Esta es su casa

Esta es su casa

Today was amazing! I just want to do it all over again tomorrow. I won't at all be able to share about everything but I will write about some of my favorite parts.

When we arrived at the church this morning we went in and sat in the front to be welcomed by the pastor and other staff. Everyone was SO crazy thankful for our visit and went on and on about it. The pastor even told us, "Esta es su casa," which means this is your house. That was just such a sweet moment. Another memorable phrase came from the project director who said, "Thank you for trusting that we can change our nation." Wow! I feel like as a sponsor, and even more as a Compassion employee, I'm blown away by the fact that he really gets it. He believes that the children in the project can change the world! That's huge. He's not spending his time babysitting kids there. He's investing in his nation. 

There are 436 students at the center and the records on each one of them is stinking impressive. We saw books full of birth certificates, every activity ever done there along with who was involved and photos if possible, all letters to and from each student, all gifts given to each student, etc. The whole place was incredibly organized. 

After a tour and lots of learning about the project we got to watch the students bake. They showed us what they've been learning in their classes. Then came the best meal I've had so far here. Chicken in an amazing sauce and rice, along with tamales of course and then Tres Leches cake. Yum! 

When we had eaten and talked and laughed with everyone for a while we went back downstairs to the church for the presentation by the students. On our way in there was a small boy near the back saying, "there's a sponsor, there's a sponsor, there's a sponsor," etc as each person came through the door. It was so cute how excited he was to have us there! The program done by the project was beautiful and it was obvious how much work was put into each performance by each class. Even the teachers sang us a couple songs as a group. And while we were waiting for one class, the director paused to sing "the Frog Song," which was pretty funny. 

As we left the church we gave tons and tons of hugs and kisses to the kids. They stood in line for each of us. It's just so great how much they loved us, and how we could be a representation of their sponsors. I felt like I was giving them hugs on behalf of the people around the world who are linked with those kids. They are the ones who give and pray, but we were stand-ins for today to hug them all.