The end of one journey and the beginning of a new one...

So much has happened in these last few days, I'm so sorry for not updating you all sooner! To start out with, saying bye to Tre was rough but so sweet. As she stood in my arms balling, tears welled up in my eyes thinking of the impact of this ministry and the strong relationships that have been formed. I'm so grateful for God's sovereignty in bringing me to UT, going to my church, discovering this ministry, sponsoring Tre, and being able to visit her twice already. (Even sweeter that my boyfriend, Matthew, was able to meet her!) I love that sweet girl so much and am amazed to know that pales in comparison to the Lords love for her....and for me. She asked me before I left if she could "live with me forever"...talk about penetrating the heart. Also grateful that the ministry has now set up computers in the homes to allow for Skype! I am excited to keep up with Tre and some of the other children throughout the year.

Before saying goodbye to the girls in that particular home, we went to the beach and played in the ocean. Many of the girls would come up to me asking if I would be coming back next year...oh dear I just didn't even know how to answer that in broken English. "I want come back so much but don't know not yet";) I hope it will be soon.

That same day we visited people living in a dump. We handed out food to them...I wish we could have done more because these people were some of the poorest I've seen here (other than beggars on the street.) In fact, if we calculated correctly, I think these people make less per day than a beggar probably would. All day into the middle of the night these people collect items from the dump to re-sell. (they live on $2ish per day.) I'm still processing some of the things we saw and smelt there.

The next day we went to the beach and hung out with the boys home. I took some of the younger boys into the waves and afterwords we spent hours collecting the most amazing sea shells I've ever seen. We all went to a restaurant on the street after the beach...Rice pancakes with bean sprouts and cooked squid inside! Cant say was my favorite but better than Dim Sum mom and dad!

The following day we traveled all day back to the city we fly in and out of. We took the girls home there to a mall that had a big arcade on the top floor...most Asian malls here have everything from grocery stores, clothing, exercise areas, food, arcades, and furniture stores. It's so tacky and hilarious...but efficient I guess!

Today is our last final day...our flight leaves late tonight. Pray for Matthew as he has caught some sort of stomach bug and is pretty miserable at this point. Love you all and cannot wait to share more stories.

Ps. Food updates: We ate at a fast food place in the mall last night and then had a "rice burger"...I was thinking regular burger with maybe rice flour bun or something...no, It was 2 cooked sticky rice parties around a burger...Hahahah sooo delicious though! Will be your Carolina burger any day, Dad!!! :)