JOY!

Well today is Monday, July 6, 2009. Today was a bittersweet day because we met with the last of the 8 orphan groups. We just love their smiling faces. We still have opportunities to be with orphans tomorrow as we try to catch some who were absent while we visited their groups and on Thurs. as we will try to complete out photo project with PH&C. But as for the groups that have become such a part of our schedule, we will miss them dearly.

There are other things we will miss too as Heidi was starting to think about our return and mentioned. Things like someone to open the gate when we come home (our equivalent would be the garage door), someone to open the door of the car and carry in our things. Who will cook, do laundry, escort us everywhere, explain everything to us that we don’t understand? I tell you these ICDI workers are top notch! It has been nice having so many things taken care of for us so we can just concentrate on our ministry here. But, reality will hit us soon enough, so we will not go any further with it for now. But hey, Tim, I hope you have perfected your cooking skills while I have been away!!! I know, ha, ha.

Tonight in team time, we prayed for emotional, physical and spiritual strength for these last few days. Please pray also for us. We are filling each day with as much as we can to make the most of the remaining time. We want God to be honored and lifted up, and for the African people to really know how much we love them. Knowing our brothers and sisters in Christ from Bangui has been an incredible experience.

Going back to the group tonight, we met a young man who is 16 years old. His name is Merveil Feidangamo. He is an orphan in group 002, but has no sponsor. He is currently being trained though as a leader of the group so that he can become one of the leaders when he is an adult. He gave the Bible lesson tonight to the children. I was impressed at how well he was doing and the leadership skills he had already learned. The ICDI group leaders have recognized his heart for God and his leadership potential and have begun training him. Merveil is a perfect example of the impact that these orphan groups are having on this country. I was privileged to meet him. Please pray for him to grow spiritually and also that someone would step up and sponsor him for his last 2-3 years in the program.

I have included pictures of the smiling faces and fun games we played.

Heidi is playing a shoe game in the one picture. Zac is doing some sort of line dance/game. Everyone is just being joyful. JOY – that has been one of the themes of this trip. We are doing ministry, and in the process, spreading joy!

The final picture is of Williams (back), Brice, Zac and Christophe. They have been with us almost everyday, and that has been a joy!

Thanks for all of your prayers for not only us, but also for those of you have let us know you have been praying for those requests we have listed on our blog for the orphan groups here. There is no doubt that God is working in these groups. There is no doubt that Satan is also hard at work too. Keep praying.

In the Name of our Great God – Duti Njonio

Jeana