Wednesday Day 2 Visiting Grace House

After we left the coffee shop, we headed out of town to Grace House. Grace House was started, I believe, after Pastor Robert's daughter had some health issues. This was our first time visiting the house.

Something that came to my mind before we went to Peru was to get some outfits for these girls. I knew one gal from church sold LuLaRoe clothing and one of my coworkers did as well. I figured I could have a sale to raise outfits for them. How fun would it be to go down there with a top and bottom for each of the girls?! I got permission from Paige, who got permission from the director of Grace House, for us to bring some down!

A handful of distributors donated leggings and a couple bought outfits at our church's sale. It was so great to have them get the ball rolling. The next day at church a couple people gave money towards the clothing! Then I went to my co-worker, and we had a sale on Facebook with all of the employees who wanted to give something. They came through like gangbusters! I can't wait to tell you the outcome of the clothing we raised. I'll probably share that tomorrow.

Our drive out to Grace House took about an hour. It wasn't really a scenic drive. Mostly we saw dirt hills as we drove. That's pretty much what Lima looks like to me. Dirt hills every where you turn. It's such an interesting place. There isn't much grass because there's only a trace amount of rain. If you want something green, you have to manually water it.

When we got to Grace House, I was blown away by how much of an oasis it looked like. It stood out amongst all of the brown around them. The white "buildings" were a beautiful contrast to the brown that surrounded it.

Here's what we found out about our visit there. Usually they only had tours. There was no meeting the girls. They're not allowed gifts. And if they are, it's usually something small. Each of the girls is dealing with something different, and they try to keep their lives simple. You know what's so cool? God! Not only were we able to bring outfits for each of the girls, we were going to get to give them to each of them. Molly had also felt pulled to make gift bags full of sweet items. She made each girl a bracelet and put in a journal with a pen. Those girls LOVED the bracelets so much.

We first took a tour of the entire place. There were two buildings we walked through. The home they live in is stunning. It's decorated in a very elegant style. It was also extremely feminine, which I thought was so good for these girls. The girls/young ladies range in age from about 14-27. They are recovering from things like eating disorders and a variety of addictions. One of the walls had testimonies from girls who had graduated from the program.

After we took the tour, the director had all of the girls sitting together in the main living area. We thought there were 18 girls, but it turned out there were 19. I felt bad because there weren't enough bracelets for all of them, but Molly took off the one she was wearing and gave that one away. What a sweet blessing! She explained to them that we had brought gifts for them. They were all talking excitedly amongst themselves. When she told them I had brought outfits, a couple of the girls gasped and threw hands over their faces. I think they just couldn't believe someone would do that. Then the director told the girls about the gift bags Molly had brought, and their eyes lit up.

I only had a few of the Tall & Curvy LuLaRoe outfits so the girls were a bit...hesitant at the choices. Not all of their designs and patterns are for everyone. I had each of the girls come up and pick an outfit set. It was so fun! It filled up my heart so much for each of them to have something new. Thankful that God provided in so many ways.

After we left Grace house, we headed back to the mission house and picked up Chifa along the way. That's Peruvian Chinese food. A couple of us were still so full that we waited to eat our dinner until later. I'm telling you, eating in Peru is so different from eating here. lol I always felt full. Looking forward to sharing our adventurous day on Thursday!