Puerto Vallarta Orphanage

Beau here. Chilling at the beach in Puerto Vallarta. We spent the afternoon visiting a small orphanage here. We contacted them Monday to get a list of needs and brought some stuff with us from Dallas - Christmas gift for each kid, food, meds, diapers, etc. We took some pics at the orphanage, and we will try to post them when we get back. Anyway, we had a blast and came away so encouraged. There are about 50 kids and two full time employees - a nun and another lady. In addition, there are a ton of volunteers, which is what really encouraged me. Lot of 50 and 60 somethings from the US and Canada who spend part (or all) of the year down in PV. These folks volunteer 3-5 hours a day about 3 days a week. One lady enjoys ironing, so she comes in to iron clothes for the kids for about 10-15 hours a week. Another guy plays with the kids, while another guy prepares the meals. I love how these folks are being purposeful with their time rather than clinging to some entitled view of retirement. Also, met one other family that took time out of their vacation to visit the orphans. That was a real encouragement too.

Right when Caleb and Hannah got there, the kids ran and started hugging them. Next thing you knwo they are all playing chase. Two sisters, about 3 and 5 years old, clung to me for about 30 minutes which was a lot of fun. I will try to post a picture of them.

These kids are often folks where their parents leave them for weeks or months while they go do migrant farming work. Others are abondoned while some are taken from their folks due to some tragedy.

Caleb asked me "why are these kids smiling and having fun?" I got to remind Caleb about God's extra special love for the orphans and mentioned God's words in James 1 and Psalm 146.

Came away blessed and encouraged.