Work Hard, Play Harder
Welcome to Michael's Children's Village! Today we visited a unique sort of orphanage. MCV is a village of homes designed to target the rebuilding of families as a whole not raising orphans to be a dependent of an orphanage. Currently, there are 5 homes in this village. Each home holds a father, mother, their own children, and a set of orphans. The orphans are raised with these families and then after sometime the family is placed back into the regular community where they can be a light and example of the Biblical portrayal of a family.
We cleaned from 9AM to 3PM with a short lunch break and then played and connected with the children. Everyone worked incredibly hard all day without one word of complaint! Here is a glance at our busy day!
Jordy, along with Zach and Jon tackled the task of cleaning the prayer hut floor. Due to recent heavy rains, it was flooded with mud and water. The hut was unusable and the families did not have their usual place of gathering and prayer. By the end of the day, the floor was shiny and all of the orphans were playing on it.
Klarissa washed windows, mirrors, and much more. She is always one of the first to volunteer her help wherever she is needed! The team cleaned every window of every building in the village -- inside and out.
Emily helped wash and dry laundry. The clothes were hung outside and sun dried. The students learned how difficult life might be without the conveniences of home, such as an electric clothes dryer.
Elizabeth spent the morning picking through and organizing bed linens and towels. She began with an overflowing crib of musty linens and ended with a neatly organized (& labeled) linens closet. She's also been taking her first steps without crutches!
Zach worked continually all day with cleaning floors, windows, transporting items, and spent time with children. He taught a young boy named Kona how to hacky sack. The kids enjoyed him and it was difficult for him to say goodbye!
After the children got home from school, everyone gathered in the prayer hut. Some of the ladies on our team painted the girls' nails. Anita carefully painted this girl's nails purple with little flowers. She also cleaned windows, the guest house, and helped Elizabeth with the linens.
Kayla worked with April to sort through donations boxes that the village had received. A big job that included meeting a big, furry relative of Mickey Mouse in the closet! Her heart for orphans was obvious today. She was full of joy whenever she held a child in her arms.
April fell in love with Kona and wouldn't let him go. We had to check her pockets when we left in case she smuggled him out of the village!
Jon took many pictures and worked hard all day. He also played hard at the end of the day! He raced, chased, danced, and played with the children. It was Walter's birthday (boy in striped blue shirt) and Jonathan taught him a few tricks on his scooter.
Shani along with Anita used her interior decorating skills by preparing the guest house for the important visitors that arrived this afternoon. The rooms looked amazing after her touch...even with fresh flowers on each pillow, sink, and desk! She also cleaned many windows, painted nails, and played with the children. At the end of the day, Eben stopped by an ice cream shop on the way home and treated us all to the most refreshingly delicious vanilla ice cream cones. They actually tasted like vanilla -- not just sugar. MmmmMmmm. Her face says it all!
Prayer Focus: Tomorrow we go back to Village of Hope & pray for people on the mountainside. Pray for miracles and salvation. Also, pray for the students as they are busy everyday with ministry and still having to do college classwork.