Opening Your Hearts...

My friends, Julia & Kerry, just returned from an emotional and life changing mission trip to Guatemala. Please take a moment to read Julia's post and see if there is a way you can help the children left behind as orphans in Guatemala.

Edited... my friend, Holly, has such a way with words. She gave permission for us to edit, copy and paste this to get the word out... please do not miss the picture at the bottom.

Many of us have been to Guatemala. Poverty was all around us yet we didn't know how to help. There are various organizations and opportunities that we are finding, supporting and STARTING!

Now that Guatemala has halted adoptions there is nowhere for the orphans to go. Babies are being left in grocery stores, children roam the streets looking for food. People who had orphanages and cared for these children have sent the kids away or simply put them on the streets and closed their doors because they are not making money any more.

What if this was our child or children? I think about this everyday. Where would they be right now? Would they be selling beads to tourists in Antigua. Would they be sitting on the side of the road by themselves, left there with a cup for people to put money in? Would they be picking the lice out of each other's hair in between begging at the supermarket only to be shoo'd away by a security guard? This IS real.

My friends Julia and Kerry have started a missionary called Global Orphan Team and right now they are focused on the orphans of Guatemala. GOT has already made two trips to Guatemala and distributed countless items and food to the orphans.

Holly was on the phone with Julia the other night and asked her what they needed? Clothes? Toiletries? Julia said, "They need FOOD". She said that the orphanages she went to didn't even ask for clothes or toys or toiletries. They need food just to keep these children alive.

Global Orphan Team is giving us the chance to help these children. All of the money you donate will go towards helping these children survive. They are a non-profit organization and can give you a receipt for any donation that you make.

Please go to JuJu's Blog and read her post and seriously consider donating. None of us like asking people to donate money but this is something that is so incredibly needed! These ladies are doing something amazing.

When you look at the picture below, can you just imagine if those precious babies were one of our own kids? Add to that, they don't have the arms of a mommy or daddy to wrap around them when they are hungry or happy or sad? The situation for orphans in Guatemala is DIRE!

This is reality!