Our hosts here at Casa Hogar Alegre have a little boy that we’ve gotten to spend some time with. His new project has been a fire pit. They set it up a couple weeks ago, and I think we’ve had a fire every single night since. When we try to start a fire, he comes out and takes over. He loves it, even if he isn’t out there with us, he will come out every 10 minutes and tend to the fire. The one night he tried, and tried, and tried but couldn’t get it to start. He tried all different formations of wood. He tried a bunch of different fire starting methods. He tried using kindling, newspaper, and cardboard but nothing was working. He wasn’t giving up and it took about 30 minutes before his dad came outside. He looked at us and asked if we wanted a fire. We giggled and said yes. He grabbed some wood, started the fire, and it was engulfed in flames in seconds. That was the best fire we have had yet. 

The Lord reminded me that this is what He does for us. When we try in our own strength we fail, or if we are successful it is a pitiful fire. We grow weary from trying, we grow weary from failing. Eventually we just want to give up. But, He’s right there, God comes out and lights the best fire of the season in seconds. Better than we could have ever done, quicker, and without expelling any energy. That’s what He wants to do for us. Yet do we let Him? Rarely. He is there, and of course He always will be, but He wants us to rely on Him always. He is a never ending well that never runs dry. His power and strength are unfathomable. He sits here, just waiting for us to realize that. I want my strength to come from Him. I don’t want to spend 30 minutes trying to start a fire and become discouraged when I don’t have to. I want to lean on Him, in every regard, and in every season of life. 

We have a little over a week left here at Casa Hogar Alegre. We have gotten so incredibly close to these kiddos and they are attached to us in a way. To wrap up our time doing Coffee College, our leader has asked us to do a small capstone. She said she wants it to take around 20 hours maximum, and we are presenting them the day before we leave. The board members of Baja Bound are coming with a group of people, and a group from a high school in California will be here at the same time as well. We are presenting our projects in front of all of them. This project is designed to help us build our portfolios, help develop our public speaking, as well as further Broken Rib’s business. If I'm 100% honest, I was struggling with the idea of getting this project done. Yes, we knew about it from the beginning, and yes our leader has worked so incredibly hard on Coffee College for us, and yes it will incredibly impact more customers.. but I was feeling a sense of guilt. 

The 20 hours had just gone around and around in my head. I had thought about how we only have a week and a half, two weeks left with these kids. I thought about how I will never be able to hangout with these kids again, but I can always do big projects. I wasn’t running away from the work in any way, but I had questioned whether the Lord could use me more directly with the kids. Whether He could use my skills to show them the love of Jesus. I want to spend those 20 hours with the kids. 

But I didn’t know what to do, and I was stuck. I didn’t feel peace about asking our leader to not do the project, but my heart was with the kids. I felt guilty for spending 20 hours developing my skills when I could be directly pouring out for 20 hours. It scared me, but I didn’t know what to do or how to handle it. So I went to Tammy because I knew she would provide a new, broader perspective. 

The first question she asked me was if I had prayed before I chose the coffee ministry or not. My honest answer was no, and I wanted to hit myself in the face. Why would I not do that? I just assumed coffee is where the Lord wanted me to go, but I didn’t even take a second to ask. That’s the biggest lesson I learned from all of this ~ ask the Lord! It seems so silly but He is so patient with us when we forget. Then Tammy had brought up the point of a bunch of other groups coming in and spending time with the kids. Another group is coming in right after us and doing the same thing, and then another group after that, and another after that. The Lord is providing and will provide faithful servants to show them the love of Christ. But what they really need right now is money, or there will be no home for people to come to. That is the whole point of our projects, to bring awareness for these kids and for their futures.

So yes, I felt like I could steward my time in better ways, but the Lord is going to use it. He is going to use this situation either way, whether it’s teaching me these lessons or using my presentation to get consistent subscriptions for Broken Rib. There’s no waste at the altar. So yes, I’m kind of bummed at myself right now, but I know the Lord will use it. 

The Lord even brought to mind next year. If I have an apprenticeship while in Africa, I am going to have to do the same thing. I am going to have to work daily and I cannot spend the whole time with the kids or doing ministry. But if God didn’t teach me this lesson now, I would be screwed. He wants to teach me discipline, and that even in ministry, I am going to have to work hard. But it is all for His glory, and in His name, and I know He will use it. I just have to trust that He has a perfect plan, and I have to be obedient to what He asks me to do. 

Last night our hosts gave us a presentation and asked for our help. He pointed out some basic things that we have noticed needing attention, and explained that it was because they don’t have enough money. Sometimes the kids aren’t cleaned because they don’t have enough for shampoo, conditioner, soap, or deodorant. We haven’t seen them drinking milk, because there’s no money to pay for it. They eat hot dogs and ham for protein because beef, chicken, and pork are too expensive. All of their meals are stretched thin, to feed the 100 of them. Legal regulations state that you have to have a ratio of 10 to 1 kids to adults. During the day the workers are essentially volunteers because they get paid minimum wage, and at night they only have two women here with the kids. Of course the money that comes in goes to food and essentials, so they never get to leave the orphanage. They don’t have the funds to pay for workers, gas, or outings. 

We got to take 15 of them to the zoo yesterday, and it was one of the highlights of being there. Just seeing the joy on these kids' faces was the sweetest thing. They had so much fun, and it felt so good to get them out for a couple of hours. We are working on finding funding that we know is out there. We are helping our hosts raise consistent income for the orphanage. They are risking even being able to stay open with the little money that is coming in. 

We are all divided into teams, and we have “team time” everyday. We check in on each other, have Bible study, deep dive into various topics, and pray for each other and these spaces. A couple days ago the Lord reminded us to pray out loud, and that we should be praying over this orphanage. For our team time this morning that’s what we spent our time doing. We gathered, and had some extra girls with us. We anointed the dorm where we are staying, common spaces, then the girl’s cafeteria, dorm rooms, bathrooms, and offices and classrooms. In their dorms we all were praying and the Lord told me to pray against night terrors, and all of us were told the same thing. We saw and felt the demonic presence running away at the name of Jesus. It was incredible but also woke us up. 

We realized we need to be doing that more often, and we want to go back out today and next week. To pray over the spaces again, to pray over the kids, and pray over the boys side as well. We were near the classrooms praying and I got handed one of the babies. Last week I was holding her while she was sleeping and the Lord told me to go pray over her, so I did. I prayed over her again today and I am going to continue to do so, as well as over all of these kids. Would you join me in praying? The devil has tried to invade this space but we are using our authority to kick him out, and we could use as many prayers as possible. These kids need our help, and we are right here able to be used. 

Right after we prayed, at nine, we had a life skills class. We have a mentor here who is leading us for 6 weeks. Her name is Karen Kang and she is an art therapist, and a life coach. We talked about lies that we were believing from the enemy. We got into our teams after and we all realized that the lies we believe are surrounding what the Lord created us to do. The things we specialize in, the devil tries his hardest to attack. Let me just say there was a lot of shoe throwing in that discussion. The devil has no hold, no power, and no authority. We are standing up, taking arms, and fighting back. The Lord is our shield, and we have the armor on. Nothing can grasp us in the presence of our Savior, and we are protected in Jesus’ name. Join me in praying over these kiddos. That the devil would flee, along with the night terrors, fear, and hold over these kids. We are believing and declaring freedom in Jesus’ name. God is working and He is moving. Relying on Him is the easiest thing I’ve ever done, and He is equipping us for battle. I am ready, and I am excited. Until next time!