East Hill

     This morning I woke up to the usual two or three alarms that go off in our bedroom. I got up and got ready for the day, some of the boys have a hard time getting out of bed so I sang to them to get them to wake up. Let’s just say that I love to torment them and they are good sports in return. Our devotional this morning was done by Sarah Kudrna and she talked about Lordship and following God no matter what the cost. It was a powerful message filled with an underlying theme that God is love and we must follow where He leads. After devos we went and had breakfast, to our amazement the clouds had rolled back and the sun was out!!!! After breakfast we went and started our work project in the garden of hope. We are building a retaining wall along the edge of the grass field. All the students worked so hard and I am so very proud of their willingness to serve. Some of the boys started working through their break. I have to say this group of young people will change the world with their willing attitudes and compassionate hearts. After we worked on the garden of hope we ate an amazing lunch prepared by the staff here at Esperanza Viva. Then we took a tour of the campus and saw the printing shop, laundry facilities, the School, and the children’s dorms. It’s amazing to see all the facilities; this orphanage is outstanding. After the tour we did a craft with the children. I had so much fun working with a group of boys that I have tried to reach out too. We kept sticking the princess stickers on each other’s shirts when the other one wasn’t looking. The boys loved the craft! It was a huge success. After the craft we had a worship time with the staff of EV. I personally was blown away by what God did, the staff members prayed over us and it made my day that much better. I had two Mexican staff members pray over me, however, I could not understand what they were saying but I could feel the Holy Spirit ministering to me in a way that was unbelievable. I was so touched by how willing they were to pray over me. I came here expecting to minister to the kids in the orphanage and in return I have been more blessed by the national staff here at EV. This is a huge reminder of the Abrahamic covenant that we are blessed to be a blessing. After the service we ate hamburgers for dinner. They had fresh vegetables for our burgers and it was wonderful. After dinner I was able to give a letter to one of the boys explaining how God is our Father. I shared a bit of my testimony and gave him a prophetic word. It was amazing to see him process what I was trying to say to him. I shared my struggle with an absent father and how I can’t imagine what it would be like to be missing both parents, but that I do know what it’s like to live without a dad. I told him that God is his ultimate Father and that He will be the best daddy you could ever ask for.  After that I hung out with some teenagers and talked about favorite movies, music, and cars. Then we headed back to our dorms and one of the staff at EV set off some fireworks! It was a great day here, I can’t wait for tomorrow. 
In Him, Nicholas Storment

 

     I thought “escuchame” meant excuse me and a guy walked by me and as I walked into him I said “escuchame” , the guy looked at me very confused. My friend Connor butted in and told me “Escuchame “ meant “listen to me”. Later that day I was able to apologize to the guy I walked into. I now know that “pardoname” is the correct way to say excuse me. It’s too bad I didn’t know this earlier because I have been telling a lot of people to “listen to me.”  Joe Mikko

A note from Gail:
    “I am so incredibly proud of the kids and leaders on this team.  They are all working so hard and have such good attitudes.  I am so blessed to be their leader. Everyone is helping everyone else and we have had some worship and times with God that has just blown me away.  I am so thankful that you trusted me with your family members.  They are making East Hill proud!!”