Today, we spent most of the morning and afternoon helping out at a local children’s home. Our main projects were painting part of the outside of the second floor patio, and building a new set of shelves to go in one of their main storage closets. Of course, we were also there to interact and have fun with the kids, who don’t get the chance to have fun with so many “adults” at the same time very often — especially ones from so far away!
At lunch, the pastor in charge of the orphanage shared the incredible story behind this children’s home. None of us could have expected the moving and inspiring tale that followed. We will try to summarize it here, but reading our summary won’t do justice to the experience of hearing it first hand, first in Spanish and then in English.
Seven years ago, in the impoverished area where the minister was assisting several families, one family in particular had a son named Jesús, a common name here. This child was severely malnourished because the father wasn’t able to provide for his family because he became an alcoholic. The minister asked a local neighbor if they would be willing to feed Jesús and his siblings if he provided the food. He agreed, and the situation worked out for a month, until the father refused to let his children go to the neighbor’s house for food.
At this point, the minister’s wife was deeply troubled with the situation and spent a significant amount of time in prayer. God then gave her a vision of a place for hurting and abused children to come. Over several months this dream began to materialize, first in a re-purposed hotel and then at a new building. God’s hand was in each situation miraculously providing for this children’s home. The current children’s home was purchased for merely the price of the land, the building was “free.” The home runs completely on volunteer staff, with a total monthly operating budget of $800.
Many times while the minister was telling this story he had to pause to collect himself as he was deeply moved at the generosity and goodness of God for these children. He said, “God sends these children here, and these are his children.” The government here provides similar shelters for children without anything to eat, but this children’s home works without any financial support from the government. This children’s home has tried to gain the government’s subsidy, but every time they almost completed the paperwork, something would fall through. The minister said that after going through this process twice, they realized that God didn’t want the Argentine government gaining credit for the good work going on there. This was a home for God’s children. They have never solicited stores or churches for food or funds, all support is completely voluntary — the food and supplies just show up. From food to clothes to school supplies they had an abundance of top quality goods — all without asking anyone but God for their needs. Many were moved by the following God stories.
There was one day where the orphanage didn’t have any milk. The cooks got together and asked God for some milk. Several minutes later, a local missionary walked up with a carton of milk — just in time for the children’s breakfast. Another time the orphanage didn’t have anything to drink. The missionary called all the children to dinner and said, “Children, we don’t have anything to drink, but we’re going to pray God and thank God for the drinks he is going to send, but we’re not only going to thank God for the drinks, we’re going to thank God for the sodas he is going to send us.” No sooner had he finished his prayer and there was a knock on the door from a complete stranger, carrying an armful of sodas.
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Before lunch, the house was in complete chaos. Our clothes were covered in paint, many of the kids’ hair was covered in the same paint, the lunch table was covered in sawdust and bent screws, and the kitchen bustled with noise and activity. No one quite had a handle on the situation. Most of the people in charge spoke only Spanish and details got lost in translation. People in the patio yelled up to the roof that plates were already coming out of the kitchen. As the dust cleared in the main room and the table was set, there were not enough chairs in the building, so a few students traipsed chairs from the church two blocks away. While waiting, we sang (or yelled) a song over the hubbub. Then, amidst the continued cheerful bellows of the children and the conversational hum of the adults, a sudden hush came upon the whole building. Lunch was served.
This meal was especially touching; it came out of their own pantries and was prepared and served by volunteers. The owner himself personally served and bussed our table. Surely this was the feeding of the five thousand; the more abundantly this man and his colleagues gave, the greater surplus everyone (including them) had. Surely this is the woman who gave abundantly of her two denarii, as opposed to the rich men who gave out of their abundance. Our later meal at the French bistro was wonderful — a few courses, delightful dessert, helpful service. But the children’s home was not a meal, but a lavish feast, given abundantly out of meagerness. And most beautiful, while the owner spoke of the dark tales of suffering children in Guaymallen, was the sound of laughing children, innocently playing in the presence of their God who gave out of His own abundance.
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Now, we present you with photos from the day and some descriptons of our endeavors. Read on.
Before we could get started on painting, we had to spend quite a bit of time sanding the exterior wall. This took most of the morning. There was so much dirt caked into the wall, just rubbing the sand paper across it produced enough dust in the air to quickly cover your hands.
We got some help from the local Mendozans who volunteer their time for the children’s home.
Finally time to start painting…
The kids tried to help us out, even if they made a little bit of a mess.
While the painting was going on, another group was working on constructing the shelves for the storage closet.
The kids helped out with this one, too.
After building the frames, we took apart some old folding doors to use for the actual shelves.
The finished product, already stacked with boxes:
These weren’t the only jobs they set us to work on. Some of us spent some time doing some more general clean-up work, and beating the dust out of old rugs.
They made a fantastic lunch for us.
We sat down to a plentiful feast!
It was Adam’s birthday! Who could ask for a better day?
Of course, the memories we take away from this place will be memories of the children. Even through the language barrier, we managed to connect with each other. Though they did each us a few words, like “caballito,” which means “piggy back ride,” or more literally, “little horse.” Any ride on a caballito was followed by cries of “otra vez, otra vez!”
Blessings to you, and thank you for your ongoing support! We hope that you continue to check back with us as our trip continues.
Chris Pillsbury
Jacob Garcia
Aaron Kelley