Operation Smile

Today I embarked on another hour long drive to Operation Smile which is an orphanage near the second largest city of Trinidad; San Fernando.  There were about 45 children there with the youngest being 4 and the oldest was 15.  We got to spend a few hours of the afternoon sharing the love of Jesus with these precious children.  We played some games, sang some songs, did a short drama, shared a story and a testimony, did a few magic tricks, and then spent the rest of the time just getting to know them.  There were about 5 or 6 kids that kind of flocked to me and took me around showing me the goats, and the playground, and their rooms, and various other things around their facility.  I had a lot of fun being taken around and hearing their laughter as they talked with me, but there were a couple of girls in particular that I spent most of my time with.  They were sisters, Alia and Diana.  They were 8 and 11 and we sat inside one of the slides on the playground and talked about all kinds of things.  They asked me questions about the ship and about my home and my family, my favorite fruit, if I dyed my hair or if it was really this color…all kinds of things.  Our time there went by so quickly and it was hard to say goodbye as it often is when God gives you a love for these people in such a short time and then you leave knowing that you will more than likely never see them again.  You just hope and pray with all your heart that something….just one little thing that you did or that you said while with them will in some way impact their lives and their hearts, if not now, years down the road and it will cause them to seek for and to find Jesus for themselves.