Update from a youth

Several of the youth wanted to still make posts ... and here are some beautiful words from one of our teens:

Honduras, never did I think that place could bring so much joy to me. Why does this place make me so happy? Because of Orphanage Emmanuel, a place where God's presence is undeniably there. This trip was my second time going there, and I would be lying if I said I hated it there. What's there to dislike? The foods great, the people are nice, and you get to help the children who often feel neglected.

I'm sad to say all my photos from Honduras have been erased, leaving me with the few pictures I printed out before they disappeared. But just because the photos are gone doesn't mean the memories are. I'll always remember the kids and how much they smiled as they saw us.

We were often asked if we saw God in something. I never said anything aloud but I saw him in many things. I saw him in Jebron as he helped a special needs kid everyday, almost always being by his side. I saw him in the church as we lifted our hands in praise to the Spanish praise music. I saw him in the sunset and sunrise that often made the sky appear as if it was on fire. I saw him in Memo and Isaiah as they chased me around, laughing when I picked them up and spun them around. I saw him in Eva as he shared his precious candy with me. I saw him in Skarleth whenever she smiled and  hugged me. I saw him in la niñas as they would run towards us, asking for more questions about our lessons. I saw him in the big circle time as all the kids united to praise God. I saw him in so many ways, it made me so happy that he was so apparent there.

Now for funny story time! When we went to the small boy house, our group was quickly separated by the kids. Everyone got surrounded by different kids. I had to wear a boot to Honduras because I got a stress fracture on my foot. I guess the kids had never seen something like that before so they kept pointing to my foot and then telling me to sit down and rest. I sat down and would try to stand up, but they would push me back down and point to my boot again. One of them told me that I shouldn't get up because someone had cut off my foot and replaced it with a robot foot! Soon all the kids thought that and I was stuck there for about an hour until they finally let me up.

I already miss Honduras and it's only been a day, I can't wait to go back next year and get to experience such a wonderful place again!