~MEMORIAL'S HALLELUJAH MOMENTS

We, at Memorial, would like to honor those that have Hallelujah Moments.  We honor Mariann Lilly

I went to Peru in 2006 for a month. Since then, I have gone on two other mission trips and December 28th went to Honduras as my 11th country, everything is beginning to blend together. But as I look back at each country, there is always something that sticks out. Or someone.
In the case of Peru, I always think of this one little orphaned girl. She was about 6 years old. On this paticular mission trip, it was a nice change going to an orphanage, seeing as we usually stuck to just villages that were rather "iffy". At the orphanage, there were no worries. The moment we stepped off the old school bus, we were surrounded by all these little kids. I never got a chance to meet any of the other kids. For some reason, this little girl decided that she liked me, a girl who really didn't, and still doesn't, have any idea on how to get along with kids. But that didn't matter to her. Grabbing my hand, she lead me over to a bench and together we just sat there, her clinging to me as much as she could and me just hugging her.
When it came time to do the drama, at first she wasn't willing to let me go. But then, once she saw my team getting into position, she gave me a nudge and said "vaya".
Once we were done with the drama, sure enough my little girl came running over, grabbed my hand and dragged me right back to where we originally were. And we stayed there the rest of the time.
It wasn't easy leaving her. Usually when it comes to kids, I'm in a rush to get out of there. But this little girl really touched me. She didn't care that I was a stupid American with red paint on her face, who wasn't good with kids and barely knew any Spanish. She just cared about how tightly I was holding her.
Using my poor Spanish vocabulary, I got the hint that she was trying to convince me to let her come with me on the bus. After grabbing one of my team mates who knew Spanish, we explained that she had to stay, but that we loved her and would be praying for her.
When our bus started pulling away, there was much crying from my team. Each one of us had been touched so deeply by those little children.
I thank God for letting me meet that little girl. Without knowing it, she taught me about myself and even about God's love.

Mariann Lilly

AUGUST 2007

This month we honor Jenny Lawson. Jenny has been on many mission trips to Russia.