Day 1-Reality Check

Hello to all of our family and friends.
We started today with orientation, where we met Chris Cato, our Buckner representative from Dallas, TX who is responsible for keeping us safe and well fed! We have given him the proper title of our "papacito". We were also introduced to our 4 interns, Morgan, Cameron, Rachel, and Amber, who already have shown great love for Christ and a desire to minister to the teen mothers at Reina and the kids at San Ricardo.

We started out the day at Reina de la paz. The girls were very excited to see us, and immediately recognized some of us who've been in the past and asked about people who'd been there before, so to those of you who have been to Peru in the past, know that you made a difference and are still on their minds and in their hearts.
We split the girls into groups and had them rotate through 3 stations: Bible, Craft, and Special. The girls decorated journals in Craft, and as usual, were very creative and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The Special today was sewing. Last year we bought the girls 2 sewing machines, and were hoping that they were still there. Well, we were in for a surprise. We were taken to a room we'd never before had access to and in it were 3 sewing stations, a large table for cutting, and an ironing board. Heather was over joyed and got each of the girls started on a quilt project. They were having so much fun it was diffcult to get them to head to their next station. (to Sue Wetzel: your iron may have died. when we plugged it in the converter began to smoke. we say it's a sign that you don't need to do any pressing at home for a while :).......thankfully the girls had an iron of their own that we could use!
After we finished our stations we were invited to attend a birthday celebration for one of the workers. The children of the teen mothers performed songs, as well as a few of the moms. It was fun to see the youngest of the children on stage shaking their moroccos. The moms were very eager to have us watch their children and also to get up on stage themselves and perform for us. We then spent some time playing volleyball and soccer with some of the girls. Those who weren't up for competitive sports took the liberty of playing with some of the children. At the end of our time at Reina we had the pleasure of seen Vivien and her son, Franciso Javier. Vivien is the young mom who was taken to the hospital with her son near the begining of our trip last year. It was such a blessing to see both of them very healthy and happy.

We ate our boxed lunches on the bus on the way to San Ricardo, and then we got there. This is where we had our big reality check. San Ricardo was filled with kids who were so eager to see us, hug us, and play with us, that all order was lost. We had to wait on most of the kids to return from school, but while we waited we played with those who were there. Immediately some of the kids became attatched to members of the team. Larry had the pleasure of entertaining Melody, a little 7yr old, who i believe was using him as a jungle gym, and she did not want to be put down. A little girl 2 or 3 yrs old named Lilliana who is very new to the orphanage went to Heather right away and put her arms up to be held. With lots of hugs and hand holding, they bonded right away.
Once all the kids were back from school and done eating lunch, Guigliana rang a bell that was supposed to bring all the kids to the rotunda where we do our opening songs and introductions. So with most of the kids rounded up, we started the singing with the Sapo Song which is a huge hit with all the kids. Laura taught the kids the Romans song that the kids at Sunrise sing. We will continue to sing the Romans song everyday and introduce other new ones as the week progresses.
From the rotunda we divided the kids up by ages, and sent them to the various stations. There are 5 stations, and I believe that today we sort of had 3. Some might call today chaotic, we say the kids were so excited to see us they could not contain themselves! We titled the blog Reality Check because we got a fresh reminder that things just don't always go our way. We kept reminding ourselves "we ARE flexible" and we are not here to keep order, we are here to be God's hands and feet. If that means chasing kids and keeping them from climbing out windows then that is what we will do. Amidst all the chaos we were able to give so many hugs and kisses. We got to sit with the kids and just be what they needed, someone to bond with and show them what real love is. We were constantly reminded how important it is that we come to Peru each year. Many of the children asked those of us who'd been before if we remembered them. It was heart warming to see their faces light up when we told them that we did remember them. There is one girl in particular who usually hangs back and keeps to herself. When Kay walked up to her and said her name and told her hello, she smiled. Her name is Vilma, and if anyone who's been on the trip before remembers Vilma, she hardly ever smiles. What an amazing confirmation that what we do here makes a difference.
So now we can look forward to a fresh start tomorrow with little sleep but lots of resting in the knowledge that God goes before us and is constantly at our sides as we minister to both homes.
Love in Christ,
Kay and Heather