On our first official "Outreach Day," our team was sent to a "soup kitchen" set in the hills near Ensenada. We were joined by our Y.W.A.M.-appointed host, Mikey, his co-host, Jessie, and a translator, Felipe. All three of them fit right in with our team and were so helpful in all our ministry opportunities! We love them dearly!
We arrived at the soup kitchen (shown above) in the late afternoon. It definitely looked different than what any of us had expected. This "soup kitchen" is really a one-family home containing three rooms. The largest room functions as a combined kitchen and living room. There are also two bedrooms, one for the couple that owns the house, and the other for their two biological sons. There was no bathroom and no running water. The lean-to shown in the above picture is their "dining room," which holds two long tables and roughly twenty-five chairs. The roofless addition, Lord willing, will one day become a more permanent dining room.
Above, leader Dan poses with the owner of the soup kitchen, whom I'll call Senora S. This incredible woman and her husband feed and bathe roughly 30 extra children every day, out of their own pockets. They also buy school supplies for those kids and transport them to school. Some of the children they care for are "street children." They fend for themselves on the streets of the city, with no one to protect them or look after them. Most of the other children live in abusive homes, where they only return to sleep at night. Senora S. shared her testimony with our team, and told us that she was emotionally, physically, and sexually abused by her father as a child. When she became a Christian in her early 20s, she felt the Lord calling her to provide a better life for the children around her, and she is certainly doing just that. We praise the Lord for this incredible sister in Christ!
The guys on our team played soccer and baseball with the Mexican boys, while most of us girls did crafts with the Mexican "chiquitas." We decorated foam wristbands with our names on them, then colored pictures of all sorts of things. It was fun to draw something simple, like a flower, ask the girls the Spanish name for it, and then teach them the English word. Then it would be their turn to draw and we would switch roles.
The boys enjoyed using the craft materials to make paper airplanes. (Boys will be boys! And like my mom always says, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!")Above, a little boy flies one to my friend, Gracia.
The kids also really liked having jump rope competitions. If I remember correctly, our translator, Felipe, won with 121 consecutive jumps! Notice, in the background of this picture, that the washer and dryer were outside under a tarp. In another corner of the yard was a barrel of water and a bag of soap flakes for handwashing. The outhouse was located behind and to the right of the boy in the striped shirt.
Before we ate together, some of the children were asked to pray. These beautiful kids bowed their heads together and prayed for salvation for the drug dealers and prostitutes of their city. Not your typical childhood mealtime prayer! Sadly,these kids have seen a lot in their short lives. After helping to serve the children supper (rice and lentil stew, corn tortillas, bananas, and some sort of red juice), we asked them to line up their chairs in the vacant lot next door, so that we could share some dramas. Above is one of our beautiful clowns, Moriah, waiting for her turn in the spotlight ;-).
Here our fabulous host, Mikey, sets up the speaker for the dramas. We took this speaker and a microphone everywhere we went during the outreach days, and Mikey and Felipe always jumped in to get them ready. Mikey is a 19-year-old from California with an incredible testimony. He lived in a very abusive home, where he started drinking when he was only seven years old. He was abandoned by his father, got involved with gangs, and was living an awfully rough life when he finally surrendered his life to Christ. He is now passionate about serving the Lord and hopes to attend a Y.W.A.M. Discipleship Training School soon! His love for the Lord and wonderful sense of humor were such a blessing to us!
Our team did a clown skit about sharing joy with others. The kids loved the clowns!
After the skit, Abi and Felipe explained its message and we shared some Spanish Bible verses about joy.
Then, Dan and Belle shared a "Happy Heart" skit that portrayed the importance of giving our hearts to the Lord. We tied this skit in with Bible verses, as well.
It was so hard to say goodbye at the end of the evening, having no idea where these kids will end up. Before we left, though, Senora S. told us that her dream is to one day own an orphanage where the kids can stay full-time, and she won't have to send them home at night. Her face just lit up as she shared her dream with us. Please join us in praying for this soup kitchen and all who enter there, that it may be a safe haven where many come to know and love our Lord!
The guys on our team played soccer and baseball with the Mexican boys, while most of us girls did crafts with the Mexican "chiquitas." We decorated foam wristbands with our names on them, then colored pictures of all sorts of things. It was fun to draw something simple, like a flower, ask the girls the Spanish name for it, and then teach them the English word. Then it would be their turn to draw and we would switch roles.
The boys enjoyed using the craft materials to make paper airplanes. (Boys will be boys! And like my mom always says, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!")Above, a little boy flies one to my friend, Gracia.
The kids also really liked having jump rope competitions. If I remember correctly, our translator, Felipe, won with 121 consecutive jumps! Notice, in the background of this picture, that the washer and dryer were outside under a tarp. In another corner of the yard was a barrel of water and a bag of soap flakes for handwashing. The outhouse was located behind and to the right of the boy in the striped shirt.
Before we ate together, some of the children were asked to pray. These beautiful kids bowed their heads together and prayed for salvation for the drug dealers and prostitutes of their city. Not your typical childhood mealtime prayer! Sadly,these kids have seen a lot in their short lives. After helping to serve the children supper (rice and lentil stew, corn tortillas, bananas, and some sort of red juice), we asked them to line up their chairs in the vacant lot next door, so that we could share some dramas. Above is one of our beautiful clowns, Moriah, waiting for her turn in the spotlight ;-).
Here our fabulous host, Mikey, sets up the speaker for the dramas. We took this speaker and a microphone everywhere we went during the outreach days, and Mikey and Felipe always jumped in to get them ready. Mikey is a 19-year-old from California with an incredible testimony. He lived in a very abusive home, where he started drinking when he was only seven years old. He was abandoned by his father, got involved with gangs, and was living an awfully rough life when he finally surrendered his life to Christ. He is now passionate about serving the Lord and hopes to attend a Y.W.A.M. Discipleship Training School soon! His love for the Lord and wonderful sense of humor were such a blessing to us!
Our team did a clown skit about sharing joy with others. The kids loved the clowns!
After the skit, Abi and Felipe explained its message and we shared some Spanish Bible verses about joy.
Then, Dan and Belle shared a "Happy Heart" skit that portrayed the importance of giving our hearts to the Lord. We tied this skit in with Bible verses, as well.
It was so hard to say goodbye at the end of the evening, having no idea where these kids will end up. Before we left, though, Senora S. told us that her dream is to one day own an orphanage where the kids can stay full-time, and she won't have to send them home at night. Her face just lit up as she shared her dream with us. Please join us in praying for this soup kitchen and all who enter there, that it may be a safe haven where many come to know and love our Lord!
1 comment:
Thank you for sharing, Amy!
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