This was my 4th time there in a little over 6months!

And each time I leave, I go with a new & deeper love for that country!

This week was so refreshing. . .

beautiful scenery.

Breathtaking colors. . .

every door

wall

and window. . .

the excitement of the World Cup was everywhere

walking the streets and finding markets

or being serenaded in the street.

All of these things make my travels exciting but the thing that keeps me going are

these

little

faces.

spending time in their classes

walking in their neighborhoods

seeing what they see

visiting their homes

and meeting their families.

being there with them

And what keeps these little faces going. . .

their sponsors!

This trip I was so moved by the story of sponsors in lives of some of the kids I met

Meet Silvia

As soon as we arrived she had a hot pink journal with letters pouring out and pictures stuck to pages ( some stuck with gum)

Pictures like this one!

So hey there Teresa from Illinois!

Thank You.

Thank

You.

Silvia is bright, beautiful and dreams big dreams because of you!

I know you know this because I read your letters ( hope you dont mind) and

because Silvia told me she wants to be a teacher

just . like . you

And Angela. . .Hello!

I found tons of your family photos and sweet encouragements at Julia’s house in El Salvador

They covered the table

and there were 4 frames full of your pictures hanging on their walls

Julia and her mother were so proud to show them to me

each

and

every

one.

She thanks you for your encouragement in your letters and she loves getting postcards of the places you & your family visit.

She dreams of traveling one day too!

Hi. . .Mr. Soh in Korea,

I met sweet Milagro.

I love that when you heard her story ( in her letters) Her story of how she was in a fire as a baby and has had medical needs you didnt just read

You Lept!

Lept into action.

Milagro is doing amazing and is gaining strength with her new arm each day!

Did you know her name means

Miracle?

Yeah, its okay. . .

I cried at that too!

Our God is Amazing.

To my surprise one of the days I got to see Shaun‘s sponsor kiddo Yanci again!

I first met them on our Compassion Bloggers trip last fall

and I really cant put words into how awesome it was to see these two girls again!

Shaun. . .

The love Yanci and her sister Pamela have for you and your family is so BIG!!

And the gratefulness that Yanci’s dad has is overwhelming.

Did you know he is now a volunteer at their Compassion Project?

He thanks you for your encouragement!

They send Big Hugs.

Thankful.

Thought I’d give a little photo of the day today!

Tonight we have our annual Artist Appreciation dinner with Compassion.

Its A time to say ThAnKyOu to the artists that partner with us throughout the year… Taking time out of the concerts to let their audience know about the work we do and how they can sponsor a kiddo!

One of my favorite parts of tonight is getting to see friends. . . Friends that I have known forever, friends that I work with plus friends that I feel like I have known forever because we took a trip to “wherever” together. Its a fun night of getting to see some of my favorite people.

This year I took a handful of my images and changed them to black and white and enlarged them to use for decorations tonight.

I love getting to see my images printed rather than just on my computer screen. Sometimes I wish I could be all “old school”  and print off every photo, but I guess my hard drive would be sad oh and my wallet considering I take a whole lot of photos on a trip.

Anyways I wanted to share the image that made me do a little squeal. . .

Might be the story of her family

Might be the size ( its 2ft x3ft)

Might be seeing the image in Black & White

Whatever it is. . . it is making me happy everytime I look over at it.

I wanted to share some of the beautiful little faces I’ve seen. . . . beautiful!!

There really is no sweeter sound huh?

The Country . . .the Trip. . . The Stories. . .

There is still sooooo much to share. . .

But now I sit in the Miami airport about to board a flight for El Salvador!

I am so excited to visit my friends in El Salvador and see sweet faces like this. . .

I have been to church in a few of the countries we work, but never a church where pretty much the whole congregation was made up of kids. . .there were maybe 30 adults.

It was super fun and full of energy as you can imagine!!

As I sat behind the kids listening to the announcements for the morning two little girls came to sit with me.

One sat next to me and the other climbed right up in my lap.

Meet Meredith and Beth

Meredith was the calm quiet. . . behaved one.

SWEET AS CAN BE

Beth was the troublemaker in all of the cutest ways. I mean seriously

SWEET AS CAN BE

and check out her eyes in this video. . . troublemaker see. . .she’s a funny one.

