Praise the Lord, I arrived on Tuesday with no issues with travel, all the bags on time, and passed through immigration and the checkpoints in about 5 minutes. Seriously the smoothest and fastest trip I have ever had from that aspect.
On Wednesday the team met in the morning after the children had gone to school and organized the school supplies by grade and need. Your generosity meant every child received the supplies they needed and in honesty for these children, they received items that personally they have never before been able to have – even something as basic as a new pencil.
On Thursday morning we spend time building additional furniture that was needed. James (Misheck’s brother) joined us and tried his hand at using the power tools. We successfully completed a large storage shelf and a prep table for use in the kitchen.
Thursday afternoon we distributed the supplies after the children returned from school, and invited the boys we are helping to come by the house as well. During that time we also played games like Connect 4, Sorry, Uno, and even tried “Life”, but to be honest you really haven’t played that game until you are learning the new version and helping a room full of non-english speaking children… umm -it was truly a site.
In total there were 15 children – 3 boys and 12 girls who were helped by the supplies and backpacks.
Friday morning was a time of training with our team after the children had gone to school. Clara and Misheck have done an incredible job in these early days of moving things forward. None of this has been easy and the progress they have made is exceptional.
Friday night we decided to fix burritos for the house. This was quite interesting to see the girls attempt to make, roll, and eat this “very strange” food. I can tell you I still have not met a person who doesn’t enjoy “tacos”. After dinner I streamed “Wakanda Forever” using the vpn and the Disney connection. They LOVED the movie and now we have little girls walking around saying “Wakanda Forever” while crossing their arms…
I want to say there is deeper level of “Family” than I have previously experienced in these types of settings. It has been the prayer that the house would become a HOME, but to see the Lord honor this so quickly is truly overwhelming.
The way the girls play together, help each other with homework, help with cleaning, keep things organized and tidy, laugh, and interact is beautiful. Words that would describe the emotions are “content” and “peace”.
Saturday the team spent some time in the afternoon reviewing the yearly calendar and completing some additional time training.
We had decided for this first Sunday of my visit to hold church at the house. We wanted to continue the bible study the girls are going through as we teach them about Jesus, so the team has still been on the teaching of Jesus coming as a baby. Today we covered the topic of Jesus is “Immanuel – God with Us”. After a time of Sunday school James took the younger girls to review the memory verse of Matthew 1:23 and to take time coloring the picture that went with the story.
The english speaking group – staff and older girls remained and we reviewed Mark 9:30-37 and reviewed a message from David Platt on what Jesus means by being great.
It was a tremendous day of sharing and encouraging for all the Lord is doing in our midst.
Tonight a few of the team are going to join me for an “overnight” as we join our family back in the USA watching the SuperBowl.
This next week has many additional trainings as well of times with the students and their extended families.
Thank you for your prayers and I will continue to update as things proceed.
– Ward
