God Is Here

So today I had the opportunity to meet our sponsor child, Carlos. It was honestly the best day of my life thus far.

As we stepped off the bus I saw one of the translators pointing us it to him and I was just so happy to see him standing there. Then they sent he kids off and the all ran right at us and hugged us. I've never seen such a beautiful event. I mean, these kids, who we have never met and barely know, are running at us with love and open arms with such joy. Although we speak different languages and live in different countries, we all worship the same God and that has just been shown through these children and their families.

I would never had thought that I would have the chance to meet him. It was the biggest blessing. We played soccer, had swimming races, jumped into the pool together and just had a great time! It was very hard to leave him when it was time to go. Both my dad and I were crying and we were all hugging. We prayed with him and his grandma and they told us about things they needed prayer for. It was so hard to hear about the struggles that they have and they illness in their family. Carlos had dressed up for the day and it's so unbelievable to think that he doesn't live in a nice home and he lives in a country that is FULL of poverty. Then I told him that I love him and God loves him and that was just the best thing to be able to tell him to his face that I love him, and not just through a letter.

So in all today, I very much felt the presence of God through Carlos. He had so much energy and he had all these questions for us and even though we couldn't always talk to each other, we connected and communicated in different ways. I really felt so much love for him today and it was the hardest thing saying good bye. But I know that he loves us just as much as we love him and we've only met once but through the love of Christ and our same faith, I now have a new brother that I am more than happy to welcome into my family.

Emily