Sweet Beth from keely Scott on Vimeo.

They sat and played with my hands, my camera, my hair, my freckles, my rings, my shirt. . .

At times Beth would get tired and just fall back into my arms. . .

it was a beautiful and sweet time of friendship.

thanks LV for the pics

As we were leaving Meredith raced out to the bus to say bye again. . .

I opened the window

And Meredith said with excitement

If you ever see James and Caroline tell them I say hello and greet them in the name of Jesus

I asked her if that was her sponsor she responded with a huge smile and a HUGE YES!

She went on to say. . .

They live in Canada, Will you go there? Please tell their children hello too. I love them so much!

So if you have ever wondered. . .

Yes, They know your name!

After church we headed to a super fun day of playing with sponsor kids… a time for our bloggers that sponsor to just hang out for the day.

IT . WAS . AWESOME .

YOU must go and read my tripfriends posts. . .

LV – beautiful beautiful beautiful

Mckmama – stunning

Ryan – I have no words

Brad – sweet sweet post

Kent – joy

Patricia – amazing to get to meet another jones kiddo. she is beyond precious!

Kristin – a brother & sister born out of compassion. . .amazing

Shaun – Love it!

There were rides

face painting

crocodiles galore

Camel rides

Why yes, you do need to check out Shaun’s post

and GIRAFFES

I have titled this picture. . .Como Say What??

I have always wanted a giraffe kiss, dont ask… Shaun is also thoroughly confused.

I decided to go back and say one last farewell to said mr. giraffe and got a SURPRISE kiss on the lens ( no lie!)

and after wiping some slobber off i am thankful it was my lens and not my cheek.

So MUWAH from said giraffe and Kenya

An amazing story from a beautiful woman… with a huge heart!

Be a part of a childs story. . . click HERE for more info!

A program that is all about Moms and Babies! If you want to read more check out www.rescuebabiesnow.org

I LOVE this program!

As we pulled up we were greeted by the Music of these Mothers singing as they escorted us into the church.

As they sang they hugged each of us with such bliss as we danced into their church. . . It was beautiful!

And what a day. . .getting to spend time with these mothers hearing about their trials and their joys. . .

hearing their stories!

You too can be a part of rescuing babies and helping these mothers!

So click on this picture to start a slideshow…see our day and hear the Music of Mothers. . .

Donalds new book is all about STORY. Its based around what he learned while editing his life to be made into a movie. It’s funny and compelling in the “what in the world am I doing with my life, my story” kind of way.

It’s about remembering and telling your stories.

Like I said I am only ½ way through but gosh it is inspiring me. Here I sit in the Amsterdam Airport heading to Africa with 8 other bloggers to what?

Tell you a Story . . . tell you a LOT of Stories.

And stories can look different (Donald talks about YOUR story) but I was thinking about how I love that I can give you a glimpse into someone else’s story on the other side of the globe through a picture. And I love that we have some incredible writers with us on this trip that can tell you a story through their words.

And this week you will have stories about the kids and families we will meet in Kenya, but also stories from each of us as each one of us experiences Kenya and experiences Compassion in Kenya.

Are you following me? Am I already jetlag typing

Okay back to STORY.

I love a part of his book that talks about the story God has created

“I Like the part of the Bible that talks about God speaking the world into existence, as though everything we see and feel were sentences from his mouth, all the wet of the world His spit.”

I keep thinking about this and looking back at my travels and looking ahead and looking at my Story and the Stories I get to share with you. Thinking and excited to embrace those stories. . .

So think about your own Story and how maybe just maybe Our stories this week can become a part of your story.

That maybe we, and the people we tell you about can become characters in your story.

And you can become a character in a families story by sponsoring a child through Compassion.

Alright about to board for KENYA. . .

See you soon!

I went here ( you should too!) and downloaded his newest song!

As I scrolled down I saw that he wrote “The Story behind I’ve Got You”

and well . . .

You must read it!

and listen to this song!!

Its a beautiful song inspired by Kiran, an amazing girl we met in India.

And She has messed me up all over again today in the most beautiful way!