Wednesday, May 23, 2012

"5th and 6th Timothy"

So, just how well do you know the Books of the Bible? It has been the major project of all the HOH kids over the past couple of weeks to learn as many as they can.  From youngest to oldest, a various moments you can hear the familiar names being recited around our house.

4 year old Carly has been the star of this endeavor,  at the last quiz night she was able to recite the entire Old Testament.  They weren't all in order, but they were all there -- all 39 of them!  This past week she took it upon herself to help the other kids learn all the books of the Bible.  She would call them out, and they would repeat after her.  She did pretty good in both the Old and New Testaments, at least until she got to Timothy, that is.  The start was ok, "First Timothy, Second Timothy...uhh, Third Timothy, Fouth Timothy, Fifth Timothy...".  By this time she was getting a little unsure of herself and started to look for help.  I don't usually like to interrupt these informal learning sessions, but at Sixth Timothy, I finally broke in to say I thought that was more than enough Timothies and they could move on to Titus. It is amazing how much these kids can learn, and so nice to have the chance to fill their minds with good and positive information.

The highlights of our past couple of weeks has included several holidays from school.  There was the Agricultural holiday on May 1st, and then Flag Day on the 18th.  Flag Day is always such a fun day for the kids are there are parades with the various schools in the area, and a special program out on the community soccer field.  None of our kids participated in the parades this year, but they did have their annual drinks and BBQ chicken stand set up on the soccer field to try and make some money.  Unfortunately the rain did not cooperate with us this year, and Flag Day got rained out. 

Unfortunately, Roselanda wasn't one of the kids who got to participate in these festivities this year.  She came into the HOH several months ago with  severe malnutrition.  She is just the sweetest little thing, she has the friendliest personality and just loved getting involved with every bit of life she could.  One afternoon about a month ago she decided to go watch the big boys playing basketball out in the back yard.  Through a series of very unfortunate events, Roselanda ended up with a broken leg.  People who come to visit us here are always asking if we don't have kids get hurt here very often.  And the incredible thing is we don't.  But Roselanda is one of the rare exceptions. 

She has two more weeks to go in her cast, but she is already itching to get it off so she can start moving around more like she is used to.  She spends her days on a big bed, calling out to every person who walks past her.  There's not a name here that she doesn't know, and she just brings a smile to your face every time you walk by.  She recently had a smile brought to her face with some hand-made dolls that were sent down from some friends in Vermont. 

We have had a number of different visitors and teams come through over the past couple of weeks, each bringing along there particular expertise to help out either us or the hospital. 

A number of our kids received  their report cards for the last semester of school.  On the whole they have done pretty good.  There are a few who are going to have to work extra hard to pass the school year, but the rest are doing well.

We'd ask you to lift us up in pray for the following requests:

  • Continue to pray for our financial needs.  God is so faithful, please continue to ask Him to provide for our needs to cover our payroll, and for the months the hospital has helped us in this area.
  • Thank God for his provisions for us, especially our great friends in Miami whose food shipments are such a blessing to us.
  • We still don't know if Jenny & Djordjy are going to be traveling to Canada in the month of June for their "Church Wedding", but we do have high hopes that it will all work out.  Pray for all the different parts of the process to come together to make this a reality.
  • We seem to be having a nasty virus going through our home.  Several of the kids are down, and Linda and I haven't been feeling well the past few days either.  We'd appreciate your prayers for health and healing for those who are not well.
  • A number of the youth here are preparing for their difficult government exams that will take place during the months of June and July.  Please pray for them as they study, that they would be faithful in studying, and be able to remember what they need to in order to pass these exams.
Many thanks to each of you for your various types of support.  May God bless you greatly as you help us help the needy kids and youth of Haiti.