Reina de la Paz

above are Vivien and Francisco

Rebekah and Andrea's baby Lydia

January 19

From Sue

(pictures above from the market on Saturday, the beach on Sunday, and Reina de la Paz on Tuesday)

I have always known that we have great kids, but I have never been more convinced of that than I have today. This morning, we met Giuli at Reina de la Paz, a home for teen moms and their babies that we have visited for 3 years and which our church helps support. We all crammed into a cab and traveled the 40 minutes (our cabbie got lost) to get there. An experience in and of itself! We greeted many familiar faces and some new ones too. Giuli assembled the girls and what was supposed to be a 30 minute presentation about playing with your baby, turned into a 90 minute session on everything from eating and sleeping issues to discipline! While I talked to the girls, the rest of the family watched babies and toddlers. We then had cake and cookies which we brought to celebrate Giuli's birthday with the girls. After that, it was off to the soccer court for some fun while Emily, Elijah, Rebekah and I attempted to watch babies. Letty Mar asked when we were coming back and we said next Tuesday. She said, you can come back everyday. That's Reina for you. It is such a bittersweet place. It is sad to see their situations and such joy in little things like cake and soccer. The babies were dressed way too warmly and were for the most part pretty dirty but they are a joy and delight! One of the highlights was seeing Francisco, a baby who was suffering from Failure to Thrive last summer. Both he and his mother, Vivian, were hospitalized and we sent up many prayers on their behalf. We saw them today and you wouldn't have known it was the same ill baby. He and his mother were both eating heartily! Praise the Lord for answered prayer! We also feel all of your prayers for protection as we headed to a less desirable part of the city to see the girls. Our kids were so helpful and they did not utter a complaint even though it was all very new and not a little stressful:) Please keep us in your prayers as we head back to Reina next week and continue to deal with homesickness, school and lack of language skills.