DAY 3

Today we woke up bright and early and left the hotel by 8:15am. It was the day of the carnivals, we were all so excited. We started the morning at the first church we visited in the countryside called Corinto. It was a very hot and humid morning. There were only about half the kids there as the area had no water. We set up our different booths of face painting ( huge hit), coloring, bubbles, pin the tail on the donkey, animal games and the giant parachute. It was a little chaotic as we were trying to explain everything in each group with only two translators to help us out. But the kids didn't care about the language barrier they laughed and had so much fun!! It was such a blessing to serve these beautiful children. By the end of it we were all soaked with sweat as it was so hot and humid, and we played so hard! What I didn't get was that most of them were in jeans!!! We met a few little kids that weren't yet sponsored by compassion, and boy did I just want to sponsor them all! The program is so Amazing and helps the families in such practical ways. If you don't sponsor a child I would HIGHLY recommend it... It changes lives. After the carnival we headed over to a families house that was in the program, they had 3 children and the mother was only 23. They welcomed us warmly into their 'home' - which was made out of old tin roofing. There was 3 beds crammed inside and an outhouse in the corner, no running water - they had to buy it only when it was available. Can you even fathom that? Their house and yard was very tidy, even though there were dirt floors it was all swept meticulously. They told us how Compassion has helped them so much. The land they live on was for free, they lived there but the husband did not work as his job was to take care of the land, and then they stay for free. They have just recently started going to church and God has really softened the husbands heart as the wife originally made him go. We then headed over to Ron and Sherry Lapka's- the missionary couples house for a delicious lunch. From there we went to the second church to put on the other carnival. We were all pretty exhausted at this point, but God gave us the strength and this one went so much better than the other. It was such a joy to play with the little kids and see there eyes light up at the toys, games and face paint. Nancy our translator did such an amazing job with the kids- it was so fun watching her play the animal games- right in her element. After the amazing day we went out for ice-cream and then all crashed for an early nights sleep. Such a long, wonderful, fulfilling day!!!!