July 20th Tuesday Return Ministries

Finally , the day was here that I would be doing exactly what I came here to do and I knew it would all be worth it and once I got to Return Ministries and love those children ,it would be so much easier to get my eyes off of self.  We all gathered together for a late brunch and got to meet Pastor Samuel. He shared with us what the Return Worship Center is all about. His goal is not only to care for the children but to change the lives of families and transform the community through Sharing God's Love.He runs the orphanage w/ about 15  children  but reaches out to the community as well.His definition of what an orphan is  really made me think differently. Being an orphan is a condition of the heart.Children who have parents can still be orphans because they are lacking love. He does not consider the children in this home as orphans.:0) You can find out more about this ministry here. Here is a shot of Pastor Samuel and his family. What sweet, sweet spirits!!!!

After a very long and exhausting couple of days, driving up to Return Ministries was exactly what I needed. So many children were lined up at the gate to greet us. They were cheering and clapping!! It was such a wonderful welcome. Return had tents and chairs set up for us. As soon as we got there, the children sang for us. It was so special to see these children worshiping w/ their whole hearts!!!! Nothing holds them back.  What a blessing to see Pastor Samuel playing the keyboard that some of the members from our team were able to donate.

After they were done singing, we were able to just play and love on these children.They LOVED the camera!! I totally saw what Dad was saying about taking disposable cameras.  They would not have loved those as much, though, because their favorite part was to  see their picture after. Here is one of the very first shots I took at return.

                           This is the shot I took after I showed him this one.

 Unfortunately, I missed the shot when his smile was the biggest!! It brought tears to my eyes. I found myself wondering if it could have been the first time that he saw himself. This is what I saw every time I saw him after that. He wanted me to keep taking his picture. :0) I am pretty sure a big junk of my battery dying happened on this day. I would put the camera away and then try to sneak it out . Once I would take one pic ,children would swarm. LOL It was very fun!!!