On this trip to El Salvador I had the privilege of going and making orphans smile through magic tricks…and hugs! The orphanage I went to is run by an ex-prostitue who has found Jesus and now takes in abandoned children of prostitutes. Tia Ana (Aunt Ana) currently has 16 1/2 kids living with her (one of the 15 year old girls is pregnant). It was a blast pulling sponge balls and coins out of ears and elbows and making faces light up with smiles!
That night the conference I was a part of invited Tia Ana and all her kids to join us and share with us her story. (The CMA EnVision site in El Salvador supports the orphanage) Tia Ana shared her amazing testimony. It was incredible to hear how someone who came from such brokenness could be so redeemed by her Heavenly Father, and then reach out to others so broken in need of a heavenly father. After she shared her story we invited all her kids to join her, and then we gathered around them and prayed for them. I was quickly recognized by a couple of the boys from earlier that day and went to them and laid hands on them to pray. A fourth of the way through the prayer one of them hugged me. When I say hugged me I mean HUGGED me. I have no idea when if ever he has ever had a man hug and hold him, but during the 10 mins we all prayed over them he just held onto me and wept into my chest. It made me think of my two kids and praise God that I have them and they have me. It also made my heart break for this boy and pray he is able to press into his Heavenly Father!
