For those of you who don´t know me well, let me share just a glimpse of my heart and passion. Since I can remember, I have always known that God was calling me to work with children. At what capacitiy, I was unsure, but I knew that one day I would be able to do what I love.
I wanted to do something that would impact children in such a way that they could change tomorrow and make it a better place. For the longest time, I believed that a teacher was the only thing I could ever be if I wanted to impact the life of a child. And for a little over 5 years, I had the opportunity to work with children at an outdoor school and summer camps. It was great!
Recently, I have found that teaching is not the only way and I also found out exactly what God is calling me to; my Kingdom dream! While at AIM in January, I had the opportunity to be part of Project SearchLight; a program put together to help Racer Alumi find their Kingdom dream and then the steps to take to accomplish that dream. I knew God was calling me to mentor the broken children. Children who only have one parent present in their life.
While here in Bolivia, we have had the opportunity to work with many children. One of the places that I have fallen in love with is a place called Casa De La Amistad. Casa De La Amistad is a school for children who´s parents are imprisoned and their (parents) spouse´s and children may be living in the prison with them.
One week, the kids had the opportunity to come to a camp that Palabra De Vida (who we are working with) put together for them. It was at the camp that my eyes were opened to just how much these kids need someone to mentor them too. These kids do not have the greatest examples for parents or anywhere around them (especially if they are living within the prison walls themselves).
One girl that I fell in love with was a girl name Nyreli. Nyreli is 10 years old and every time we see each other, we go running to give each other a hug and we keep close until we have to say our goodbyes. Thursday was our last day at Casa De La Amistad and I had to tell Nyreli that I would be leaving for the US soon. She didn´t want me to go and held onto me as long as she could. She asked me why I had to leave and when would I be coming back. It hurt to not have an answer for her. I was left broken leaving that place.
I am still a bit broken. I don´t know if I will ever see her or the other children who stole my heart here in Cochabamba but I know that they are in the hands of the Loving Father.
