Today, the team started out early with devotions. We ate breakfast, and boarded the bus with all our goodies for the children of Conani House. We rode into the capital, enjoying the sights. We arrived at the orphanage, and upon entering, we encountered a distraught woman with a severely handicapped child laying on her lap. A few Spanish-speaking members of the team spoke with her, and found out that she wanted to leave her daughter there, as she had two other children to care for. Neither she, nor the child’s father had jobs.  The staff told her that there was a waiting list, and if she wanted to be put on the list, she would have to bring the proper documents to the main office. Two team members prayed with her.

The team brought along a Polaroid camera, Bible verse stickers, and Christian stickers to Conani House.  We were going to take each child’s and staff member’s picture and affix a Bible verse and sticker to it. This is what we call the Polaroid ministry. Where cameras are not common, children are amazed to see their image in the view screen of a camera. We take a picture of a child, stick a verse on it and sticker of their choice and we leave it with them to keep on their wall in the hospital. It really brings a smile to their faces.

We went up to the 2^nd floor to meet the girls. There were many girls laying in beds or cribs with various degrees of severe handicaps. The team distributed stuffed animals to the girls, singing, talking,holding their hands, and playing with puppets for them.  The team also got to see the children receive physical therapy. Many of the children on the team held and fed the babies, falling in love with these precious children of God!

The team then went upstairs to see the boys.  They made balloons for them,distributed the stuffed animals, and took their pictures. There were boys walking around, and others who were bed bound. Our team walked around and interacted with them all. They were all grinning ear to ear!

The Conani house has to follow government regulations that do not allow pictures to be taken of any of the children. The Polaroids are allowed because we leave them with the kids. It was not easy to see the severity of the handicaps of these kids, but we took comfort knowing they are in the hands of our Lord and He allowed us an opportunity to bring a few hours of joy into their lives and the staff that works so diligently to tend to their needs.

We said our good byes, and headed out to one of the malls to eat lunch. We went to the food court, and we were able to choose from many “American” chain restaurants such as BK, Dominos, Pizza Hut, to name a few.

Also, after visiting the home for the elderly on Sunday afternoon (see day one) and learning of the need for a water tank for their village, the Lord put it on our hearts to take up a collection for their tank. We collected the entire sum from the team! We made a quick trip back to the home for the elderly in Monte Cristy, where we were able to bless them with the money for the water tank. We prayed with Pastor Geraldo, he would like for us to return in the future and enjoy a cup of filtered water with him, we were all blessed by this experience the Lord allowed us.

Next, we headed out to JUMBO to buy food for tomorrow’s visit to Consuelito, the  sugar cane village where we attended services on Sunday. We purchased food for 42 families. We are looking forward to seeing them again tomorrow.