In Ezekiel 47, it is written about the River from the Temple, living water that makes everything healthy, and about swarms of living creatures that live wherever the river flows... There are trees along the river. Their leaves will not wither nor will their fruit fail. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing. This is what we want more than anything else. My wish is that that river at our place will be fuller and fuller, and that the children will swim in it.
It is May now. I can wear jeans and tennis shoes with socks, and that feels so good. The heat is over and I walk really twice as fast. We have a few new children: Tatiana, who is 6 years old and HIV +. She has a mother, but she is young and very confused. We also have Tino, who 6 years old as well. His mother has recently died and his father is absent.
We have had 5 intense and very good days with a team from my church, God’s Embassy. We had a church conference; prayer times with the children, and my friend from Holland slaughtered a chicken! Last week we had a small team from Trin / Held. They also brought a lot of fun and blessing. They made a video clip, with our children.
SMALL CHILDREN, SMALL WORRIES, BIG CHILDREN….
Although some of our children already reached the age to live on there own, it doesn’t mean that they don’t need us anymore. Benedito stays with his family, and we are trying to build a small house for him on a piece of land that he inherited. He has started to work as an assistant builder, and we hope that he can be on his own soon. For Nélia we rented a small house (room) behind our center, bus she doesn’t seem very happy. She is doing very well in school, and we hope that one day she will be in University. Beatriz is either living with her boyfriend or with her mother, and still needs us a lot. Last week her “special mother” (sponsor) from Holland was here, Paulina Zoetebier, and Beatriz loved to be close to her. We ask for your prayers for Amélia Adelaide, who is almost 16 years old and pregnant… We would have loved to see things happen in a different way… But we know God has a good future for her, either with her friend, who is much older, or in a family, or here with us. Pray that God will speak to Amélia’s heart and that her friend may get to know the Lord. The Biblical way of first having a (Christian) friend, then get married and then having a baby, is still a concept that we don’t see a lot here, even among Christians, but we keep praying.
SMALL NEWS:
- We have a new car! It’s a Toyota minibus, with 15 seats and in good condition. We are sooo happy
- Six of our children got baptized together with about 20 peoples from our church.
- People from the States donated a new playground for the children.
- A nice Mozambican couple has adopted Mateus, our baby. They love him.
- Heleninha and I will be in Holland in July. No need to say that we are looking forward to that
PRAYER REQUESTS: - More missionaries to help out, with new visions and fire
- Finances
- A dorm for girls
- Wisdom in helping the oldest children and the ones who live on themselves already, and for a hopeful future.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR FRIENDSHIP, PRAYERS AND SUPPORT!