Day 5 - Primed for Ministry

Today was our second day of working at the school; we started priming the wall of the cafeteria entrance. After about an hour and a half, I went over and began to paint with Whitney and Keenen up on the scaffolding. Whitney was kind of scared being up that high, but she overcame her fear, powered through it, and did an excellent job.

After finishing up at the school, we headed over to the Hope Center to get set up for the kids. After that, we went back downstairs to mingle and practice the dances that we learned. Then it hit 2 o'clock, and the kids started to show up. There was this one girl in particular that caught my eye. I was a little nervous to go up to her and her sister at first because I know that my Spanish isn't the best, but Joy had noticed them playing alone and told me to play with them. After a few minutes, her sister went off to see Lincoln.
 
I learned that her name was Kimberlin. Kimberlin and I danced, jumped, and sang together; it was so much fun. Then, we headed upstairs to make prayer bracelets, play games, and make a "walk with Jesus" map. The entire time, she was either holding my hand, holding my arm, or asking me to sit next to her; having that kind of bond with her felt really special. After making the bracelets, we went to the "living room" to make the map. Kimberin and I were assembling her map, and I asked about her family. I discovered she has three sisters and one brother; she has one cat and one dog. She doesn't like school, but she has many friends and loves playing.

When she had finished her map, I asked her about the "mis amigos" sticker and who her friends were. She told me that it was me, her, and her sister. A few minutes later, before we left, she asked me if she could draw on my shoes because she saw that Bekah had a bunch of colors on her shoes; I obviously said yes. She signed her name and a few little hearts, stars, and smiley faces.

It was time for the kids to go, and I felt a little sad because I didn't know if I'd see her again, but I got a picture with her, and I walked her outside and said my goodbyes. Then we went back to the hotel and ate some dinner. Before devotion time, Lonney and Sophia talked to us about the overall mission of Hope Partners, which is rescue and transformation.
I had so much fun today, and I can't wait to see what God has in store for tomorrow!

Here are a few ways you can be praying for our team:

1. Energy for the next two days.  Please pray we will have the energy we need to finish the painting project and have high energy to minister to two more groups of children.
2. Health. A few of our team have not been feeling great. Please pray for healing and restoration.
3. Transformation. Hope Partners is transforming this area and we also long for God to transform our lives.