Solo Dios Puede Salvar...

Well, we have all arrived safely at home now, but I thought I'd write a few more blogs explaining each of the main ministries we did, so... here goes! One of the ministries we concentrated on in Puerto Barrios was the orphanages. We visited two of them: one a Catholic orphanage with quite a few kids, and then one with only seven. In this blog I'll focus on the second orphanage.
 There was only one worker who only cooked for them, there was no one to stay at night. There was no electricity, and the ceiling was falling in in places.The kids were all older, about thirteen to seventeen, and a few of them had mental/physical disabilities. When we first got there there were eight kids: four boys and four girls. One of the girls had down syndrome, one was deaf, one just hadn't developed properly mentally or physically, and one had heart problems. One of the boys had severe autism, was confined to a wheelchair, and often hurt himself  and others by hitting, biting, or scratching; and the other boys were "normal" but had been abandoned there by their parents. The three boys would often just stay in their room when we visited, but I made it my goal by the end of the summer to be friends with one of the boys. I'll call him Marcos.
Marcos is sixteen years old and has a hard exterior, but I was hoping to break through to see what was underneath. It wasn't until the second month that we were there that we got to interact with him and the other two boys. One of the girls on my team had brought a soccer ball to the orphanage and we were playing with it outside when the boys came out and started playing as well. It was a huge accomplishment to even see them for that long, so I left that day hopeful. I prayed that God would give us more opportunities to talk with them, and He did!
The second to last time we went to the orphanage we took five of the kids (at this time there were only seven because the girl with heart problems had been adopted, and the other two boys were working) to a pool in Santo Tomas. I was determined to make sure Marcos felt included and that he interacted with us, and just to make him be my friend! :P

So I spent the day playing soccer with him and doing dive tricks in the pool so he would stay involved. A few of the other girls had the same idea as me, so he was always involved in something. As we were heading home that afternoon, I heard him talking to our Pastor that took us around, and ask if he could go to his church the next day. I was very excited for this, and that night during our team worship, I spent the whole time praying for him. I was so expectant that God would encounter him the next day that I was sure he was going to show up to church. So when he didn't I started to question God. I wondered what He was doing, why hadn't He brought Marcos to the church? I was focused all on what I wanted, what I thought should happen, and not God's perfect plans. And He certainly had better plans in store than I could have imagined!
We spent our last day of ministry at both the orphanages, and went to the seven kid orphanage that morning. We were going to do some songs and dramas for them, but it was raining so loudly they wouldn't be able to hear. So instead we spent the first hour or so praying for the boy in the wheelchair. As I and a few other girls were standing in the entrance to the hallway to the orphanage, Marcos came out and stood with us, just watching what we were doing and listening. God was slowly stirring a hunger for Him up inside Marcos. Finally the rain slowed down and we managed to gather all the children inside the orphanage and performed the "King of Hearts" and "Lifehouse" dramas for them. After the lifehouse drama, our pastor spoke a little and asked if anyone wanted to accept Christ. No one did anything at first, and so the pastor spoke a little more. And then Marcos raised his hand and stepped forward by himself. I almost started crying from joy as he stood there with our pastor's arm around him, and then again when another of the boys stepped forward. We prayed over them, and then a few days later got bibles for them and wrote a message inside. It was just so cool to see how God not only answered my prayer for Marcos, but showed that he had so much more in store! I praise God for bringing those two boys into His heart, and pray that He will use them to reach out to the other boy.

But also, the orphanage they live in is slowly being shut down. Marcos informed me that at one time there were a hundred kids, then just forty, then some escaped, and now there are only the seven of them. Soon they will all be moved to different homes, whether that means to their own family, to an adoptive family, or another orphanage. Please pray for those kids, especially for Marcos, that they would be placed in a safe home where they can continue to grow closer to God. I thank God for His wonderful plans, and giving us the opportunity to love on those kids.