Day 1 at the orphanages

We just wanted to update you on our time here.  Yesterday we got here and had lunch and went to the beach (which was amazingly beautiful) then we had dinner and got together to go over James 1 and 2.  Today we got up and went over James 3 and then had breakfast together then headed off to the special needs orphanage.  It was amazing and heartbreaking at the same time.  Some of the kids were literally tied to the bed because there was no one to care for them and the caregivers didn't want them to hurt themselves.  We felt so bad for them.  Most of them were boys because they were remodeling some of the orphanage so they had taken the girls to another orphanage for a little bit.  However, there were a few girls there and I got to hold one of them for pretty much the entire time.  She was scared when anyone would come near her but after holding her for a while she just kept taking my hand and putting it on her face (she was definitely a physical touch kid, which made my heart break for her because I knew she wouldn't get much physical touch being kept in a crib for 24 hours every day).  She had some sort of seizure disorder and would start shaking really bad when anything new happened but for the longest time we just sat in the chair and she just let me hold her (she definitely had severe mental handicap) she was probably around 3 years old and could not communicate at all and didn't respond to you at all.  But she was so sweet.  It made me really sad because so many of the kids seemed like they would be so different if they only had a real home to live in.  Some of the kids wouldn't even try to get out of their cribs because they'd never been out of them ever.  Reminded me of a story I read once about elephants in India.  To train an elephant in India you tie one end of a rope to the elephant and attach the other end to a stake in the ground.  When the elephant is a baby it will try to pull up the stake but can't because it is not strong enough.  Eventually the elephant quits trying.  By the time the elephant is full grown it is still attachedto that stake and doesn't even realize that a simple man could pull it out and even more easily for a huge elephant.  That was these kids, they had stopped trying.  They never attempted to get out of their beds/cribs (even the ones who were tenagers and young adults) because they too had learned from a young age that they couldn't.  That made me feel so bad for them, but the kids were happy for the most part.  They loved to smile and absolutely loved when Kasey played her guitar.   I can't wait until tomorrow when we get to go visit another orphanage.  I know that I will be emotionally wrecked after that one.  We were reading through the sponsorship manual that SCORE has for the kids at the next orphanage we're going to and some of the stories were so sad about how the children had ended up there.  Most of them have mom's who are prostitutes and the lady who runs the orphanage reaches out to them also.  We've heard she is pretty amazing and can't wait to meet her.  We are also taking about 7 suitcases FULL of clothes, toys and more for the orphanage tomorrow.  SCORE staff is completely overwhelmed by how much we were able to bring.  We've really been overcome with how much God blessed us through donations and extra financial support to be able to reach these kids.  Thank you to everyone who has prayed for us and given of their time/money/and love.