wait (only 5 minutes) for the guys to pack up/finish the 2nd shack (which only took 5 mins because they'd just run out of battery power when we'd pulled up so they'll finish it tomorrow) then we came home and showered & here we are just chilling (dinner is going to be beans and rice). We are having deep, reflective talks later on tonight it sounds like!

     Personal devotional time fits now and this is what stood out to me:

Job 25:5 - If even the moon is not bright and the stars are not pure in His eyes, how much less a mortal man, who is but a maggot ^- a son of man, who is only a worm!”

     I'd just like to say (in a not creepy/weird way) that Charles & Sonner win at harmonizing + playing together for their first weeks ever... even without everyone singing, the contemporary swing that is released through their fingers would make anybody cry, fall asleep, or make for an awesome soundtrack/score to a drama. I, for one, could listen to them for days - not kidding! Of course I'd fall asleep once or twice but the dreams had would be indescribable! oh, PS, Charles apparently knows some Creed... ^-^

     Johannes calls "coffee & cereal" "coffee & complex" -- we all think that is neat....

He (Johannes) is such.... a neat man. His work ethic blows us away! People back home feel like they "work so hard for such little pay" -- they need to meet this man....

     Dave would like to help people SO badly. He has ideas, but I haven't heard them/can't hear everything he is saying from the other side of the room where is over there talking to Lincoln. I can tell its really serious by the tone in his voice & the doubtful/realistic tone coming from Lincoln.

Campfire Notes - God Uses the Common Things

• The definition of a blessing [a favor or gift bestowed by God (dictionary.com)]
• If every Christian were like Johannes
• Everything outside of The Lighthouse Shelter (where we are staying) seems like a movie
• Majority of the time, you can't even look somebody in the eyes if you know they are "in the program" because all you see is pain, all you feel is guilt; when all you'd like to see is healing, all you'd like to feel is sympathy.
• I feel like I have personally misjudged a lot of the people on my team....
• Challenged to live out the love + compassion Johannes has shown us in 3 days.
• Seeing (by the light of the fire) men pray (picture) and get torn apart
• Confidence that we are making a difference, even though we can only physically do so much during this trip

My Blessings:

1. pen and paper literally at my fingertips
2. food on every corner
3. generally, essentially, $ to buy said food
4. music, all the time
5. only clean water access
6. I know approximately where everyone in my direct family is at all times
7. the ability to stand up, walk, dance, or run, etc., without help
8. my life, overall, is healthy
9. I have Jesus
10. I know who both of my parents are, even if I don't have one anymore.

 "Shell Shocked" - just going through the motions

     I'm so lucky and I hate it. Why am I staying here at this awesome shelter covered in blankets while on the other side of the gate there are MILLIONS of people sleeping on dirt or in mud just trying to make it one more night to try to find un-guaranteed work tomorrow to buy their one meal that they'll see, much less taste, for the next three or four days?! I don't understand why I, of all people everywhere, am SO blessed...! To say that "I hate it" was hasty because in reality i still have to be grateful for it and accept God's plan for my life. We've been moved by a gardener, a sick woman, and care takers.

     My bruises don't matter for they were left on my body out of love, majority of bruises on the other side of our gate were given out of hate and left for pain.

Goodnight...