Abby Murray's notes on her first night out on the streets of Guatemala City

Meeting the street children was one of the most memorable, moving and challenging moments of the whole trip for me.

Most of them are older teenagers, and most of them are high on solvents, which they keep in little bottles in their pockets and inhale constantly. Their clothes are dirty and ripping and their skin is dirty and dusty, many of them showing signs of malnourishment and deformity. Several have obvious illness and infection – persistent coughing, eye infections etc.

One boy held my hand and cried as he told me how the police tried to kill him, and that he was so glad to be alive, and how he wants a better future. We brought them some chicken, which was gone in seconds; I sat and played dominoes with a few kids, one of whom I noticed couldn’t count even basic numbers.

These children have got ‘rejection’ and ‘unwanted’ written all over them; unwanted, space-wasters and neglected by society – their wounds speak clearly enough of that. But standing there, holding these children in my arms, I got such a sense of God’s heart for them, that God delights in them, that they are his Beloved Children. They are all so beautiful and I was so privileged to meet them, so honoured to have had that opportunity to love them.

This experience also confirmed to me some of the things I believe that God is putting on my heart for the future. I hope to go back soon and see them again.