The Lar

I'm so so excited to have the opportunity to serve at the orphanage, The Lar, that is about 20 minutes outside of Itu! We went to visit to talk about getting some people from church involved and while we were there I had so much fun. The kids didn't care if I wasn't able to speak Portuguese and they weren't looking to have an in depth conversation, they just wanted someone to love on them, play with their hair or swing them around. That I can do :) After we left I had a strong desire to get more involved than just every few weeks or going with a group to put on a program. I wanted to really spend some quality time there. So Mark and I talked and then set up a meeting with the new director to see how I could be more involved. Earlier in the week before meeting up with the director, a sweet girl, Deborah, came to Sunday school. She spoke English pretty well and I soon found out that she was from The Lar! Her parents are house parents and so she lives at the orphanage pretty much 24/7. We became great friends and she has decided to be involved with the youth group on a regular basis, praise the Lord! Deborah came in this past weekend and stayed with me so she wouldn't miss out on all the youth activities. Fun bonding time!! She has to ride the bus anytime she wants to come to Itu and the route stops running right about the time youth activities start up. It was such a blessing she stayed with me because she had no problem with me picking her brain about how I could serve the orphanage the best and what the kids truly needed. So I came up with the plan to work directly with the houses, rotating every week I go. This way I have a smaller amount of kids I can focus on, help out the house parents with their daily routine or anything to help catch them up and I go straight to them for anything they need me to do. The worry was, even though I want to go to serve it would be difficult to provide relief being that no one would want to give me chores to do. Mark and I talked with the director, he was very excited and said he would meet with house parents and run it by them and let them know I was there not only to play with the kids but help them out. I love it! This Thursday I will be headed to The Lar and Deborah will be showing me around and helping me become more familiar with how things work. Hopefully the director will give me the go ahead :) He just filled the position last week so things are a little crazy around there! I will be riding the bus there and then a guy from the church, who works in that city during the day, will be bringing me back. I'm sure the bus will be an adventure, Mark is going to make sure I can handle it though. We already went over where it stops and such so I'm not too worried :) Keep me in your prayers that it will all come together and to give the new director the strength to get things on track and running smoothly. I know this transition is very stressful for him!