Today we had a special day spending time with orphans, both from ICDI's orphan care center and Madame Zokoe's group from Project Hope and Charity with GBIM. These children are priceless. They smile, they play, and they tease and fight with each other; they are just like any other kids you know in that respect.We first went to ICDI's orphan care center. It isn't an orphanage. You will not find many orphanages in Africa because families do everything they can to help raise each other's children. So you will often find grandparents and aunts and uncles raising other kids besides their own. The care center is a place that the children come to get check ups by the nurse, food, clothing, help with school fees and sometimes just play with one another. It is more like a support system.
At Madam Zokoe's Orphan Group
When we got there, most of the kids were in school so there were only about 10 children there. But they were excited to see us. Zac Harley jumped right into the mix and brought a big ball out to play with all the children. Rob had some fun shapes that expanded into cloths in water. The kids loved all of it. We held them, kissed them, and played with them. The director of the orphan care center was so blessed by balls, stickers and shoes we had brought for the kids. He spoke English very well and told us how blessed He was by this and how his children needed these things verymuch.
Prudence
Also, Jeana had a school bag with gifts in it for a little girl from her sponsor back at our church, Mary Lou Cross. We told the director what a blessing it would be to get to deliver it to her, so he drove us to her school to give it to her. When we arrived, we saw a beautiful little girl named Prudence with her teacher and classmates outside. When Jeana presented her with the backpack, she smiled humbly and told us how grateful she was for the gift. I don't think she has ever had so much attention on her from her classmates! What a blessing to give it to her and tell her that her sponsor back in the States loves her very much and said Happy Birthday! I think when we had to leave ICDI's center we were all sad to say goodbye.
"Jordan River"
These children looked like they ranged in age from 2 to early teens. Never have I seen such a huge group of children so well mannered and so knowledgeable of the Bible! Afterwards we played a game with them that Madame Zokoe taught us called "Jordan River." We took many photos with the children too. Overall, we were just incredibly blessed by all these children and imagined what a blessing it would be to see them in heaven one day not as orphans, but as brothers and sisters in Christ. We are so thankful for Jesus and how He loves them in the here and now when they don't have the chance to know the love of earthly parents.
Also, Jeana had a school bag with gifts in it for a little girl from her sponsor back at our church, Mary Lou Cross. We told the director what a blessing it would be to get to deliver it to her, so he drove us to her school to give it to her. When we arrived, we saw a beautiful little girl named Prudence with her teacher and classmates outside. When Jeana presented her with the backpack, she smiled humbly and told us how grateful she was for the gift. I don't think she has ever had so much attention on her from her classmates! What a blessing to give it to her and tell her that her sponsor back in the States loves her very much and said Happy Birthday! I think when we had to leave ICDI's center we were all sad to say goodbye.When we arrived at Madame Zokoe's, she was about to start her Thursday afternoon Bible group with the children. There must have been at least 70 kids there! She gave us seats of honor, introduced us, and the children put on a beautiful program for us. They sang many African praise songs and danced as they sang. They walked through the Bible, they recited all the books of the Bible, and recited even more things that I couldn't quite pick up what they were reciting.
"Jordan River"
These children looked like they ranged in age from 2 to early teens. Never have I seen such a huge group of children so well mannered and so knowledgeable of the Bible! Afterwards we played a game with them that Madame Zokoe taught us called "Jordan River." We took many photos with the children too. Overall, we were just incredibly blessed by all these children and imagined what a blessing it would be to see them in heaven one day not as orphans, but as brothers and sisters in Christ. We are so thankful for Jesus and how He loves them in the here and now when they don't have the chance to know the love of earthly parents. Tomorrow we are heading to the Pygmy village to say goodbye to them. Please pray for us as we do this. It will be hard for us as we have really started to form a bond with these people. And then in the afternoon, some of us will be going to do some AIDS home care visits. Please pray that the Spirit blesses this time and that those with AIDS feel His love through us. And then it's Saturday morning and we are leaving! It has gone so quickly, but we all have been so blessed to be here and touch the lives of Central Africans as well have them touch our lives. I am so grateful that our church values these people so much that we have had a chance to be here and invest in so many lives. We look forward to sharing with all of you in greater detail when we get back!!! Thank you for all your prayer support. It truly has been felt the whole time we have been here.
Blessings,
Laura Gibson
Laura Gibson
March 1, 2007
No comments:
Post a Comment