I Went To Mexico.......

Went is the keyword. No, I'm not staying there yet. I so wish I was.

Today, I visited the orphanage I've been praying about: Niños de la Promesa. It was called The Purple Palace, but they've changed the name. It was amazing going there and getting to meet Connie and Tyler, the two people who started Niños de la Promesa, and all of the kids: Cristofer, Santiago, Dana, Karla, Esmeralda, Daniel, Jesús, only to name a few. Well, the names I could remember. I learned a few more names, but I left my notebook in the car, so I couldn't write down their names. I do this to help me remember their names. It helps a lot. Fortunately, I was able to grab it and write down some of their names before we left.

Anyway, it was so awesome to be there. I had so much fun being with the kids. One of the kids, I forget who, had went up to me and said, "¡Vueltas!" I always hear "wertas" but I was told that it was "vueltas" which makes way more sense since "wertas" isn't actually a word and "vueltas" means "to turn". This is also one of the words I learned last time in Mexico, and the kids would always have me spin them around. Hearing this word made me laugh a bit, and then I was spinning the kids around. One of the kids, Cristofer, would say, "Superman!" when I spun him around. This made me laugh, too.

I spent quite a bit of my time with Cristofer today. I first met him when I walked over to his table as the kids were eating breakfast. I decided to introduce myself to the kids, ask their names, and ask them any questions I could in Spanish. Unfortunately, it wasn't much, but it was something. After that, I didn't really see him until some of the girls started asking me to spin them. He came over and wanted a turn, so I spun him around, too. He had me spin him several times, as did Karla and Dana, but after a bit, I decided to take a break. The three of them went off, and I started to talk to Kaprice, my friend from San Diego who got me connected with the orphanage, about the orphanage and everything that was going on there. After a while, Cristofer walked to where I was sitting, sat next to me, and with the most adorable face, said to me in a quiet voice, "¿Vueltas?" Unfortunately, I was talking about something important, so I told him, "Espera, uno momento," which means, "Wait, one moment." Instead of walking away, he sat next to me the whole entire time I talked with her. Tyler had walked over and started talking with us, and Cristofer still continued to sit there. Every once in a while, he would ask, "¿Vueltas?" but he still waited. He got asked to do something, but right when he was done, he came right back over to me and sat next to me. He even rested his head on my shoulder. Once the chance arose, I looked at him and said, "¿Vueltas?" to which he nodded. So I went outside with him and spun him around. Then, I pretty much spent the rest of my time with him. We played soccer with a cup lid, he rode on my back, we went to the swings, I watched him climb around the playground, we climbed some other thing, and I helped him ride a flat bike. Then, he went to do something, so I grabbed my notebook to start writing down names. Once I did, I found out it was time to go soon. Before we left, I went over to the swings where Cristofer was and told him that I was leaving and had to go. He asked me to push him on the swing really quick, so I did. Then, I had to go. It hurt so much to leave. I almost got out of the car and said, "See ya later!" but I knew that I couldn't stay yet. I think what hurt the most was that I noticed that Cristofer wasn't really hanging out with any of the other kids. He was kind of off on his own doing his own thing. Maybe I just noticed him when he happened to stop playing with the other kids, but it didn't seem that way. He seemed to be alone. I feel that God points those kids out to me since I once felt that way (but that's a whole other story of its own). In a sense, I can relate to those kids. No, I'm not an orphan, but I do know what it feels like to be rejected and alone, and it's not good at all. That's one thing that I want to show the kids: that they're not alone and that they are cared about and are worth it. More importantly, that there is a God in heaven who loves them so much and cares deeply for them and desires to have a relationship with them and will never leave them nor forsake them.

Well, that was my trip to Mexico. I'm definitely going back soon, within this next week, to visit the orphanage and spend more time with them and get to know them more. Also, after praying about it for a while, I'm going to be staying with Pastor Elvis, the pastor of the church that I helped with last time, and helping him and the people and kids there for a week. After that, if I feel God telling me to stay longer, then I will. I'm praying and believing that I'll be able to work something out to where I can stay with Pastor Elvis and also visit the orphanage whenever I can. Once the orphanage gets comfortable with me, then I'll move there and help out there. It's all in God's hands.