Eating

I love these kids– Faith Club is one of my favorite times of the week because I love seeing these children. They love the service—the singing, worshiping, games and message. The children have to attend the service to get food– but they love to the service so much. After the children stand in lines (girls line/boys line) and wait for food to be put into their dishes.

Top pic: Junior– my little buddy– he is so funny and is always laughing. He likes playing tag with me—we run around the church property– he always wins – he runs in bare feet and my flip flops slow me down.

Bottom Pic: group of girls eating their food—they sit so good and then each of them is responsible to wash their own dish and spoon afterwards in the outdoor sink.

I love watching the kids worship during the faith club services. They come sick, lonely, and hungry but when they begin to praise and worship God, you see an amazing peace come across their faces. I know God loves to see His children worship and I know they feel the love and comfort of their heavenly Father.

Sorrow, Laughter and lots of food!

I recently posted a blog about my little friend Wendy.  I mentioned that Wendy’s mom died a few months ago from AIDS, and Wendy is an orphan that our church looks after.  Last Saturday I went down to the church to give Wendy some food but she was gone, along with many of the widow mothers and kids.  When I asked someone where they went I was told they went to bury Wendy’s mom.   “But I thought she died a few months ago?”  It turns out that Wendy’s mom is like many of the hundreds of bodies that have been left at the PNG Hospital Morgue.  They were having a mass burial for the bodies, because most Papua New Guineans don’t have the money for a coffin or funeral.  So Wendy’s mom was one of the bodies in this mass burial by the government.  Many of the widows and children went to mourn and perform the rituals for a burial.  How horrible for a little 5 year old orphan to relive the death of her mother and mourn once again the loss of her mom.

So I prayed (lots of tears) and asked God how I can bless this little one who has been through so much.  So after talking to Ps Maria (Ps of Faith Club/Hope Kids Foursquare), I decided to invite Wendy and a few of the other orphan kids back to my house on Monday to eat and play and watch a movie with my boys.

I picked up 4 of them Wendy(5), Betty(8), KK(8), and Betty’s brother Junior(5), and wide eyed welcomed them into my home for a rainy afternoon.  Mason and Ezra were so excited to have company, and we had a blast as we ate, and ate, and ate, and ate some more.  I wanted to feed them as much as I could (healthy), and they ate more than anyone I’ve ever seen.

We watched a movie and then I moved all my furniture back and got our markers, crayons, Mr. Potato Head and every other toy we owned and we had so much fun.  They were all so well behaved and polite, no fighting or whining.  They loved the Hillsong Kids Worship DVD I played for them.  My heart melted when a familiar song from church, “For who You Are” came on and all of them (who don’t speak english by the way) started singing the bridge, “my soul secure, your promise sure, your love endures, always”.  Mason was so excited to serve them all juice and help me serve them food.

Wendy fell asleep in my chair while the other kids played, so I sat beside her for a while and prayed over this little life, that God created for a plan and purpose.  I’m excited to see what God has in store for His little children.

Jumping for Jesus

Living Light Academy

I love Mason’s school- almost as much as he does.

He’s grown so much just in the little while he’s been there, but has made tons of friends.  He comes home anxious to tell us about his school work (ACE curriculum) and has taken on a new obsession with coloring- he always hated coloring before.   What does mom and dad love about the school?  Its run by our church (many of the teachers are pastors) and it is a great outreach to Port Moresby.  It ministers to many of the children from the surrounding settlements by giving the children a great education.  Oh and yes, I’m a stage mom who had to get in one last shot before he got up to perform.  Look at him, not nervous at all.

Faith Club at Living Light Foursquare Church

In our next newsletter I’m going to explain Faith Club more. But it is basically a nutrition program for settlement children.

The children come (with a dish) and get a hot, healthy meal, every Tuesday and Thursday. All of these children are from the surrounding settlements. Many are orphans. Every week we feed hundreds of children– they wait so patiently—boys and girls stand in separate lines, and then within minutes devour the food.

I love the smiles, seeing these little ones that have extended bellies from malnutrition, stand in long lines, to get what is for some of them the only healthy meal they will have till next Tuesday or Thursday.

Can you find Mason??

Wendy and Betty

There are so many times I wish all of my friends could come here to PNG and meet my friends here.

Since you can’t all come here I want you to me Wendy (front) and Betty (back).

Wendy’s mom died a few months ago of AIDS. She is an orphan that is looked after byBetty’s mom, Stella a widow that lives and serves at the church.

I met Wendy on my first day at Fatih Club, the feeding ministry our church does twice a week to settlement children. Wendy had just broken her leg and was sitting alone with a big cast on her little leg. She watched sadly while all the other kids played on the field.

I sat and started talking to her. She was scared of me and then I heard her tell Betty, “the white lady is speaking to me in my language.” I must really scared kids with my tok-pisin.

I call Wendy my “little sparrow.” She has found a home in the house of the Lord. Every day Ezra and I go early to the church so we can see Wendy and give her food.

Stella (Betty’s mom) has 3 children but helps look after orphans like Wendy that come to the church for food and refuge. Stella is a real Prov. 31 woman. In July they will move into the new house that is being built for the orphans. Betty has the most beautiful smile and loves to look after Wendy.

These two girls make it so hard for me to come home every day. I love them so much,. I gave Wendy a children’s picture Bible and I started talking to her about Jesus, and I asked her “Do you know Jesus”. She looked at me with a big smile and said “Yes!”