Bittersweet Goodbyes

Today was our last day in the village. Honestly there are too many wonderful stories to share. It seemed like going in we were all anxious about how our goodbyes would go, but I think each one of us came away with life changing stories and experiences, friendships and memories from these children that we will never forget.

As usual we showed up in the village with our day planned, but as usual, God had other ideas in store for our schedule. We presented our praise/skit combo to the standard 4 class ( "standard 4" is a name that they give kids in about the 8th grade) in the morning and it went really well. I (Callie) gave my testimony, but was really nervous about how it would come out. But somehow God gave me the words and I think it went really well. The skit for the second time around went well today also. We'll try to post a video of it here, if we can get it to load. (It wouldn't load.)

Today seemed to go a lot faster than the previous days went yet at the same time I (Erin) felt like everything that was happening was happening in slow motion, whether it was simply walking hand in hand with a little kid, performing in the skit or just playing with the kids in general. The kids continued to practice their bible verses and were just as over-joyed to get a sticker for memorizing a verse as they had been on the previous days.

There were tears on both ends when good-byes came around-- both kids and those on the children's team shed a few tears (okay, maybe more than a few) as the reality that we may never see these kids again loomed. In general though, we all have so many wonderful memories to take away from this trip, and we have all changed, in a good way, as a result of this trip.

Oh, just a little factoid! The medical team working in the clinic on site at the school treated 1,147 patients in 4 days!!!! Is that not INCREDIBLE?! The medical team worked so hard and efficiently but everyone knew that it was because of God's grace and love that they were able to treat that many patients. It is also by the grace of God that we all survived the 105 degree heat today, too! God has such a huge heart for the Belizian people and that has been more than evident on this trip.

One last picture, we thought we should share is this one of Casey. We felt like it embodied his amazing heart for God serving and playing with the kids on this trip. Enjoy!

Before I forget to remind you all, NO ONE needs to pick up their kids/friends from the airport on Saturday-- we will be taking a bus from the airport to McKinney and you can pick up your kids/friends there :)