“Dios le pague!” (God repay you or God reward you.) I keep hearing their sweet little voices over and over again. “Dios le pague.” The precious little children in these Andes mountains are so grateful for the littlest blessings.
Just take a moment and imagine:
You’re 7 years old. You’ve worked a hard day walking up the mountain to go to school and then returned home to help your siblings in the garden and with the livestock. It’s hard labor to survive. It’s cold. The sun sets early. The temperature drops again. It’s raining. There’s no heat in the house. There’s not adequate enough blankets to keep warm or go around for everyone. You’re damp and cold there’s no way to warm your little frail body. Your cheeks and hands are frost bitten. The cold air is blowing through the cracks in the wood of your home. Your front door and windows are only covered with plastic. Your empty belly is growling. It’s been a day or so since you’ve had something to eat. All you can think about is that bit of warm sun that greets you in the morning. Up rolls a van load of strangers to greet you with a meal, warm blanket, and enough food supplies to feed you and your siblings for a week or two. God is real. He’s heard your prayers. With all your heart you exclaim to these strangers, “Dios le pague.” (God reward you.)
It’s the purest form of gratitude from the precious lips of a child who truly knows what it’s like to suffer. We hear it over and over again. From the oldest to the youngest…they are so grateful for every little blessing to ease their suffering.
In two weeks we are returning to a rural mountain community where we work with hundreds of impoverished children who are living in terribly sad conditions. They need everything and anything – but we are focusing on appropriate warm clothing, boots, blankets and basic food staples.
I wish you could touch their little hands and look in to their solemn eyes. You would never be able to read these stories and not help. As it is for us, their stories would keep you awake at night wondering how you could do more. Please, share this post and ask your friends and family to do something perhaps they’ve never done before…choose something to sacrifice and give it to a child in need. Whether it is cutting out a weekend of eating at a restaurant, fast food for one week, movies, shopping, whatever it may be. You will never regret investing in these precious lives.
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DIOS LE PAGUE!
(To donate with a check or money order: PO Box 261 Vero Beach, FL 32961. Or to donate by phone: 877.290.2508. For information on sending bank wire transfers email: Support@BlessAnOrphan.com)
