Well, we are back from Chile, and although we've been back almost a month, I am still working on unpacking and getting everything back to normal!

The trip was, of course, amazing! And like all other mission trips I have been on, I received so much more than I gave. It is incredible how much you are blessed when you are willing to serve God and others with your life.

The trip to Chile was long - 18 hours - but we made it on time, and with all our luggage! In the airport in Santiago, we met up with the other 25 members of the team, made it smoothly through customs, then took a bus to the hogar - the girls orphanage. Although Chile is a developed country, and many parts of Santiago (a city of 6 million people!) are beautiful and mostly middle-class, the part of town where the orphanage is located is not in one of those areas.

My first few days as the head cook, I was feeling very overwhelmed and under qualified. I knew that there were others on the team who had more experience than I did cooking for large groups, and they knew it as well. But each day, I realized more and more that I didn't need to be "qualified". God had me in that position for a reason, and He would equip me with everything I needed. 2 Corinthians 12:9 (one of my favorite verses) took on new meaning for me. I realized that I don't need to be perfect, or have lots of experience, because He is sufficient for all I need, and He can use me more if I don't have all the answers myself. The kitchen was a fun and happy place to be! :) I had a great team, and as far as I have heard from others, we did a great job with the food too.

There were several construction projects going on, and a LOT of work done while we were there. We were able to spend time with the girls also, of course, and that was the best part of the trip! There are about 80 girls at the home, and there are 8 houses, where they live with their Tias (spanish for aunt). I fell in love with a little girl named Maria. She is 11, and very quiet and sweet. She has been at the home for almost 3 years now. She has a family, but was abused and neglected, so was removed from the home. They rarely come to see her. While I was there, she asked me if I would be her mama. How in the world do you respond to that?! We would adopt her in an instant, but the laws in Chile make it very difficult to adopt, and of all the girls at the home, only one is adoptable right now. It is a situation that will hopefully change, as the government has agreed to work with Vision for Chile on the adoption process. For now, all we can do is pray for the girls, and prepare to go back next year, God willing. Leaving was unbelievably hard and sad, and I am looking forward to going back.

We worked hard, but we also got several opportunities to relax and to build relationships with the other team members. The last two days, we took a bus over the Andes to Argentina, where we stayed in a hotel, went shopping and explored Mendoza.

In putting together the video below, I found the second song and thought it was perfect! I had a really hard time understanding how those girls could be so unwanted and unloved (the Chilean government said that they considered all children over 7 to be "unadoptable" because they didn't understand why anyone would want them!), and it wasn't until I got home that I realized that they are wanted and loved - by God! My prayer now is that they will realize who their heavenly father is, and will understand His love and grace.

Turn up your speakers for the video. It's hard to put into words, or even pictures, everything that we experienced, but hopefully this will give you a small glimpse of the trip!

THANK YOU for all of your prayers and support!