Say Yes to the Dress

Blog post written Jamie Mathisrud

Today we experienced that long anticipated moment of laying eyes on the young women at the orphanage. We have prayed, raised support, gathered literally hundreds of dresses, shoes, pieces of jewelry and make up a plenty - all with the hope of meeting the girls God ordained long ago for us to meet on this day. But it was about much more than meeting them. It was the chance to look them in the eyes and tell them they are loved by God, seen by Him, made in His image; they are the reason we came. 

After announcing to the girls that we would be having a quinceanera to honor them this week, they smiled cautiously. One by one, they were matched with a mother/daughter pair from our group to begin choosing a dress and pair of shoes. Their eyes lit up as they looked at the sea of dresses and shoes, and we loved helping each girl with her zipper, size, style, etc. Some girls tried on 2-3 dresses before finding the perfect one, while others tried on close to a dozen. In the end, each girl found a dress! Praise God! 

We then moved on to giving each girl a manicure and pedicure. This was a powerful time. As we gently cleansed their hands and feet, clipping and cleaning their weathered nails, then applied polish carefully (not to mention all the GLITTER polish!), it was an awesome opportunity to spend time talking with the girls. We asked them about their interests, what excited them most about the quinceanera, what they liked best about their chosen dress, and so on. I can only imagine how foreign it must have felt for many of them to receive such attention, and we just know that the Holy Spirit was pouring out His great love on them through our loving hands. 

Before we departed, we made plans to find our new friends at the quinceanera and dance with them at the great event. Kurt blessed us all with ice cream and waters to cool off, and we all gave sweaty, sincere hugs and headed out tired, yet full of joy for all God had done.