This is my life

So I've realized I haven't posted many blogs while here in Puerto Barrios but I do have many stories to tell. So here I will tell a few shortened versions of the things I have had the priveledge to be a part of over the past few weeks. 

Heres an overview of some of my favorite ministries

• Bar ministry.  We bring the woman flowers or chocolate with bible verses attached when we visit and God has worked through this as well as our conversations. We have also been able to develop relationships with a few different woman that work at some of the bars. 
• Orphanages.  There are two orphanages that we visit weekly. One has 7 kids and is in a terrible state as no one really takes care of the place where they live and from what I know no one stays with them full time. The other orphanage is kept up but still breaks my heart to go to. The children are absolutely awesome in both though. 
• Dump ministry.  Outside of Puerto Barrios theres the local garbage dump. Some families live in the midst of the dump or very close. Others come to work in it all day long looking for plastic that can be recycled for money. (Those working include young children also). 
• Home of the Ancients.  An elderly care nursing home type of place. We usually go and sing songs for them and pray with them. 
• Praying in the markets.  There are two main markets located close to us. We go into these and go where the Lord leads. Usually asking people if we can pray with them. 

And now for some amazing things God has done in these places. 

• In the bars and night clubs there have been a few specific woman that our team has been able to pour into and speak truth over. For these woman, we plan to write letters to them that we will give them on the last night we go out to encourage them. Some have even asked for bibles which one of my teammates plans to buy. God is working in these places and the mere fact that we have been allowed to go into some of the night clubs is proof of God moving. 
• Over the weekend we were able to take the children at the smaller orphanage out on a retreat. It was smiles and laughs all day. One of the girls I have come to love is hearing impaired but that didn't stop her from audibly laughing with joy as she built up the courage to go down the water slide. (The slide went soo slow… but its okay. It was still a new and thrilling experience for *audrey). Then I got to play soccer with some of the boys… which I completely enjoyed and I think they did too. 
• The other orphanage we visit has alot of kids. They are more well cared for and its always so fun to go play with them… whether thats with sidewalk chalk, dancing, singing, or even sitting and watching a movie with them. Everytime I go though my heart is broken. I can't comprehend why there parents would ever leave them. This one girl is so sad all the time too… I haven't seen her smile even once in the past 6 weeks I've known her. And she's only 3 or 4 years old. Every time I go I sit and hold her and pray to God that somehow she can sense that she is loved. That she will know God is always with her even if her earthly parents aren't.
• We have gone to the dump a few different times, mostly just praying with the people there and bringing snacks for the kids. The last time we went however, we put on a program for everyone. We did songs for the younger ones, then had rice and beans and clothes to give out to the parents and older family members. That day is somewhat of a blur, but one moment stands out clearly in my mind. After the program the pastor we work with asked if anyone wanted to "open their hearts up to Jesus." And out of the many people standing there, about 12 or so brave kids walked up to him and bowed their heads and "opened their hearts to Jesus." It was beautiful. 
• At the nursing home there is one man I am particularly fond of. He is a funny man and just smiles at me everytime I look at him. He is full of energy too but walks at about the pace of a snale. Not to be disrespectful but he's just so great and its funny to see him walking to the place where we always sing our songs. He gets there usually after we have finished our 2nd or 3rd song. Anyways, my last visit was quite eventful as I decided I was going to dance with him. It was really joyful and fun and afterwords he gave me a flower. 
• A few weeks back we had an ATL (Ask The Lord) day. This means that we were broken in to teams then simply prayed about where to go and what to do for the day. There were no planned ministries for the day, but instead we did what the Lord wanted. Our first stop was the Santo Tomas market. After wandering around and praying for a few people for an hour we ended up in the back of the market talking to a woman working a meat stand. This is significant because when we were praying earlier in the morning one of my teammates said she pictured a woman holding a meat cleaver. Well sure enough God lead us to the woman in the market holding a meat cleaver who happened to have stomach issues. From what we gathered she had surgery once but needed it again, however she didn't have the money for it. She also said she was in constant pain.  My team and I then prayed for her for some time, at one point taking a break thinking we were done but God hadn't finished his healing so we prayed more. The second time around there was a feeling of warmth and sense that the spirit was moving. We prayed more fervently and sang mighty to save in spanish. After praying we asked her how she felt… and… she said the pain was completely gone! Hallelujah. God healed her.  

So there is some of my life from the past 7 weeks.