Final days

In these last days here, I am so greatful for the friends I´ve made. It is sad to say goodbye, of course. I have been asked over and over, when are you coming back? I don´t have the answer they want. I don´t know when I will be back, but I hope I will be back sometime.
I remember the first week praying for friendships with the kids, and we have gotten a huge answer. Even this week more kids have been in the park that we are only beginning to know. In some ways, work here feels unfinished. But I have to trust that God has begun a good work, and will continue it. But I do hate the leaving part.
I got to see one of the girls the other day. It seemed random. My teammate has also been looking for a boy she met a while ago. Our soccer time got changed to an earlier time and we were all worried about who would come. My teammate saw the boy and invited him to come play. He wanted to bring his sisters. One of his sisters is the girl I drew with in the coffee shop a few weeks ago and hadn´t seen since. Still following? We made plans to meet again yesterday at the same coffee shop at three. I went a little early but then found myself waiting for a while. What had happened? Did she forget? It occured to me to look outside. On the other corner I could just see her orange sweatshirt. I yelled her name and told her to come in. She told me she had tried and wasn´t allowed in. I asked if that had happened before, if she had tried to come in to find me but hadn´t been allowed in. Wow. It was sad to hear that, but at the same time, I was so glad that I was able to see her again. In the end, it didn´t matter that she couldn´t find me before, because she found me yesterday. I invited her in with me and told the waitress she was my friend. We were free to draw. I honestly think, that as long as kids can still play, color, and laugh, that there is still hope.
Nothing is really finished here. It is only the beginning, and it breaks my heart to leave. But I hope that our love for these kids stays in their memories. I hope that in that memory, they know that they are loved, that they are important. I hope that we are leaving behind something tangible enough for them to hold onto when faith in God and faith in themselves is so difficult.
Dear friends, thanks for your prayers and your love. You have been such a valuable part of this experience. This is my final post from Guatemala. I have a few days of debrief with InnerChange in San Francisco, and then finally I will be back in Colorado. Thanks again, for everything. Don´t ever underestimate the power our encouragement and support of each other holds.