Saying Goodbye

Friends and family,

We had our last day of ministry at the orphanage today. We spent the morning with our children, getting in those last play times and snuggles before saying goodbye after lunch. Each of our students had taken a polaroid photo of them and their child, decorated a popsicle stick frame, and written a note to them as a gift. This assisted them in saying goodbye. I got to translate some of the notes as the students said goodbye, and I was in tears as I read our students’ hearts for the orphans. They declared the love of the Father over them, promised that they would pray for them and always remember them, and exhorted them to follow Christ and turn to God in their time of need.

It was a very tearful moment as we gave final hugs and said goodbye, not only to the children, but to the Tias and the home itself.

After a quiet bus ride back to the hotel, we debriefed the morning as a team and bonded together. Then, we began our final team debrief! This took up the majority of the day as we processed together what God had done in our hearts and lives this week. We allowed the students almost an hour to journal about their experience, about how God had revealed Himself, about what they would never forget, and about what they would take back home with them. Then, we came back together and shared all the insights we had gathered.

For dinner, we took the students back to the food court at the mall and then treated them to ice cream (the rolled style) after. It took longer, but it was delicious!

As we continued the debrief back at the hotel, we practiced cementing the details of the trip, what was most important to us, and how to share that with our loved ones back home. Then, it was off to bed.

Pray for us as we wrap up our time here and begin our travels home.

Laura on behalf of Team Bolivia