The First Worthday

Today was the day. The day we'd been preparing for for months. The day that we've been anticipating since it was first suggested.

Today was the very first Worthday.

Our team of 30, mostly students with a few adult leaders woke before the sun in Peru this morning at 4:45.
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We arrived early at Sagrada Familia. Half of us went to prepare a breakfast for the children, and the others went to help get the babies ready.

But then something happened. Something unexpected. Our plans changed entirely. We'd had a well-thought-out, organized plan and it was thrown out the window. The orphanage wanted us to do it differently. You'd think after the last trip to Peru for Worthday, we would know to take these things in stride. We were still very stressed and confused, but we kept our composure and moved on.

The individual house parties, where we delivered the children's letters and photos of themselves, were held in two shifts. While one group was throwing individual parties, the other would be putting on an assembly for the other group of orphans.

Seeing the joy on those kids' faces when they got their letters and photos was unbelievable. The letter could be two sentences long and they treated it like it was the Declaration of Independence. They were so gracious and so appreciative. It truly was amazing.

Later that day, we put on an assembly for all 900 orphans to present to them the laptops we had gotten for the orphanage school's new computer lab. Little did we know that they had a performance for us! The orphanage's musicians got on stage and performed and before we knew it, we had a full-on dance party with 900 orphans that lasted at least an hour. Words cannot express how beautiful the smiles and laughter of those children were as we held their hands and spun them around while dancing. Their joy was so contagious! And when we brought out their cake - so big it had to be carried in on a door - the applause could be heard all the way down the mountain.

Strangely, it was also very bright and clear today in Peru, which is very unusual, especially in winter. Even the Peruvians said that they had never seen it like that in winter.It was obvious that God was smiling down on Worthday and Sagrada Familia today.

We thank him for choosing us to carry this out. In all actuality, we have done nothing. All the glory goes to God. For it is Him and Him alone who made this possible. We just decided to listen.

Please continue to pray for the orphans of Sagrada Familia and the orphanage director Miguel. While today's results were incredible, we also pray for the long-term results of a relationship with a God who thinks they're WORTH dying for.

We will share pictures as soon as we are back in the states! Thank you for joining us on this journey! Stay tuned for more Worthday info!