Day 6

From Saturday

Today felt like a day full of accomplishment. We started off in your standard size school bus instead of our typical passenger van packed with about seven bags of clothes and additional supplies we still had to give out to the mommas and children. Samuel, our interpreter even got a little western wear. He is such a blessing to have with us. As we pulled into St. Louis, Scott had already effectively delegated duties as we were on a tight schedule today in hopes to get everything we had planned to complete.

Several of the ladies were busy laying out all the clothes to distribute. Jewel worked closely with Madame Pastor as she helped to evenly distribute the clothes. They were very grateful and a resounding thank you was given.

The library was in full use this morning with new toys breaking the scene. Puzzles and zooming cars were keeping kids busy, while Linda was having tea parties with all the boys and girls. Other girls enjoyed the baby dolls. Sarah and Andrea completed the last of the children getting their checkups.

We also had the men pulling up the bunk mats that the children sleep on to take outside and spray down with a bleach solution and dry in the heat of the sun to eradicate any remnants of scabies and other diseases that remained. We finished in very little time so we split up in teams of three to walk the street inviting the patrons of the town to our Jesus movie that afternoon. It was an eye opening experience to be a part of the culture and feel the way of living so close. We made our way back to St. Louis and gathered the children into the bus and began our trek about 30 minutes east to the beach.

We were excited to see the children’s faces when they set their feet on the sand and see a glimpse of the beauty God has created for us. It was funny to see that most of them were rather intimidated by the water. It took our hands holding theirs or picking them up and wading in the shallow water to build up their confidence. There were about 15 brave souls that were comfortable enough to walk down the shore and get their feet wet. Many were playing under the shade of the palm trees with the various sport toys that we brought along. We made them peanut butter and honey sandwiches and gave them fruit juice to help finish off the last of their antibiotic pills. Amazed by how well they listen and wait patiently in line, we attended to all the children in less then 30 minutes. Our time was cut shorter then expected because the weather looked like it was going to rain on our parade… AND…we still had all the bunk mats sitting outside in the heat that needed to be put back in the dorm rooms.

We pulled back into St Louis surprised to see that the mats had been moved indoors. Several of the men, with the assistance of the momma’s, put them back in their places while the ladies got out their buckets and soap to start washing the children’s hands and feet. It was humbling to sit next to Brandi while she prayed over and washed the hands of several young boys. Kelsey, Aubrey, Lisa, and Andrea manned the other soap stations washing hands, scrubbing nails and then applying lotion. I was cracking up because a few of the children would take and wipe the lotion from their hands on their faces and legs to make them smoother.

The church started filling up with those that we had invited earlier in the day. We passed out peanut butter and honey sandwiches to all the guests and shortly thereafter, started the movie. A rough count of about 180 filled the church walls and there was an anticipated silence as it began. Our prayer is that a seed was planted where fertile ground was ready.

Sunday is going to be a tough. Anticipation has already set in and the children know we will be leaving. We will miss their smiles, we will miss their giggles, and we will miss the hands that come up behind us to hold ours and the hug from behind showing just how much they can love. Love breaks the boundaries of verbal communication. We have seen it everyday. Thank you for your prayers back at LCF. Please keep Aubrey in your prayers as she is under the weather tonight.

In God’s Grace,
Travis and Brandi