Bittersweet day

There were balloon creations

Face painting for Philip

More face painting

Today, Friday, was such a bittersweet day.  We enjoyed the children so very much, but we knew it was our last day interacting with them, and our hearts were heavy.  Our group had an end-of-the-week celebration for the children who had come to our classes each day.  There were balloon animals, bubbles, water balloons, face painting, ice cream treats, chalk drawing, and singing and dancing.  What fun we all had with the children!  Both the Ohio team and the Kentucky team helped out.  We will surely miss these wonderful people who have served alongside us this week.

Throwing water balloons

We also ate yummy treats

At the water balloon table 

Then we spent the afternoon in the individual homes holding the babies and playing with the young children.  This is definitely one of the most joyful yet heartbreaking parts of serving here at Shepherd’s Field.  The children want our attention, and it feels good to hold and play with them, but at the same time it hurts knowing they don’t have a family of their own to do that for them. 

The need here is overwhelming at times.  The village is very beautiful, and the children’s basic needs are met.  Nutritious and delicious food is served.  School is provided.  The homes are comfy and welcoming.  But, something is missing.  That something is the fact that each one of these precious children needs a home.  Some are too old to be adopted now.  Others have special needs that are too severe for adoption.  But most of the children are adoptable and need to come home to their forever families.  It hurts our hearts to know that they are still orphans.  And it hurts our hearts to know that some will never be adopted.

At night, we helped serve food at a cookout given by the Ohio team.  The children had a great time and went away full and happy.  Deidra, Amanda, Ted, and Heidi (from the Ohio team) sang praise songs and then ended the concert with our kids’ songs we have sung all week.  The children got to their feet immediately and began to dance and sing along with us.  We have loved singing with them all week long and will miss that activity.  We have fallen in love with all of the children here, too.

We are winding down our stay here.  Tomorrow we will be climbing the Great Wall, with more touring on Sunday, and flying home on Monday.  Where did the time go?  We have seen and done so much this week.  It has been a very emotional week in our lives seeing the orphans first hand and the people who work so hard to take care of them.  When we fly home on Monday, it will be with hearts open wide for the orphan.