Sunday 3/25/18 Final Thoughts From Maggie

How do I even start? I mean wow. This has been the craziest experience of my life. I was happy, I was sad, I was scared,and I was amazed. Seeing it all in person is ALOT different than seeing pictures and videos! Meeting the girls was AMAZING! It was so uplifting to hear them sing and praise the Lord. You can tell that they love their sponsors! The staff and the trainers were so kind! The driving here is CRAZY, and I LOVE IT! It was definitely scary at first but after a while it got really fun! Everything here is so colorful and bright. Each building seems to be a different color! Every time you stop your car there are people trying to sell you random items. They hold it up to the window for you to see and they tell you a price. There are also children walking down the roads begging for food and money. They are almost always carrying a baby and they all look hungry. These children walk up and down the roads going up to cars full of strangers, but anything you give them they aren't allowed to keep. They are forced to give it to the adults in the evening and they never get a reward. It's heartbreaking! Most of them are from the slums, where everyone looks hungry and sick but are still very welcoming and kind. Going down to the slums was both terrible and amazing. Every child wants to hold your hand and chase you when you leave. They need our help because they can't get money themselves. 
This has been a life changing experience. I'm not going to lie - I cried, ALOT. I was nervous and felt like I couldn't make it through the whole trip, but after seeing those people and how sick and hungry and hurt they were I thought - I can do this. Was it easy, NO. I still was scared and couldn't sleep but I knew that those people felt the same way and were still smiling. It's hard to think that people are living like this in our world today. I am SO glad I didn't give up and go home.  Please continue praying for these people. Thank you.