Great Suprises

So this weekend we received our first care packages!   Lorelai described best "It's Christmas, It's our birthday, This is way cool!"   It was so much fun to open those packages and have no clue what was in them.   It was such a blessing.   Our first aid kit was restocked, thank you Pat Oden, that is something we use all the time.   Ryan was blessed by several people with gear for fishing so he can provide us with meat.   Ed and Shelly and Gale and Tommy filled it with so many other great things.   Our pantry now sports beef jerky, peanut butter, crackers, oatmeal, and many other items.   The kids each had speacial treats to open as well Natalie and Mari-Madeline's precious birthday gifts.   I must say that as amazing as it all was the funnest suprise was for the kids....ICE CREAM SANDWICHES!!!!!!   How you ask, think NASA, Tommy found them in the camping department and got them for the kiddos!   Way to go Tommy, the kids we so thrilled.

I am not sure the joy of this will wear off any time soon.   We are so blessed to have so many people caring for us.   Thank you to everyone who contributed to the packages.   We could not have asked for anything better!

Our crazy fun week

This past week has been so much fun.  I am not sure why, it was pretty busy and fairly typical, but none the less it was fun.   I have been halping at the mission school and Lorelai has been going to class with Ryan.   Walker and Mari-Madeline had a great week of school.  Mari-Madeline has finally felt comfortable at school.   The afternoons have been busy with lots of work and lots of house repairs.   The house we live in was vacant for many years and had several repairs to be made.   Today we will hopefully finish these up.

We met a lot of new people this week and are prayerful of ministry opportunities with them.  

Walker has developed a great friendship with a boy from the mission school and they are tied at the hip.   Walker has been able to minister to and help this young man in ways that adults just can't.   Last night the mission showed a movie on a projector and because the two boy had worked for Ryan all day they were able to attend.   They had so much fun.  

Mari-Madeline and Lorelai have been grounded all week.   Lorelai's began when she decided she was going to jump on the canoe as Walker and his friend shoved off.   Oh, that naughty fearless girl.   Then in the same afternoon she and Mari-Madeline along with their friend Danesi decided to take a hike, without permission from any of the parents.   Thankfully the gringitats (white girls) stand out here and Ryan was able to track them to another friends house about 3 miles away.   They were never in any danger except that it was near dark time and would not have been able to get back home.   Let's just say none of the girls will be going anywhere alone again.  

We just love being able to do God's will and share the Good news with the people we encounter.   It seems that so many barriers have been removed and the people in the communtiy have begun to accept us and welcome us.   It has been a long five months of being on the outside, but something just changed this week.   Praise God.   I have been singing a hymn in my head all week...To God be the glory great things He hath done....

Ms. M

I know the title seems a little odd, but there is no better title.   I want to introduce you all to Ms. M.   She is a widow with five children.   Three of the five are still young and live at home.   Her husband was killed just a month ago in an unfortunate way.   You see there is no life insurance policies out here.   When you are widowed if you have older boys they take care of you, if not the church does.   Ms. M did not have anyone to help her and there is not an area here in which women can work in.   Her husand had some family that she could move in with, but they are strict Catholic and Ms. M is an evangelical christian and did not want her children in that inviornment.   I honestly can not blame her.   Her pastor counseled her and his family has been watching over her.   He urged her to seek God's will and that the Lord would provide.

So, how does she fit into our life?   We have been praying about a house helper.   We talked with the other missionary family and they did not know of anyone, so we put feelers out in the community.   A few days ago, Ms. M went to the other missionary family seeking employment, but they already have a helper.   They encouraged her with prayer and a promise to help her find work.   They immediatly called us and explained the sitituation and asked us to pray about it and meet her.   Ryan and I were really looking for someone younger that did not have kids, but we hiked the trails to her house and met with her.   Ryan and I knew the moment we met her that she was the one.   We met with her and then her pastor and we all agreed on her job and she starts on Monday.  

I am just asking all of you to pray for her and her family.   They are probably one of the poorest families we have met since we have been here.  The smallest child had no clothes at all and the other two go to school with our kids and were not there.   I can not imagine how desperate she must feel as a mother to provide for her children and how alone in this world she must feel.   Please pray that she continues to seek God and that she feels His presence in every moment of her day.   Please pray that we can be a blessing to this woman and her children and show them the Love of Christ.    Pray that our family is humbled by this experience.  

Honor widows, who are widows indeed.  1 Timothy 5:3