The past two days have been life changing for me. I’ve never felt so many different emotions all at once. Not only are all of the schools in Rio in dire need of help, but the whole entire community is as well. Even though there are people living on the streets, children covered in dirt, and sewage floating in the ocean water, beauty is everywhere. Once I was able to look past some of the distractions, I began to see how blessed I was to be here. At both of the schools, I fell in love with each and every child. Every one of the children was crying out to be touched, loved, and just paid attention to. One boy in particular has completely changed my life. His name was Choby. I noticed Choby because he was alone most of the time and just looked like he was used to not having any attention or love. I reached for his hand and we sat down to listen to Tony give his testimony. As Tony was speaking, Choby grabbed my hand and just held it. He held my hand so tightly and he slid over so we were closer. At that point, I was struggling to hold back my tears. As Tony finished, Betty took over and offered the children the opportunity to live a life with Jesus Christ.
I looked at Choby and put my hand on my heart and said “Jesus Christ”…and as I did that he started to cry and put his hand on his heart like mine, and said “Jesus Christ”. Choby accepted Jesus Christ into his heart. When Betty told me that she was wanting to take the volleyball team to Brazil, I was so excited that I made a packing list 3 months in advance. I am truly witnessing the power of God in every activity we do here. Never before have I seen so many children, and never before have I felt the Holy Spirit working constantly through me. God has sent each and every one of us here for a reason and I feel blessed to be a part of such an amazing team.
Romans 9:25 I will call them 'my people' who are not my people; and I will call her 'my loved one' who is not my loved one.