Experience a Bundles of Love trip for yourself.

It is nine o'clock in the morning, and you enter a larger room with the rest of the team. As you enter you see 300 or more glowing faces of parents, grandparents, and friends of the children that go to school at Verbana, Guatemala. Most of the children are outside looking in. Some have made their way into the room. All are ecstatic about your arrival.

You are asked to sit in the front of the room, as you represent hundreds of sponsors that could not make the trip. You are not the sponsor of their child, but as they look at you, you give them a face and a voice, of their sponsors. The parents glow because they know you (or the person you represent) cares very deeply about their child.

The festivities begin with speakers welcoming you and telling you how much they appreciate your gifts, your prayers, your encouragement, etc. They want you to know how important you are to their child. You begin to realize that you are not worthy of the accolades they are ravishing on you. You are humbled by their gratitude. The teachers and the children sing songs and they put on performances for their parents and you. Most of the presentation is in Spanish, so if you don't know Spanish, much of the communication is lost, but the excitement is not. Your translator helps you through most of it, but still, it's not the same as understanding the language.

Following the ceremony, you are asked to leave before any of the parents or children, so you can get set up to give the gifts to the children. Again you are humbled by the fact that you are going to give gifts that you did not buy, but the children will always remember that you gave the gifts to them. You will receive the joy of smiling faces, tight hugs, and kisses on the cheeks from the children happy to receive what you are giving them. Literally hundreds of smiles, hundreds of hugs, hundreds of kisses for YOU! It is overwhelming.

The children walk into the room, you ask them their name, their age, whatever you would like to know to help you remember them. They give you a hug or a kiss. You give them a bag with their gift in it. Their parents/guardians often stand proudly at the door. You wait for a picture that the workers take for the child, and then you say goodbye and hug them as they leave.

Outside, children wait, looking through windows or doorways, for their chance to come in and talk with you, sit on your lap, hug you, kiss you, thank you! You are their sponsor for the day, and they are thrilled that you cared enough to come to visit them. Eventually, all of the children get their turn, and the head for home. You, however, are overwhelmed by the day. You are amazed by their thankfulness for such a simple gift.

As you leave the school, you wish you could stay here with the children. You thank God for what you have, and for the opportunity to give to these children. You are changed forever.

Now I realize that there is no way to briefly express this experience in a way that you can fully understand what happens here. Even the pictures (which I would love to load, but the internet is way too slow here) do not do justice to the emotions and experiences you would have if you were here. All I can say is, make a plan to be here next year. Join us for a Bundles of Love trip, and you can share with someone else the experience you have. I will be loading pictures when I return, or get a faster internet connection. Thank you for your prayers.