Saturday, June 26, 2010

Posted by pam.morgan on June 27, 2010 under Updates | 2 Comments to Read

This morning we went to the  el Mercato (market) where we were able to purchase items.  We promised we would take pictures of the tres amigos. We took pictures with sombrerito (small sombrero) and grande sombrero.

Next we were off to a local pool where we met up with Karen’s Kids.  She runs and orphanage called Sofonias, where she is the mother of children who are left with her or are sent to her by the Mexican government.  Karen is originally from New York.  What a testimony she has.  At the pool she had 17 of the children that are currently with her.  Five more were not there because they were in other places.  Each person was assigned a younger child to spend time in the pool with. Our job this day was to spend time with these children who do not have parents (exept for “Mama Karen”) in their life and to make them feel God’s love through us.  A quote from Daniel…he asked his buddy Brandon if he had any brothers or sisters here….his response to Daniel….”You are my brother” Daniel was adopted by Brandon.

These children are amazing.  You can not walk away from a day with them and not have tears in your eyes.  They come from all over and have experienced things that no child or adult should have to experience.  Some were living in and getting there food from a garbage dump and from other places and circumstances which we can’t share.   They range in age from 2 years old to 17.   The wonderful thing that Karen does because of God’s love poured through her is that she provides order and discipline and just pure love to these children who have not experienced it  before. They were damaged, but are being healed through His love. She shares the gospel with them and then helps the kids grown in confidence and poise by performing gospel related dramas to share the gospel with others.  They all preformed dramas for our group which they perform on the street for others.   A couple of them shared their testimony with us and our eyes could not stay dry.   I (Mateo) was assigned Julio.  We had a great time swimming and talking together and I almost had to pry him from my sunburned neck when we had to leave.  I didn’t want to leave and I wished that I could just wash away all there pain and tears and pain, like we read about in Revelation 21:4.

On our way to Sofonias – where Karen lives and cares for the children we passed along the river border where the Rio Grande separates the US from Mexico.  We drove along a fence that had crosses on it.  All the crosses represent those who tried to cross the border but didn’t make it because they drowned.  This gave us a different perspective on immigration.

After a lot of dramas, socker, and songs learned together, we cooked the children a hamburger, which they don’t get much because of the cost of meat and for dessert had chilled watermelon followed by a very dignified watermelon seed spitting contest and a good job water cooler dumping on our fearless leader Lee.  By this time the sun had gone down and we had to head quickly for the border.  I wish that I could express completely how blessed we are to live in the United States, but I think that you have to experience the other side of border once in a while to realize again the blessings.  It is a blessing to see the love of God flourish even in difficult circumstances.