Colombia Day 8 - Pillow Manikins

“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another”. Proverbs 27:17. What a joy it is to work alongside this amazing team! God has uniquely blessed each with special abilities and talents and it is amazing to see them all come together for His glory. Throughout this trip we have been constantly reminded that without Him we are nothing and cannot do anything except through His strength.This morning started like every other morning here at the orphanage, we were serenaded by the kids' joyful voices as they walked past our bunkhouse on their way to school. As I listen to them walk by I constantly am reminded of Jesus words, “Permit the little children to come unto me…”As we were walking back from breakfast we were in awe at the clouds that enveloped us. We could hardly see more than 100’ around us. This was a great reminder for me that my focus is right here on these kids and not to let anything else distract me.This morning I was a part of the medical team teaching CPR, choking, and drowning care to the tutors (house moms) here at the orphanage. Today we continued building on the foundation we had started yesterday talking about basic wound care and assessments. They were all fast learners and enjoyed the time learning. Being here in Colombia meant we did not have the usual manikins and other resources available to teach CPR. Thankfully we have an amazing team with phenomenal creativity and soon a very large stack of pillows, stacked in pairs, became Colombian manikins. When it came time to practice the pastor was paired with me and was eager to get started. He said, “I have heart attack, you practice on me”! Whoa buddy, that is why we have pillows. =) With the valuable training the tutors will be able to better care for the children. During the entire class my buddy was 3 year old Miguel. He is the cutest little man here and being the only one too young for school he gets to sit in on the classes with his tutor.While we spent the morning teaching, the rest of the team was busy scraping away at all the grass growing in the cracks on the multi-purpose basketball court. They win the faithfulness award for sure as they toiled away for several hours in the rain, clouds, and humidity.This afternoon and evening we had the joy of teaching the children God’s promise of hope in suffering. The craft teams and game teams did a phenomenal job leading their groups and imparting God’s truth through the lessons. As I walked around I saw many smiles and heard tons of laughter. I think one of the best parts about sharing the large group stories are all the inside jokes amongst all the team. As I watched the kids it seemed that they connected well with the suffering in Joseph’s life in relation to their own stories.I would have to say one of my favorite memories from today was hearing kids call out, “Hola Bucky” every 5 minutes. Bucky has definitely won the hearts for these kids over the past two trips.As we finished our day in worship and devotions as a team we looked at the lives of various men and women from the Bible who did and did not run with endurance the race set before them. Please pray for us as we are right in the middle of our time here. Pray that we will finish strong the race God has given us here in Colombia!Blessings,- Richard, for the team