When we arrived we were all disappointed because it was windy which sent a little chill and with the wind was grit. The dirt got in our eyes, mouths, hair, everywhere! It was a coating over everything and we had trouble keeping it out of our eyes. We were uncomfortable in this place of "less than desirable conditions". Then the kids and their parents came.

No matter what a child will melt a heart. People tend to joke that I have a hard or no heart because I don't cry but a kid in hard times will touch anyone. Despite how uncomfortable things were we knew we were where we should have been. We were in the right place not because we were needed there but because God had placed us there. It wasn't about our feelings but about our Father and staying in his will. We were not on a "mission trip" we were answering a call to work, something deeper even than feelings of sympathy.

Just because we were working for God didn't mean it was a piece of cake though. It was chaotic, it was hard, and it was sad. Children were turned away and we had to do it. All I wanted to do was hug them and not let go, to take them all home and give them something so much better than what they had and I couldn't because I am unable to. I wanted to help and all I could do was hand them a shoebox of toys. A shoebox! That is what they get! We get new game stations, wardrobes, computers, cars, pets, and in general a ton of stuff and they get a shoebox!! Our tree is flooded with colorful boxes and they get a shoebox. I wonder how we can justify huge Christmas shopping if we don't do all we can to help these kids.

To us it is a foreign country and thus a different world completely. Poverty is what we have heard but not what we see. We go on cruises to beautiful Mexican port cities and see the gorgeous beaches but we don't see Mexico. We don't really see life beyond America.

If ever you get a chance to go somewhere outside of America, go! See what life really is. Don't trust just what you see, experience all that you can and be grateful for what you have. We have been given a gift of riches and we only want more. Why do we get this wealth? Why weren't we born in a place where you are either rich or poor and us be poor? Do we deserve what we have? Although though that is a good question it is not the question we should dwell on. What we should ask is: what will we do with what has been given to us?
Jannesa Campbell