Day 7 – Family Recreation Day

Dulce Refugio was blessed with an offer of significantly discounted tickets to a local waterpark, so today we were able to bring the kids for a rare treat.

The shallow pool was filled with small slides and fountains that offered a great spot for the smaller kids to play. We also found a deeper pool with a volleyball net and plenty of room to horse around for the older kids. The park also had two big waterslides and a zipline.

As we did at the park earlier this week, each of us paired up with two kids to supervise and play with, and we all hit the water. The kids played around for about an hour, then we took a break for lunch before returning to the water until about 4:00.

The kids were all exhausted from a day in the sun, and I’m sure they all slept soundly! We all chowed down a quick, delicious dinner, and then piled into the vans for the hour-long ride to watch the Dulce Refugio soccer team play in a nearby town.

We arrived in time for the boys to warm up, and as the lights came on, “our” kids took the field. They played their hearts out! One of our guys (Jeremy) filled out the team and even got in an awesome shot that made the other team’s goalkeeper work hard! Even though our boys lost, their smiles shone across the field each time we shouted out for them.

Sitting there cheering these kids on, I realized how amazing it is for us to be able to participate and support them. These are kids who don’t have a big cheering section. Their moms and dads aren’t at every event with a video camera and team gear. They don’t have community boosters who sell Nelson’s Chicken to buy them all matching uniforms. But what they do have is worth sooooo much to them; they have a small band of committed adults who have *chosen* to give their lives to loving them and providing a home that their families of origin can’t. And they have teams like us who partner with Dulce Refugio to come back year after year and support the leaders and construction team in their vision to help these kids that the rest of the world has left behind. We are proud to be part of the extended family for them!

We consider ourselves blessed to be a part of the physical work as well as the emotional and spiritual support for these kids! And it’s through such simple actions like watching a soccer game that we learn how blessed we truly are!