This weekend we had a great experience at a small hospital/orphanage called Hospicio San Jose located about 35 minutes from our home. Hospicio San Jose exists solely for the purpose of caring for AIDS and HIV positive children and adults. Around 70 children ages birth to late teen live on site and a few hundred adults are able to come there for up to date AIDS and HIV treatments. A group of students from CAG went to volunteer and play with the children and our family went along. At first Olivia, Gabrielle and Sydney did NOT want to go, but after some arm twisting we got them there...and then it took more arm twisting to get them to leave! They especially like holding and helping with the babies. We took along fingernail polish and Gabby and when Gabby and I pulled that out, we had NO problem making friends with the younger girls. TJ and Cheney played basketball with the older boys...I really noticed that the younger boys liked to be on TJ's lap. I wonder if any of them have any memories of a Daddy. 
The children at H. S. J. appear well cared for with a very nice place to live, adequate food, and really up to date medications for their complex health needs. Of course the one thing they do not have is a nuclear family unit. We do not fool ourselves and think that a few sporadic visits by well meaning Christians will make that all better. As a missionary we are often forced to think the hard thoughts..."Why do we visit...is it really helping anyone? What should we really be doing?" And sometimes it is tempting to fall into futilistic thinking such as "There is so much need, pain, hurt...I have NOTHING to offer in comparison to the need."
As a family we DO NOT know the answers to these questions we struggle with. We don't even know if we are asking the right questions. We DO know that in Scripture Jesus says "that as much as you have done it unto the least of these, you have done it unto me". So no, visiting Hospicio San Jose did not change much in the entire picture of the acute needs in Guatemala, it did not give parents to any of these sweet babies, and it did not solve any of the complex issues involving the care of thousands of orphans in this country. Hopefully what it DID do was change our family, hopefully what it DID do was change our hearts and hopefully what it DID do was please Jesus. In the end that is all any of us can aim for...
