Thursday

In our final day of ministry we were left with a few things to accomplish. We've been up since 6 am and it's now 11:21 pm. We will be up by 530 tmrw morning and get home sometimes by midnight. The next 48 hours will be exhausting, no doubt. 

We began the morning by sorting out a few of our onesies for the babies, then we hopped in the truck and headed for day center 2. This was the first feeding center we went to last year and somehow there is just a sense of belonging there. There were about 22 children there (only one of which attended last year) and of course, one that I immediately attached to. Her name is Jasmine and she was incredibly shy. All of the other students sat around 3 different tables but she sat alone in the corner. She had such a sweet smile, once she finally warmed up. There wasn't nearly enough time spent there. 

Just outside of the center was this scene of the neighborhood. 

At the top of that hill was a man carrying a 50" Sony tv. Quite the photo opp. 

After the center, we headed to the hospital (after making a pit stop at the gas station and the grocery store). Fourth floor maternity ward. It just isn't the same as it is in the states. This is one out of 9 hospitals in the city and the only one that's a teaching hospital. Any procedure, whether it's back surgery, labor of a baby, or heart surgery, you only pay $5 for it. It is said that it's the hospital you go to when you want to die. 15,000 babies are born annually at this hospital alone (about 66/day) and about 20% of the mothers are between 13-19 yrs old. Those are some wild statistics!  They have a separate room for those young teenagers (minors). I went into that room and dressed a baby whose mother was 14 yrs old. Another 16 yr old little girl was caring for her second child. Weakly, depressing. 

We served over 70 babies that had literally been born in the last 24 hours. I held one baby who was only 10 hours old. 

We gifted them blankets (that we sewed and when I hurt my finger), diapers and wipes (that were purchased thanks to many of our supporters), and onesies that our Tirzah folks had brought. We entered into each room where there were anywhere from 2-6 women. In some rooms, the woman had lost their babies. Others were in so much pain for their c-section and had no access to medication. We saw their children, gave them gifts and prayed for them. We even were able to change some of thief babies. 

Coloring with ladies at the house who had come for a ladies afternoon. We had the chance to take some awesome new adult coloring books to "color God's Creation" from my dear friend Caroline Simas. Thanks to other friends Kasey and Robin we were able to take these for the women in the jail and for these neighbors to fellowship together. 

This is Cynthia. She joined us for our day, but she's also the new proud owner of the home that we dedicated on Saturday. The neatest thing about her: she has two daughters, Raquel and Grecia, that are practically the same ages of M and L and BOTH were born premature just like my girls. We had an instant connection of love!

Homeless feeding night was upon us. This is probably the most difficult ministry to be a part of. While someone else prepares the food, we help serve it to some do the most poorest in the streets. They are prostitutes, drug addicts and families who have nothing. This ministry is a hard one to swallow, and to reflect upon. Just a few photos to give you an idea:

Jeremy had an instant connection with Samuel while I was in the cab with Sammy's younger sister, Brittany who was also in the same position. It was a late night-we didn't get home until 11 pm!!

Tomorrow is our departure. We anxiously await seeing the girls but know it will be hard to leave.