Okotoks Evangelical Free Church - Day 7

This morning after a devotional by Julia and a wonderful breakfast, a group of orphans came over to the base. We all had a child or teen that we were assigned to for the morning and I was with a wonderful kid named José. When the kids first got here we spent a little bit of time trying to get to know them but it was difficult because of the language barrier between us. José and I were paired up with Dayton and his partner Issac to head down to the beach. At the beach we built sand castles with the kids and we played with them in the ocean. It was great seeing the smiles on their faces whether we were on the beach building castles or in the ocean playing tag. After spending time at the beach we headed back to the base for some pool time with the kids. As soon as the kids were in the pool you could see the excitement on their faces and the joy that it brought them because the pool was a special thing for them. We got out of the pool and ate lunch with one another. I talked to José more with some help from Ray and found out more about him. After lunch we did a piñata with all the kids and I had a great time watching them all smiling and swinging at the piñata. After that we had to say our goodbyes. I gave José a hug and he went off to the van. After they left we did some clean up around the base because our time here is coming to an end. Throughout the whole trip we have seen God at work in people's lives, whether it be helping us get through places or seeing people accept Christ into their lives.

The afternoon was spent doing some clean-up at the base and getting ready to leave. We participated in a debriefing session which included a spiritual solo time of reflection and processing our experiences, then we gathered as a team and heard from each other. It was great to hear about some of the highlights and lessons learned from my fellow team members.

Jonny

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