Bendecidos para Bendecir

There is a children’s home about 45 minutes outside of Lima, Peru. It houses 40 orphan children from 7 years old to 16 years old. It is a simple building. The upstairs is where the girls rooms are and the downstairs the boys stay. When the Peru team from Mariner’s pulls up in a bus, we get out and grab many arm fulls of food. We also bring some toys for the kids. Some of the younger team members go out on the grass and play soccer with the kids. We are wanting to communicate and bring God’s love and his blessings to the home. I feel for these children who do not have loving parents to live with. They have nothing, and I think to myself…..how can these kids make it? Will they make it in life and will they be successful in what they want to do.

We take a tour with the director of the home, Pastor Christian. He tells us how he loves his work and treats each child as his own. He has a gleam in his eye when he speaks. I see a passion. He tells me , “This is not work.” He then explains that these kids can stay till they are 18 and graduate from school. He tells a story of one girl who lived at the home and wanted to become a nurse. She told Pastor Christian, "I do not think I will ever be one". Pastor Christian asked her why? She says, "Because I do not have the money to go to school and get my training". He explained to me that he told her if she wanted to become a nurse he would pay for her schooling, and that is exactly what he did. She now comes to the school to give her time to the kids at the home when they need a nurse. This is a moving story. Then, I observe, our team giving out our bracelets we brought to share with the children, which has written on them, "Bendecidos para
bendecir". This translates to, "Blessed to be a blessing". I ask, has everyone received a bracelet? The children showed me their bracelet. One child said. I got mine, but Jose did not get one. I was impressed. It showed me just how caring the kids are to one another and how they treat one another as family. It also showed me these kids understood the value of telling the truth. They were not hiding their bracelets in their pocket to secure another. This was refreshing, as in other situations in our travels the children were not honest and tried many times to get just one more of whatever we were handing out.

Pastor Christian and his staff are doing a great job with these kids. They are instilling biblical values, such as love for your brother, and the importance of telling the truth. These kids are blessings, they are loved, and taught good values.

As our team got back on the bus and were leaving I thought of my concerns that I had earlier before I had met Pastor Christian and the children in the home. God now showed me through others what he can accomplish by just being faithful to your calling and that is exactly what Pastor Christian was doing. I was blessed and the whole Peru Team was blessed that night. These kids had nothing and yet they had everything. These kids were poor in material things and very rich in spirit. We were bringing blessings to the children and the children in turn were blessing us. "Bendecidos para Bendecir" - Blessed to be a blessing.

Psalm 100: 5

For the Lord is always good. He is always loving and Kind, and his faithfulness goes on and on to each succeeding generation.