We will miss these sweet children

The children all gathered at the boys’ home to bid us goodbye. They had wonderfully sweet things to say to us which just makes leaving that much harder! They talked about the fun things we did while there and how much they looked forward to our visit next year. They said a prayer around us and then we began telling them all goodbye.

Our last day

We are sad to leave, but glad to spend a few more hours at the boys´home before we go.

Hope and Steve arrive at last

Hope and Steve Shearouse had not been able to come to Tapachula until today, because of some health issues. We are thankful that Hope´s test results were all good news. We were so excited to finally see them tonight at the restaurant for our last dinner together. Las Tablitas is a wonderful restaurant where we go each year the night before we leave. The carne asada is excellent! We had some time to ¨"debrief" with Hope and Steve before we returned to the hotel for our final devotional, led by Mopsy. We shared Holy Communion and reflected on our time here. It is hard to believe that it is already time to return home. We feel that the our spirits are forever united because of the experiences we have had here. And the children will of course stay in our hearts as well.

A fun time was had by all at the beach

Wednesday, our last full day

Today, we had peanut butter and pancakes for breakfast at the boys´home. We then prepared to take the younger children (16 in all) to the beach! The children are very excited about this outing. The beach-front property is about 40 minutes away, and belongs to a a man named Jesus, who is on the board of Mission on the Move in Tapachula. Unfortunately, the caretaker at the beach house was not expecting us and was quite upset to see 2 vans full of children arrive! The swimming pool on the premises had even been drained! Anyway, after playing in the waves for about an hour, we returned to the house to find him much calmer, and there was enough water in the pool for the children. We prepared sandwiches for them and had chips, fruit and punch, finishing off with ice cream sandwiches. The children were thrilled! They had a little more time to play in the water and then they changed their clothes and boarded the vans to return to town.

Tuesday is another busy day

We went to the girls' home this morning and helped with breakfast -- french toast and fruit, yummm. Afterwards, we had time with the girls and each of us talked about our lives. We brought pictures and described what we do back in Houston. Some of us have been her several times, yet this is the first time we have officially talked about ourselves to the children in a group setting. They loved looking at the pictures especially.
After that, we spread ourselves out and "interviewed" the older children who we took shopping. We are composing the script for tonight's fashion show and are including details about the kids such as what their favorite food is, what their favorite sport is, etc. For example, Reddan will m.c. the event and say something like, "Yanette was born in Tapachula and is 13 years old. Her favorite color is blue, and she loves Chinese food. Today, she looks lovely in this peach and gold top with khaki pants. Her favorite animal is the butterfly which is why she chose this shirt to wear tonight. Isn't she beautiful??!!" Anyway the kids had such fun at this event last year, we felt we had to include it again. They are very excited about this part of the day.
We also hosted a princess luncheon for the 5 littlest girls today. It was their special time with our team and they really had fun.
After the children went to school, we left for the women's prison. We were able to meet six of the mothers outside of the men's prison, where their husbands are. We told them all about what their children had been doing since we arrived and they were happy to hear about everything. Mopsy gave a devotional about seeing ourselves through God's eyes. They were very receptive and open to us praying for them.
We then went into the women's prison. There are only two moms there for us to meet with at this point. One of the moms, Manuella, spoke passionately about her time in prison. She knows that if she had not been sent to prison, her two boys would have had bad lives and become mean, abusive men, like their dad. She is grateful for the chance to change her life and her children's lives. Her children witnessed to her a long time ago and she accepted Christ because of them. The visit was very inspiring to all of us.