Party!
Sweet Karina..for some reason, she attached to me the last time we came and never left my side. She said she first came to give me a hug because no one else was hugging me.
The girls working hard on their painting projects...we made a big black mark through their paintings when they were done to teach them that people do bad stuff to us in life, but we can chose to make it in to something good (i.e. repaint it)
Oh, what you can do w/ Play Doh*One of the first days we were there, the girls sang every word to a worship song we taught them in June (I don't even remember all the words to it!) It was a beautiful reminder that God is using us to make some sort of impact.
*We did a lot of comforting...it is hard to see these girls cry, because you don't know why they are crying..if it is from something minor or their deeper pain
*BUT we also shared a lot of laughter and teasing too!
Two cuties and Meredith (well, she's cute too!)
*Each of us interns shared our testimonies with the girls, to show them that we are real people with real hurts too. God has been teaching me all summer that He uses my pain for His good and to help others.
*I got to spend some sweet time with my friend Norma, who I met last month. We really have become friends, and we just got to sit and talk like two teenage girls.
*We had an "all you can eat" junk food party. These girls barely get enough "real" food, so we decided to let them be kids and stuff themselves silly. We refilled their cups with soda and their napkins with Cheetos until it all ran out. They would stuff their faces just so they could have another serving. Little Fiorella ate more than her body weight..we were afraid she was going to throw it all up, but she just fell asleep after the sugar high :)
~We will be back at the teen mothers home for the week..I LOVE these girls, so I can't wait. Please pray that that Isaiah 61 will become a reality for them. Thank you!
This week we have been talking about God as our Provider...Yahweh Yireh...and we have experienced this firsthand through our work at a home for sexually abused girls. These girls often don't know where their next meal is going to come from...one day when we were there, they had to kill their chickens so that they could have lunch. One day this week, the girls didn't have breakfast b/c there was nothing to eat. But God has provided food for them...and most importantly, he provided His Son for us. Here are some pictures of the week and all we've been up to....
One of the most special parts of the week for me was getting to talk with Vaneza (above), who helped us translate. Vaneza lived in the girls' home for three years, and now she is part of Buckner's new transitional home in Cusco. This is a house where five girls live with a "mother" after they have aged out of the home (at 18). Buckner provides all their needs, from clothing to schooling (all the girls are studying at university). Vaneza truly is an inspiration to me...she has had an unimaginably rough life, but she is not bitter. She has such a bright future ahead of her..she wants to be a teacher..and she has fully yielded her life to wherever God wants her. AND I found out that she is the sister of a a girl I fell in love with last year. I was really sad in June when I came to visit and Sofia, Vaneza's sister, wasn't there. I had no idea though that she was Vaneza's sister until this week! They are both precious girls.
Me and a couple of cuties! Hope you have a great weekend.... 
I don't even know where to begin as I try to put an entire week and my heart into words. Sorry I have left you hanging for so long...there wasn't much to write the beginning of last week, as we had no team or interns. It was just a "normal" few days living the Peruvian life! However, on Wednesday, a group of people from Azle, Texas arrived and quickly became my new friends and co-laborers in Christ.
I tagged along as the group spent the week at a home for boys in a very rural area of Lima called Ancon. I spent a bit of time at this home last year, but most of the boys are new this year; therefore, I wasn't expecting to get very close to any of them. Oh, but God had a different plan! The first day, one of the boys, Alexis, (above) caught my eye for some reason. He had a "cool guy" veneer, with his vest, flipped-up sneakers and rapper-style vest. But his outward appearance was just that-an appearance; underneath, he is the sweetest, most childlike little boy. Somehow in the midst of our whirlwhind of activities (an ice cream party, building derby cars, going to the movies, playing a game with a flying pig, being captivated by Giuli's Bible stories and getting a laugh out of me playing "futbol") we became friends. It was very common at the home for the boys to ask us to be their godparents..however, Alexis asked me to be his "mom." It was just a game (to me at least) for the week. However, on our last day, I realized it was so much more than that. Alexis became so sad during the movie, anticipating our goodbyes that afternoon. He asked me who was going to be his mom when I left..and then as we said goodbyes, his cool guy veneer came crashing down as he sobbed. All of the other boys were in tears too as the team left, shedding their tough exteriors...because someone had finally come to love them, and now they were leaving. Even a little boy who I had barely gotten to know but had in passing (I thought) asked me to be his godmother, cried as I left. I know I don't understand the level of abandonment and lack of love and care that these kids feel. And it is so very hard to have to leave them with a broken heart and without someone to love them. But I am learning (slowly) that God is their Father and He is more than able to take care of His children. And what we can give them is hope...hope in a God who loves them more than a person ever could, hope in an eternal salvation.
This was my "family" for the week...Alexis, my son, Kenlin, my husband, and Juan, my little brother :)
The boys made and raced derby cars (the church group built the track!)
Ancon, the area where the home is located
