Composing the Vision

Sorry I've been a while getting these last pictures up from Colombia! Coming back to Mexico has been crazy. When I got back to Mexico, I found out I had a wedding to shoot...next week! Apparently, when it comes to parties and weddings, that's how Mexicans work--who cares about details, let's just have a party! sheesh! So I've been frantically trying to pull together loose ends. I'll let you know how it goes. Meanwhile, check out the pictures from Colombia! Gallery 1 Gallery 2 Gallery 3

And so today I am leaving Colombia. It has been quite an adventure and this is an experience I'll never forget. I feel almost like a cop-out, as I have only been here a week. I have done very little with regards to helping out the orphanage. I have fed some mouths and I have given some hugs and I have carried a few kids with dirty diapers to be changed, but I have only been here for a few days. I will leave today but the workers who slave away for 40+ hours a week will stay and will continue to do ten times more what I have done. Though we have loved on some kids, they and Sister Valeriana are the ones who truly care about them and sacrifice their lives to create an environment for these kids where they feel loved and accepted. In comparison, we have done nothing. But we have done something, for we did show love to these kids, and it is awesome (and sad) to see these kids cry when they know that we are leaving, for I suppose we accomplished what we came to do and that perha...

I think the incredible thing that has struck me these last few days is the workers who work there. See we are only a group of 10 going for a very short time. There are so many workers there. Saints. I have talked with them and some of them have worked there for years. It has been incredible to me because even after working there for 3 hours in one day, I have become absolutely exhausted. And all we have done is feed the kids and play with them (as that is what they have requested). But these workers, every...single...stinkin...day. Have come to this place to care for the kids, love these kids, feed these kids, change dirty diapers on 15 year olds, have put up with there screaming, have taken them through therapy, have put up with the emotional drainage of seeing the state of these children--every single day from 6 in the morning to 6 at night. It is incredible and I don't know how they do it. I don't know how they wake up in the morning and continue to do what they do....

You never know what to expect when you walk into situations that are extremely uncomfortable and not ordinary. Such as walking into a special need orphanage containing mental and physical disabilities you have never encountered before in your life. Of course you always first walk in and act like nothing is wrong with them and that you can talk to them like they are normal, but the fact of the matter is, you can't, and that isn't to discriminate but is just a fact. You walk in and you are totally shocked that actual disabilities like this exist. You wonder how they can live like that, for that is all they have ever known. Luz y Vida is enormous. They have like 5 levels of bedrooms and rooms with various rooms equipped to handle the various needs of the children. They have the biggest kitchen with vegetables that they grow from a farm that they own. They have all these tunnel ways that weave to and fro throughout the place taking you around like a maze. They have a courty...

Today we had a chance to go and see a little of the city. It is a very pretty city and I cannot get over how blue the sky is. It is always rainy but the sky is always blue. It is because there is a mist over the city that comes from the Andes mountains. The bluest sky I've ever see, and never knew that hue could actually exist in the sky until now. And very nice people. Everyone invites you to their house but they never tell you when, what time, or where they live. It is said that they the people will always tell you what they think you need, but never actually listen to you actual need. So for example, when we arrived at the airport, we requested a big van to load all our stuff from our guides. They were very close to bringing a school bus or two. Luckily, someone from our group told them that a van would do. They brought two vans. Oh well. :-) (all our luggage of gifts for the children) We went to a church today, and it was very refreshing to see other cultures in wo...

June 28, 2008 I am sitting on a a bus on my way to Guadalajara, Mexico. We are about 3 hours from the city. From there I will take a plane to Mexico city, and from there to Panama City which will then direct me to Bogota, Colombia. As I sit here and think, I get excited because this is my first mission trip. I am so excited to be going with my Lord serving Him. It is exciting going on mission trips, mostly because of the thrill of the beyond. The human spirit was made for such adventures, like we were designed to do this along. Starting off, it is my belief that everyone who is able would should go on a trip to another country in order to see how others live. And then it hits me how privileged I am to be going on such a trip. I would guess that there is only 10% of the world who has the means and the ability to go on such a trip. In Mexico, I started off by telling everyone that I was going to Colombia! How exciting, and I was sure that they would be excited for me for they sp...

Something funny happens to you when your heart is caught by something that you know you need to do or by that feeling that captures you soul that tells you you ought to pour yourself into a cause. Since I am a Christian, I call this feeling the Holy Spirit, the living God flowing into my heart causing me to give myself to something which I might not exactly benefit from, but only because He told me to. Others might call it something different. Nevertheless, what's interesting about it is that I have never even met these kids who I have attempted to help over the last year at Luz y Vida. But to those who know this feeling I'm talking about, that seldom seems to matter. For you know that someone out there needs your help. But this is all about to change, because in 7 days I will have an opportunity to meet these kids. My church and I will be traveling to Bogota, Colombia to Luz y Vida, an orphanage containing many mental and physical handicap children, as well as normal kids who ...