A Really Great Graduation

What a special time.  Hard to believe I have taught some of these kids for 2 years now.  I will miss them, even though I was ready for summer break! 

So many have helped these kids visiting groups, teachers Mrs. Maddie, Mrs. Pam, and Miss Marisa.  Last year we saw several of our students go on to schools and now are at the top of their class, whereas their siblings struggle in their classes not having started out with preschool and really learning their basic foundation.  So, we are pleased we get to help giving them a good start.

Here they are singing their sounds for their letters.

Each student received a special award, from most huggable to most active to best behavior.

Afterwards we had a special cookout and carnival.  Our intern, Alexis, brought in a suitcase full of prizes and games donated by Lifetrack Christian Church.  It brought lots of fun here.

Each Bible College student ran a booth.  The fishing booth.

Musical ABC's was a favorite.

Water balloon toss fun

And there were long lines for Miss Angie's face painting.

So much fun with the bubbles.

Ring toss

And finding the hidden marble.

And our friend Charles brought his horse for all to ride.

What a special fun time.  The Bible College students told us they had never been so worn out.  Together with Sis Claudette they barbecued for all, decorate, and ran games all evening.  So thankful to serve with this team here!

Friendship Hardship

     I suppose sometimes it's easy just to write the positive things.  I mean we are positive, joyful people :)  Or at least we try and want to be.   And there are those times when I guess there are so many great things happening with the mission then that's why Satan is working overtime.  I don't often write of all the hardships.

      The girls case for those that keep praying is ongoing.  Their parents have not been showing up and this has delayed the hearings.  I still meet and check on their mom and father.  And we still pray daily for the girls.

     This week was pretty devastating.  After 2 years of a working relationship, 3 years of our kids playing together that relationship parted ways.  I never could understand Paul and Barnabas parting ways.  But, now I have lived through it.

     Despite loving kids each day together, planning her wedding together, sharing slumber parties with our kids, and praying together - we parted ways.  She can't understand why I can't pay for her whole wedding and I can't understand her expectations on me as a foreigner.

     I am sad she chose to quit our mission family through this way.  I am shocked a friend is using these means to get extra money.  I pray for discernment in knowing how to give when needed.  And I would ask for your prayers for her marriage to be centered on the Lord and that to be the focus of it.  And for healing for both of us as we go separate ways.  And I pray for we can find a loving, caring person who needs a job and wants to love on our preschoolers.

Not the best week...

     Summer time can be a lot harder here. We have less students, so the campus is quieter.  Our staff takes turns on their furloughs back home and raising support.  And school here goes until mid-June.

     This week for some reason seemed more challenging.  Most of the preschoolers were passing around colds, so there were runny noses galore this week.  Then, on an errand downtown the van stopped in the middle of the road (on a busy Friday).  I was preparing dinner for the students and some neighbors to have over, so to lose a few hours and wait on the street was not how I had planned the warm afternoon going with some tired kiddos.  And, then one of our preschool assistants decided to quit with just month to go when we were already short-handed and full of kiddos.

     I will admit to getting down, but then it's hard to stay that way when there are so many blessings abounding too....

Brice graduated with his master's, so no more late night studying!  We had lots of dear friends here to celebrate with!

When we want to go on walks, we have some beautiful beaches God made to walk on!

Beckett, our middle, just turned 5!

And, with the lonelier times, I added a Bible study with some girls down the road.  They live in government funded land near the airport.  This was our 3rd week to just open my Bible and as they learn to read, I got to help them grow in the Lord too.  

We'd love to hear your joys too amidst the harder times.  

Hard news, beautiful beginning

I love planning, so I thought i had the perfect schedule.  A special family I grew up with had a younger daughter graduating with her preschool degree.  She wrote and asked about coming to help for the next 6 weeks in the preschool. I was beyond thrilled to have her passion, new ideas, and willingness since our other teacher was leaving on furlough early. 

Then, this special girl was in a very bad car accident 3 weeks before her arrival here.  We are so thankful she is healing now, but are sad we won't get to serve with her at this time.  So, we also were in a jam, short one teacher....so Uncle Elton volunteered to come help me out a week!  Our kids were beyond thrilled.  Now, I only have 5 more weeks to get by:)

It was the beginning of summer classes for WISE with Brice teaching Galatians and Ephesians 4 hours everyday, so all of us needed a bit of a break.  So, this Saturday for fellowship we took off to the rainforest (Vermont Nature Trail).  

And this time we heard and saw the national parrot!

I loved getting the extra time to walk with this guy I get to do ministry and life with each day!

And I am so proud of him and looking forward to more time as this week he finishes his last class and receives his Master's in Biblical Leadership from Liberty!

More of this crazy time in life....

Graduation and New Scholarship

Graduation 2014 is done and gone.  These guys are doing to some amazing things for the Kingdom of God!  They are amazing leaders, servants, followers, and brothers.

Here is our valedictorian, Olken speaking.

Brother Mark Sutherlin was here as an adjunct and also served as graduation speaker.

The graduates sang "Go Light Your World" to the audience.

Uncle Elton came in to help and visit and gave the charge for the graduates.

This year was a first for the Todd Beamer Scholarship.  Todd was a Christian man and father who sacrificed his life on 9/11.  To read more about him, see the letter below from his father.  

