Colombia - June 1st || Maxwell

Today started pretty much like a normal day here at the orphanage; get up, do personal hygiene, get dressed for the day, do personal devotions and then head to breakfast. But since today was Sunday after breakfast we did the dishes and got ready to lead worship at church instead of doing our normal children's program. For church we went to the chapel here on the grounds and were surrounded by the children we have come to love after being with them all week. Church was truly an amazing time of diving into worship, not only in word but also in heart. Richard preached on 'men who walked with God and who had a missions focused life. Men such as Noah, Levi, and many others. He talked about how God does not call us all to other countries to teach about Christ; but we are all called to proclaim Christ love through everything we do and say. Although many of us have not been lead to full-time missions work in foreign lands, we have all be commanded to be missionaries right here where God has put us and doing the jobs He has given us. That is our missions field and we must not neglect it!

   After church, Bri, Nasia, Sara, Richard, and I made a quick trip into town to get some supplies for the diner we were cooking tonight for the children and the staff here at the orphanage. As we unloaded the buggy and it started to be bagged we all were very happy we had all come and not brought fewer people. ;) soon after returning from our shopping outing we ate lunch and then started our activities. Today was the Olympics with the children which consisted of some games in which the children competed as teams. In some of the games the children really excelled and in others they didn't do as well, but though it all we all learn a lot! Short story: the children were stressing at times. After a few hours of games our team went to the kitchen and started preparing the evening meal. This meal was designed to be a good break for the kitchen staff and to also give the children a taste of North American food. So we prepared stir-fried green beans, garlic bread, twice-baked potato, and meat-loaf. It was such a blessing to serve them in this way, and to watch them enjoy the meal!  While we were cleaning up from diner all the children gathered out-side the kitchen door and asked us to come over for a minute. They proceeded to ask our forgiveness for acting up this afternoon and not listening to us. WOW! What a blessing! It was really cool to see this happen! It was like God was showing us that our work this week was not in vain and that He was working in their hearts! As the day comes to a close we came together to talk about the day and have a time of encouraging one another and prayer. This time is the core of our day. It is the time where we look back and see what God has done in both our lives and those around us, it is a time where we can praise God as a team and study His word. This is the time where we are filled with a new power to tackle the next day. Please join us in praise to God for what He is doing here in Colombia!

~Maxwell