Today was a really, really good day. Our group traveled to Nueva Esparanza Orphanage in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. There were a lot of surprising things, some good things, and some heart-wrenching things.

What initially surprised me was the conditions of the orphanage. We had seen videos and photos from Promise Home about the terrible conditions these children live in. What we experienced didn’t match how bad I had expected things to be. I’m not saying these children have it easy, but things have improved there over the few years Promise Home has been working with them. They have a director who has been there a year who has improved the conditions considerably. There was some fighting that broke out between the children, but it never got too out of hand.

What was great about today was the chance our group from BridgeWay Church had to love on these kids. I shared with the group tonight the words Jesus said in Matthew 25:40, “As you did it to the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” What’s awesome for us, as Christians, is when we reach out to people who are in situations like we saw today at the orphanage we get to physically love Jesus. Those kids today represent a calling that all believers in Christ have to love everyone and to anything to reach people with God’s love. What an awesome privilege to serve.

One of the hardest moments for me today happened right after the kids were finger painting. When I’m at home with my girls, coloring is a big deal. We marvel at the works of art that Emory creates and she LOVES to run and put everything she makes onto the refrigerator for her mommy and daddy to see. She does this because she knows we love her and want to enjoy everything she does.

At the orphanage, those kids don’t know that love. They don’t know what it feels like to be valued. To be someone’s prized possession so much so that even a simple piece of paper they color on would be something someone would want to keep. I know this because when they got done drawing they picked up their paper and brought it over to be put in the trash.

I wish these children knew the love of a mom and dad. I’m glad I was able to give them