After meeting his parents last summer, they decided to partner with WISE in assisting our graduates with resources to continue ministering in their home countries.  What a huge blessing this scholarship is and will continue to be used throughout their lives, just as Todd's sacrifice saved so many lives.

The cupcake table!

Excited to celebrate and how these guys will change the world!

The following are the scholarship letters on behalf of Todd Beamer.

He is Alive!

What a week!  We started off with our 1st Easter egg hunt for the preschoolers.  Look at their faces when they saw the eggs had candy inside!

The best was we made homemade Resurrection eggs and all the children could tell the Resurrection story after the 2nd time seeing them!

Then, on our break we had "skip day" at the Bible College and all went to the waterfalls for the day.  What fun!

We made bunny ears in preschool. 

We had a picnic lunch!

Staff made breakfast for church and neighborhood.

The students told the Resurrection story by acting it out.

Jesus arose!

For fellowship we had an egg drop....here is Bro Mark finding out his team's did not make the drop.

Checking if the boys' egg is still intact.

Dave's parachute looked great, but did not make it.

These were the teams that eggs made it, so we had to have an egg toss for a tie breaker.

We did trivia on the Resurrection story.

The kids sang a special on Sunday morning.

Our family says, "Happy Easter!"  And we are so thankful for Christ and His sacrifice!

Losing the Girls

          Amidst teaching preschool, watching our kids, teaching at Bible College, cleaning, and cooking - something HUGE changed our lives this year.  She's 4 years old, the sweetest smile, and best hugger.  I got the greatest priviledge being her teacher for the last 7 months.

         She was never consistent at school.  But every few days she'd grab your heart and your hands and whisper, "I'm back, teacher!"  From the get go, my own children loved her name and her face and got so excited on the days she was in school.  She lives in a special neighborhood close by and when her mom found out she could be sponsored to come to school, she sent her when she could.  It's one of our favorite places to walk, so it was not unusual for us to come by and play with her.

     Her helpful spirit and gentleness is what I always noticed.  But, there were other details about her too....no underwear or socks, no shoes she owned, a uniform several sizes too big.   It was easy at school to add needed things to her bag and drop things off for her sisters, ages 5 and 8.  Sharing things with them was not draining or them begging, it was a gift to just be with the girls.  We knew mom, dad, and the girls and saw them as friends.

     And then mom and dad's drug problem got worse and the girls started being abandoned and left outside.  Neighbors were taking them in and telling us about them.  And we prayed for them and ached for them, but mom wanted them.   So on the days mom got her to school, we got to love on her.

     And finally, 4 weeks ago mom and dad's rights got severed.  From the moment we found out no one wanted her, we fought for her. Two of our closest friends are involved in social services here, they were on the phone and spent countless days on behalf of her.

     Call us crazy, but we never thought through any logistics - adoption paperwork, money to get her, honestly we'll work on that later.  We just prayed, begged, and called everyone we knew to help here.  Being a teacher for 7 years now, I could say it was a burdened teacher heart for a student caring for her, but it's always been more for her.

     The next 4 weeks not an hour went by without a thought and prayer for her.  There were ups and downs of us thinking we were getting her and the next being unable to find her paperwork.  And then, a big break came when we realized the reason she could not be found in the system is her  5 yr old sister was also taken and she was listed under her name.  And again call us crazy, but it never entered our heads to split them up, we wanted them both.

     Soon we found out they were being kept in a children's mental hospital as there had been no other place to put them.  We were devastated after having been to this place where some of the kids are kept in cages for safety to others.  And the girls had now been there 3 weeks!  Through the miracle of our neighbor and friend, she was able to get it worked out what looked like the next day we could go get the girls...

     And then, a neighbor of the parents leaked information to them that we were trying to get the girls.  She was so excited for us she told the family how well the girls would be taken care of.  And the girls mother, lost it.  Literally.  I can't imagine choosing drugs over my children.  But I also can't imagine losing rights over my children forever as she had just done.  She went to the court's with the news that if she couldn't have them, no one she knew could.

     So, the next day we were dreaming of picking up the girls and introducing them to slumber parties, seeing what foods they liked, and which stories they wanted to be read.........we realized those would just be dreams and prayers.  For the protection of the girls they were placed away from this area.

     We don't know when the courts will revisit this, perhaps we have been told when the parents forget them.  

We  don't know if the girls are okay and who they are with. 

We don't get to see their sweet smiles and hug them tight and keep them safe.

But we do get to pray for them and it is so very hard and yet a privilege.  Because now those girls have so many warriors praying for them and knowing their name and beseeching on their behalf.

We get to know that at least now they are not sleeping on the side of the road and have food to eat, because the courts intervened.  

We also know that God their Father is watching over them and keeping them close.  

     Selfishly, I want to ask you to pray for a miracle for God to bring them to us today or tomorrow or just even one day.  But, more I would ask you to pray for them to know God is with them and just rest in Him as their lives have been so changed.  And I also ask for prayers for their biological parents for their consuming need to be our Lord's Love.  There are so many children all over who don't know God's love like these 2 special girls, but God knows their name, and through us I pray we can help them by:

                                                                  - Praying for these kids
                                                                  - Caring and helping
       One special way is through HOTH Hearts locally (find them on facebook), this is our neighbor and friend who is just one woman working to give children in St. Vincent an orphanage home here.  So, while they are stuck in the system, they can be well  taken care of here.  They are in the process of building the first orphanage here.  For more information, please visit their page.