(ENTER UNION!) *Week 6*

        This week hits kind of deep for me. Week six down here has possibly been one of the best weeks of my life. On Saturday a new team arrived from Jackson, Tennessee. On Sunday morning one of the team members who later introduced himself as John gave the sermon and did a fantastic job. While listening to John's sermon, I glanced around the church and noticed that all the members looked so young(Their oldest member, Brad, doesn't look a day over 25) which took me by surprise because usually any team's average group age is in the 60’s. So I was looking forward to talking to them and exchanging stories with them!

This story really starts on Tuesday night. The team hosted a team dinner where I was immediately the center of some very difficult questions! Tori was one of the first to introduce herself to me. And we had a quick conversation about where each of us were from, why we were at Emmanuel, and many other fun little ice breakers🤗. Tori had been down here once before and she taught English in the school during her time here. After talking to Tori we blessed our food and went to eat. While in line for food, I got to (meet) Leah. Leah found out that I had been coming since I was 11 and had something really cool to share with me but I wasn’t very interested(<kidding, kinda, she told me that she had been coming since she was 11 too but I didn't hear her). Once I got my plate I went outside and initially wanted to sit by myself but instead I sat next to Rad Dad Brad and Dianne(Tori’s parents) and my old friends Oscar and Felipe. And from there Bethany, Luke, Leah, and John each cycled through my table. And I was able to have a few conversations with everyone at the table. It was a great night and I was glad to meet the team and hear about some of their stories!(except for Leah's of course...)

On Wednesday we had church, and  R.J gave the sermon in Spanish and crushed it. And on top of that, Leah, Anna, and Tori sang a song while Bethany played piano and Luke played the Cajón. My jaw was on the floor the whole time they were performing. They did so incredible, I haven’t heard anything like them in my life. After church I told them how incredible I thought they did and I stuck around and conversed with them for a while until they wanted a group picture. So we went outside and there was such a beautiful sunset and the photos turned out really well! It was a great opportunity to continue to talk to the team and build relationships.

After church I decided to take a walk around the orphanage to clear my mind a little bit. As I passed the team house I saw the ladies that work at the team house sitting in the gazebo eating while the team was inside. So I decided to give them a little company since my mom always sat up there with Michelle(pretty much a family member of ours, she left a while back though.) After the team finished eating the ladies left and just as they were leaving, Brad walked up to the gazebo. Literally right before I was going to stand up and leave he walked into the gazebo and took a seat. We had a meaningful conversation about my past and what pushed me to serve and he interrupted to ask me if I’d like to stay for the team's devotion that night. I told him I'd love to and waited for the rest of the team to join us in the gazebo. The next few hours during devotion flipped my entire week upside up. There was an incredible atmosphere all night long, and a lot of laughter. It's SO necessary to mention that the first connection I got to make during devotion was with Gabriella over the word "horn"(inside joke, lovely times). After the big group of devotion, the team and (I) separated into small groups and I got the chance to talk to R.J, Anna, and Dianne. We talked about our encouragements and discouragements of the day and had some long and meaningful conversations for the rest of the night and then capped it with a prayer. I was very glad to be able to worship the Lord with the team that night and they told me I was more than welcome to come back the next day, which I had no problem with.

On Thursday John, Caroline, Luke, and R.J visited me in the wood shop for a while which I was very thankful for because I very much feel I’m tucked away for the majority of the day so I really appreciated the team members showing up. The team's main assignment while down here was painting all five of the water towers in the orphanage and they finished early so they had some time to roam. After lunch Tori offered to cut my hair since it was getting pretty long. So I went up to the team house and she did such an amazing job. The afternoon went pretty normal after that, except after the kids ate dinner the team planned to play soccer with the Grandecitos so I joined them since I was going to be with the Grandecitos in the night anyways. My team lost 6-8 but I scored the most impressive goal I have ever seen in my whole life(which doesn’t exactly say much because I don't play or watch soccer,) but it was a pretty fancy shot to the top left corner of the goal. After soccer I headed to devotion for another incredible night worshiping and praising God. My small group for the night was K-Lady(Karis,) R.J, and Eliana. We had some very meaningful and memorable conversations as a small group and we ended in prayer and dismissed. After, I stayed in the gazebo to continue to talk to some of the team members for the rest of the night and it was then that I spilt all of Karis’ tea in the most figurative way you could imagine. Leah, Tori, and Anna practiced a song that they'd be singing the next morning.

On Friday, RJ joined me in the wood shop for the morning and we got to converse a lot while making some framing for a door. That night, when I went up to the gazebo for devotion, they told me that we were actually doing a game night which I was super stoked for. We started by playing BS the card game and I remember Mei and Luke absolutely crushed us. After that we switched it up and played "signs" which was the greatest group game I think I’ve ever played in my life. The whole night was an orchestra of laughter and an incredible experience that created many great memories for me and all the others. I got back to my house at around 11:30pm after telling the team that I’d be at the team house in the morning to send them off.

On Saturday morning I kept my promise and showed up to see them off. I made sure to get contact info from the majority of the group so that I could keep in touch with them and send pictures and videos to them. I also got to take a picture with them that I will cherish forever! I wished them good luck with their travels as they were boarding the bus. And as soon as they pulled away from the team house my heart kinda sank and my day went kind of dull from there. The Union team brought me a lot of comfort in the week that they were here and the feeling of that just stopping kind of dragged me down a bit. However, they made sure to keep in touch on their way to the airport, at the airport, and they even called me at their connection in Houston. I am so incredibly thankful for everything this team did in their time spent at Orphanage Emmanuel, not only for the kids down here, but for me as well. Forever grateful, miss you tons Union University!! TBcontinued(Anna joke)…