Mission: Colombia

I hope with each mission trip my soul gets a little more gentle to those in need. I loved this little applique and the saying.

 I wanted to share some of my trip with you. Several of you have donated to MSI on my behalf. Thank you! You are making a difference! And I am extremely grateful.

We go out in teams and these Colombians stay with us all week. L-R Aleda was our guide and connection to the schools, Claudia was an interpreter and she played in our drama, Victor was our commando, also a bridge between us and the schools, and Jhon was our main interpreter.  I felt like we got very close with our team this year and will miss these 4 so much. (although now we are facebook friends, Aleda and Victor only speak/write Spanish)

The next few photos show a variety of the schools we went to. The one above was special. We finished up early and they set up their band, played and sang for us!

This was the very first place we went. This church has a food program and feeds many in the neighborhood. We were able to bring a nice stack of food with us, although it won't last long. There were many many children. (the heat in this room was only a taste of the week to come!)

 Everyday life.

Inside a school compound.

 The photo above and below were from the neighborhood we put in a water well. It was around 90 degrees and this woman was still happy enough to wave while doing her laundry.

Not only did this community get clean water to use, now that they have water the government will deed them their land and help support a school!

This is a makeshift school they built recently! It was very exciting!!

 Friday and Saturday night we held a festival and tens of thousands showed up to hear good music and a message of love and hope.  Christy and I spent most of our time in the crowd giving out candy, dresses and jewelry. It was so much fun!

And a little fun....

I really needed to have someone stand next to this toilet to see the real size. It was about 12" off the ground! It's a good thing I had been doing squats! 

It took a minute to figure out I had to use this bucket and dipper to flush the toilet!!

I've been on 4 missions trips and this one was the most special.

Thanks for all your support!

Drum Roll..........Pillowcase Dresses

I asked my friends to come and help me organize the pillow case dresses that were made for my mission trip to Colombia next month. I feed them a light lunch and they help me! I think I'm getting the better end of the deal. Christy, in the turquoise shirt, came with me to Peru last year and she is going to Colombia as well! Thank you to all of those who made dresses and donated finances. I am always overwhelmed at your generosity. My plan was to limit the dresses to 50. 

Sometimes plans go awry! LOL  

 We (mostly them) separated the dresses by size.

 This was the "before" photo.  I'm still waiting for space bags to arrive in the mail. 

 I feel so fortunate to be able to bring these dresses. How many? you ask...... 108!!! In Colombia I'll fill my backpack every morning and every afternoon and bring them out with me to give away. I love to put them on the girls when I can. I'll take as many photos as I can too, so you will see them wearing the dresses you generously made and donated. We also prayed for the girls who would be receiving them. 

Bless you all!