On June 11th Hands of Hope will be sending a team of 21 to San Salvador, El Salvador, lead by Mary Coombs and myself.  This is the ministry's second mission trip to the country.  The primary focus of the week long trip will be the children living at Exodo orphanage.  Trip participants will be hosting a VBS program and birthday celebration for the children as well as completing several small construction projects.  When not at Exodo, the mission team will have the opportunity to visit a special needs school to enjoy activities and a snack with the children, hand out food to some of the poorest families in San Salvador, and experience the local church, food, geography and history.

On a personal note, having gone on this trip last year, I absolutely cannot wait to see the kids at Exodo!  I have the same excited feeling as visiting good friends I haven't seen in a while.  I am curious to see how much the kids have grown, if the orphanage grounds has changed much, and how the chickens are doing!  I can't wait to take pictures and have the little boys grab my camera to see pictures of themselves!  I look forward to singing happy birthday to them and watching them interact with others on the trip like they are anything BUT strangers!  I look forward to having them giggle as I struggle to speak just a few words in Spanish.  I can't wait to get teary eyed as the girls sing worship songs.  But most of all, I cannot wait to see how God uses us, uses me to ....

Learn to do right, seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. Isaiah 1:17