Mi Familia es su familia

               Today was my first day outside of Hope of Life's campus. I went with a group from California to a village to take pictures. As a volunteer, we are asked to do a variety of things and one of them is going out with a group to be a photographer. Since I went to a few different villages last year I pretty much knew what to expect going into it this time. When we drove up to what seemed to be a path that led to a cornfield, which was actually the entrance to the village, there were many children and people waiting for us to get there. The kids were so excited to have us there to play with them! We got off of the bus and greeted the people with smiles and a bunch of holas since we are not very fluent in Spanish.
                The village had a big open space with tall grass and wires everywhere with some makeshift soccer goals. I was not able to play soccer since I was the photographer but I was able to talk to some of the kids that were too shy to play. A young teenage boy had a small parrot on his hand and gestured for me to hold it. He put it on my index finger and the little bird climbed all the way up to my shoulder and sat there for a little while.
              One little girl that I met was named Madelyn and on each hand she had a little brother tenderly holding onto her. Diego was four and Juan was five. Madelyn asked me to take a picture of her so I got the sweetest picture of the three siblings. While I was showing them their picture they curiously grabbed the end of my pony tail and said that my hair was not like theirs and that my skin was white. I explained to them that they are my brothers and sisters through Jesus but I am from a different part of the world so we will not look the same. That led to them calling me their hermana, which means sister in spanish, and I was more than okay with that.
               When it was time for us to leave, Juan grabbed my hand and my little brothers and sister walked me back to the bus and we said our goodbyes.

"For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."
                                        -Matthew 12:50