January Work Trip

The team is assembled.  Supplies have been shipped.  Plans are being made.  Our January 15 mission trip to La Paz will be building a wall, fixing electricity, repairing the water system, changing locks and more as they work on the grounds of the foundation.  Please pray for Rick B, David B, Marc C, Bill L, Bill L(2), Al S, Mark S, and John T as they prepare.  

If you would like to support our mission trips to La Paz (Travel, Supplies, Shipping), please visit the website at http://childrenoflove.org

Watch here for trip updates!

Would you like to join a future trip?  Visit http://childrenoflove.org/missiontrip for upcoming trips and applications.

It's not goodbye, its hasta luego!

And so the trip has come to an end...
Its crazy how fast these last days go. From giving out shoes and baptizing kids to feeding the five thousand, its easy to lose track of time.
I've been waiting for this week to happen for a long time; a year to be exact. After falling head over heels for every kid here at the foundation last year, I've been counting down the days until I returned here... I literally had a countdown app on my phone :) The foundation just feels like home. I love that this is only the second time I have come down here, yet I feel so at ease and feel so complete when I am down here.
Our team has been talking about how this week is a sort of foretaste of what is to come in God's Kingdom. A couple of months ago I watched the movie Heaven is for Real. The movie depicts what a little boy named Colton saw when he experienced heaven during a near death experience. In the movie, it depicted the gates of heaven as the doors to Colton's home church. It wasn't a big, beautiful, golden gate, but rather something so familiar to him and so welcoming.
It got me thinking about what my "gate" would be.
I soon realized that the black iron fence around the foundation with the words "Children of Love Foundtion" were my "gates" to heaven. There is something so incredibly comforting about being inside the gate. Outside of the gate is a dangerous, unpredictable world. But when you get inside, you are greeted by hugs and smiles and songs of praise.God is so present here..
 Inside the gates of the Children of Love Foundation is my heaven. I believe with all my heart that it is the closest picture of heaven I will see until I am actually there. God is so incredibly present at this foundation. All you have to do is look around. From the smiles and hugs and kisses and "te quiero mucho"'s to the beautiful mountains surrounding the foundation, and the countless dance parties, God is at work through this incredible place.
So as we tearfully leave the foundation tomorrow, I will keep that image of the foundation gates in my mind. It is truly not a goodbye. I know that when that day comes, we can walk together hand in hand through the "Children of Love Foundation" gates, and enter heaven to finally meet our beautiful Savior...and sing "Zacchaeus" forever and ever :)
Demos gracias al Senor por su amor!
God's blessings,
Ellie Duda

Thursday Night Blog

Today was extremely fast paced becasue of the 30 baptisms and feeding the community on top of that. We started preparations as soon as breakfast was over. Some people got the food started, others prepared for the baptisms, and the rest did whatever was needed to make the day run smoothly. Unlike last year, the baptisms were not as chaotic, but chaotic or not, it's still amazing to witness and be a part of welcoming new members into the kingdom of God. After the baptisms were done, we went ahead and fed the community a meal of bread, pasta with meat sauce, mashed potatoes, and green beans as well as cake for dessert. The band that played durning the meal was awesome and they even started playing in the back of Zayas' pickup as soon as they entered the foundation. After dinner the band kept playing which allowed us Americanos and the kids to have a mini fiesta to celebarate the end of a long and successful day. The biggest lesson I Iearned today was that God is always in control even when you think he isn't which was evident in the miraculous speed in which the potatoes cooked and by how well the community dinner went. We are definitely looking forward to a day of rest tomorrow.

Thanksgiving, give thanks!

Happy Thanksgiving to all. We are so thankful for Mama Doris and all she does for us and the children, and the hundreds of people she helps here in La Paz. We are thankful to spend time with the ninos(children), the shoes, the new Pastor Martinez and his wife, the socks, the food, the clean water, the love we all show each other, the foundation's housing, the church, the truck and bus for transportation, Gods's grace, the sports and balls the children use to stay active, the clothes, the towels, the cleaning products for Operation Dust, the rain, the beautiful mountains, everyone's good health, the baptisms, the songs, the payers, and to all of the people who send support for Mama and the children. We are most thankful for Jesus Christ who died for our sins, so we can all enjoy his Kingdom, here and in heaven. God bless you all and we love all of you!

St. Luke's Operation Barefoot team

Keeping up with the Ninos

Day 5: Success
The amount of love in the atmosphere around here just keeps growing. These kids have God's love spilling out of them, in everything they say and do. I'm more and more amazed by them every second I'm here.

After a lovely french toast breakfast, we headed to the chapel to wash feet and hand out shoes to the kids of the neighborhoods, some from locally known "cardboard villages" here in La Paz. These people live in towns where most homes are made out of cardboard or a tent. So, the kids recieved new socks and shoes and it was a great feeling to see them run away with a smile, admiring their new kicks.

After a little bit of playing with the ninos, our group divided and conquered into different teams. My team was Ellie, Carolyn, Scott, and I, we called ourselves "El equipo de pizza", the pizza team! We were in charge of making homemade pizza for dinner tonight. It turned out fabulous!!! The kids were very overjoyed to be eating it.

After a long day of playing basketball and futbol after dinner, we finally sang some songs and said our goodnights. The ninos enjoy the hokie pokie and "Zacchaeus en ingles." Hugs and kisses to end the day perfectly describe the mood down here. This is such an awesome way to be spending Thanksgiving Break, and a great way to be reminded of what we have, and how we can help those who need it.

God's Blessings,

Katie

Live and Recorded Video

is available from Tuesday.  More to come!

Operation Barefoot is passing on all the love that our congregation, school and community collected. 

Read the blog posts and watch the video and share the great news with others.

Something Special in La Paz

What seperates Christianity from every other religion this planet has ever seen? The answer lies in people, like you and me, Honduran or American. Our relationship with our creator defies any human concept of a supreme deity, it knocks God off His soap box and brings him to our front door in the form of Jesus Christ. What does this have to do with The Children of Love Foundation (ninos de amor in spanish)? C.S Lewis once said, I'm paraphrasing, that when your goal in life is to achieve an eternity in heaven, your life becomes nearly aligned with perfection, or at least the intentions of your life become aligned with perfection. The people involved with this foundation understand this concept in its entirity; their intentions are heavenly. From giving food to the poorest part of La Paz to washing police offiicer's feet, a relationship with Christ can be seen in all of what has been done here. This is not just from the mission team, this includes the work of the kitchen workers and the cleaners and the kids working everyday. Something special is happening at this place, something that has to do with Christ and his miracles. Through our faith, relationship and love for Christ, Children of Love has become the hot spot of La Paz, it has become a highly coveted piece of ground. Some might even say it is a piece of heaven on earth.