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A New Day

I promised I would write about my day today. This will be short compared to the others, but since it's my second post in one day, I figured I could get some slack :).

Today was a brand new day for me. in the several weeks I've been here, I haven't been able to have a group, so going to camp and sitting down with my evangelist was amazing. Also, MY MOM IS HERE!! You can just imagine how wonderful that can be. We arrive at camp today and I immediately am asked to help organize groups. I didn't even have time to look for my boys because I was finding Americans and helping to assign groups. In the chaos of the morning, I looked up to see one of my Mapode boys just smiling and trying to get my attention. I drop everything, toss my camera to Kelsey, one of the summer staff girls, and run to my boys. 5 of the little guys come running toward me and it was amazing. I just scooped each of them up and squeezed so hard. We all couldn't stop smiling. I sent my evangelist over to them to hang out while I finished assigning and helping with groups. Finally, I got my boys. Unfortunately, 5 out of the 15 I had last year showed up this morning. (which means i had 10 brand new boys) and just like that I felt Satan rip my joy from me. It was immediate too... he knew how desperately I wanted to see those boys and knew that I would be disappointed. However, just like always, when you stop looking at your current situation and you fix your eyes on Jesus and his blessings of grace, mercy and love, your attitude completely changes.

We danced and sang and they couldn't stop holding my hand or touching my hair. It was worth the 3 and a half weeks it took to wait for this day. But, it's still extremely tough. My boys are from a very very very corrupt school and they are subject to violence, anger, and aggression. So many times they pushed each other, or demanded things from me or my evangelist. They are just following what they have seen their whole life, but it's really hard to take a step back and see this when they are so demanding.

I just ask that you please pray for my boys and their attitudes. Specifically pray that the Lord would soften their hearts and open them up so they can be honest when sharing about their struggles. Pray that the exhaustion I feel now would cease to exist in Jesus' mighty name.

I'll let you know how these prayers are answered, because I already believe they will be. Keep praying! :)

Love you all!

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