What an amazing and fulfilling day! We arrived at an orphanage for deaf children of all ages and were greeted immediately with smiling faces. Luckily we had Delaney with us who knew ASL and was quickly teaching us words and interpreting. The orphanage had several buildings and lots of land that consisted of schools, trade/professional teaching for the older kids, and farmland with cows, crops and hens. There was a pretty large soccer field and playground equipment too. Most of the boys were playing soccer or baseball, while some of us were busy chatting with our new friends. Yes - chatting; we actually did pretty well signing and using white boards to learn about each other. We knew each others' names, ages, family members and even talked about Jesus. The biggest highlight for Cameron and Logan was when everyone just started gathering to dance. It all started with a couple boys showing a few how to do the Macarena and before you knew it, everyone was strutting their stuff; from the Dougie, the Nae-Nae, the Whip, and just crazy moves. We didn't need music or sound to be able to communicate with each other. It was hard to sign our goodbyes and for Cameron to finally take his new friend off his shoulders.
For the afternoon, we gathered both of our guest houses up and loaded up the tap-taps with both teams and all the neighborhood boys and headed to the Duval soccer fields. It was a very hot afternoon but didn't seem to affect the game. It didn't matter if you've ever played soccer before - all that mattered was the fun of the game and getting to know each other better. On the way home, one of the older neighborhood boys (ages ranged from 12-22) busted out in praise and led us in worship songs: Glory to God (Glwa Pou Bondye), Bless the Lord, This Little Light of Mine. Kira's word for today was community; Cameron's word was dance; and Logan's word was enjoyable - hopefully that helps paint a picture of what our day was like. Kira, Cameron and Logan Peterson
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