Adopted.

Today was our last day with the kids at the orphanage and therefore was definitely the most emotional day for all of us. Some of us expressed what has been seen/felt/bottled up with tears, others through silence and absorbing the environment, and others playing hard in the last few moments with the kids. Our time at the orphan house was similar to the last two - futebol with the older boys (though some of us are still recovering from injuries in yesterdays game), swimming in the freezing cold pool in our clothes (Coach Ryan even joined in today!) and more fun and games with the other kids. After serving lunch, saying goodbyes and handing out a bunch of candy, we walked down to the main administrative office and the boys' house a few blocks away. The "owner" and Director of the orphanage was there to receive boxes of things we brought from the US for the kids and then gave us a tour of the house with explanation of the program.

Happy Child (the name of the program) began 15 years ago when a girl at YWAM (youth with a mission) was in Brazil and heard of street kids getting arrested and shot just to get them off the streets. She was so moved with compassion and felt she had to do something to stop this from happening again. Throughout a process of connecting with the right people and gaining adequate funds, she was able to start the orphanage on a farm property outside of the city. Throughout the 15 years the program has been running, Happy Child has rescued over 4,000 kids from off the streets. Seventy percent of the funds the program needs for functioning and employees are from the government (ie the government is VERY MUCH on board with the program and brings kids to them frequently) and the other 30% of funding is from people in Brazil who believe in the mission. It usually takes kids about 4 years to get back to "normal" and then the next step is evaluated from there.

This is where our hearts really melted with compassion for these kids. While some are sent back to their families, circumstances permitting, the majority of the kids remain in the house until they are old enough and able to move out and get a stable job with income. The Director said that kids under the age of 10 are more likely to get adopted, though thats not very frequent. Over the age of 10 and you can pretty much count on the kids not being adopted. It breaks my heart/all of our hearts to now know some of these kids personally and think that they will not have a mom or dad to go home to at any point in their days as a child. Praise God that He is the Father to the fatherless and "adopts" us as sons and daughters into His Kingdom through His Son. We wait in hope for that day when we will see Him as our Father - together with all the orphans and those with earthly parents...please pray for these kids, their caretakers and the future homes where some of them will have the opportunity to go.

We finished this afternoon with a trip to an ice cream place for the Brazil famous "Açai Berry Treat" - much like a sorbet with bananas and granola on top...DELICIOUS (though not everyone was a fan, it was SO worth the trip!) Then we had an evening of bowling in Belo...went to two different bowling alleys before we could actually get lanes to play on, but then still had to wait. We divided into 6 teams of 3 - lowest score of the 6 had to jump in the pool tonight (Abbie, Tina, and Brazilian friend Diana) and the top score (Ryan, Shawn and Brazilian friend Guy) gets ice cream tomorrow, purchased by the 5th place team (Anna, Victoria, and Brazilian friend Shuri). Third place team (Elizabeth, Shelbi and Brazilian friend Ailene) dont have anything to "buy"/do, and the 4th place team (Gretchen, Janice Kelly and Brazilian Fabiana) will buy the second place team (Val, Mara and Brazilian Gisele) Guarana (GREAT Brazilian drink here!) at some point tomorrow. Needless to say, we had a competitive night of bowling with some pool excitement to close out the deal :)

The girls and I closed the evening with devotions tonight - we are considering how to take "life in Brazil" back to Birmingham with us. How can we live intentionally where we are in Birmingham, each in our different lives? How can we be radically obedient to care for the physical and spiritual needs of those around us? Please pray that the Lord would continue to work on our hearts in our last day here and that we would return to Birmingham changed for the glory of His Kingdom in, through and around our lives.