Monday (in Santa Cruz)

On Monday morning, we moved from the hotel to a guest house that is owned and operated by one of the missions in town.  Then we went and visited the orphanage, Talita Cumi.  It's a Christian home for children 5-18 years old. They come from backgrounds of abandonment, abuse, and other situations necessitating "rescue."  A few of the children are technically orphans, but most of them were rescued. 

Most of the kids were in school while we were there, but we got to meet the staff and see the home.  The kids are able to wash their own clothes (for the most part :)), prepare meals, and keep things tidy.  This is one of the only homes that is equipped to take both boys and girls and it's pretty impressive to see the way the staff is able to take care of all these kids.  They are so thorough and they love the kids.

We went downtown to purchase materials to make some headbands to sell with the girls in the transition home. They are super cute...we'll post some pictures later.  Then we had lunch at an Irish pub on the plaza where we enjoyed some great Bolivian food :)

That afternoon we finally got to go to the transition home and meet some of the girls and staff!!!!  They are so sweet and were so excited to have us there. We brought over all the things that we had purchased in the U.S. to make greeting cards with the girls (also to sell) and they jumped right in and started decorating them and playing with all the art supplies.  It was so great to see some of the things we've been talking about and planning for come to fruition!  But that wasn't even my favorite part of the day...

Carlette (who has been on the Bolivia trip before, but couldn't come this year) had sent some cards for the girls and staff...they LOVED seeing these and trying to read them in English...then getting someone to translate them.  She also sent some pictures from hers and Ben's wedding, which they LOVED.  They thought all the flowers were so beautiful.  She also made a little quilt to surprise Dorcas,one of the transition home staff members who is expecting a baby.  She was SO EXCITED!  It was such a great reminder that the most important thing here is to just show the girls and the staff how valuable they are...not only to us...but to Jesus.  Relationship is everything here...more than making headbands, more than making cards. Please be praying that all of these girls would come to know how much Jesus loves them and how valuable they are in His eyes. 

Michelle