Little babies everywhere!

  How cute is he !!!

Sunday I also went to an orphanage! There's a young photo journalist, April, on board the ship that was on the Anistasis Mercy Ship back when it was in Benin last time. And supposedly Mercy Ships was very involved with this orphanage we visited back then, and helped build their standing facility, but now Mercy ships is mainly focussed on an other orphanage. However, April still feels very attached to these orphans, and is doing all she can to help them. So she snagged me up on Sunday morning to come along with her and her team of guys consisting of a carpenter on board to take measurements to build beds for these kids. Because they all sleep on the concrete floor! So heres some pictures. =)

This is the road we traveled on.. which was actually a VERY nice road.

 An entrance to a small housing area/village I suppose could call it..

Another house I managed to snap a picture of. It is considered rude to take pictures of people without their permission. So it's difficult to come a across a house of some sort with no one near by .. all while your zooming past.. to capture their lifeslyle.

And we arrived at the orphanage! We played soccer and ring around the rosy type games, dancing games and played "take picture after picture and show it to them!!" .. their favorite of them all! and they were all absolutely adorable. 

Here I am with a little girl, her name was deborah. "Like in the bible", she told me. =)

The orphanage has about 40 children and it is run by a pastor and his wife. They have a few helpers but not many. Most of the children are under the age of 5 and some up through 7. Most are not potty trained. Their building facility is nice. Thanks to mercy ships organization. But other than the building they had absolutely nothing. No bed, furniture, tables, anything. It was heartbreaking. This is one of the three "bedrooms". (above) There is only string across the room with mosquito netting, which they drape across a bundle of children as they sleep on the floor =( So that was April's mission for our vision. The carpenter went to scope out the building and took measurement of the few old bunk beds that have but need mattresses for. 

                                            As we went to leave all the children piled in our land rover and were SO EXCITED to be in a white mans car! it was very cute. So here they are. All piled in!! with our sun glasses on =)

Going to this orphanage was so difficult for me, because these children have nothing. literally. not just things. but they don't have family either. And I started feeling so guilty. Here we are staying on this almost luxurious ship eating tons of food.. only helping SOME people. but there are tons and tons that need help too. And being with these kids almost killed me as I had to leave them... still with nothing. But as I was spending time reading and reflecting on the experience I came across 1 Corinthians 13. Which is right on the money. It says, you could do all these things in your life time.. speak many languages, have all this knowledge, have great amounts of faith, or give everything to the poor.. but with out love you are nothing. And I realized that even though I can't walk into this orphanage and buy them all beds and mattresses and things that I  might consider necessary. This is not what is truly necessary. There is a greater and necessary and everlasting task at hand. And that is demonstrating the love of Christ to these children, if that all I have to give to them.. even if it's only for one afternoon. Verse 13 says: "Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love" And that is what I have been learning the past couple of days.

One last picture! These were little twins at the orphanage that I LOVED!