Wow it is has been a long time since I updated and for that we are sorry. I just want to take this time to introduce you to a couple of new members of our family. The first is Marvin. He is a 13 year old boy that was living with his lolo (grandpa). He is in the 3rd grade. He is similar to our other three orphans in that he is very behind in school because no one has made him attend. We are wondering how he even got to the 3rd grade. He can not read and is not able to recognize all the letters by sight. If done in order he has memorized the alphabet. He is also very behind in math. He can speak well. He is a hard worker and has a lot of energy. I am understanding know how a boy of that age can eat a person out of house and home. He has a sad story. His mom was raped by her dad and got pregnant. Marvin is the result of that crime. His mom ran away soon after he was born and Marvin has been raised by his dad/grandpa till know. He was here with us for a week or so and then grandpa wanted him to come home. He cried for a couple of days because he wanted to live here with us. Grandpa finally let him go and he has officially moved into the orphanage. We are excited to provide him with the love and support he needs to succeed in life. We are tutoring him after school and on weekends in the hopes to get him caught up to where he should be in school.
Marvin our happy one.
The next new member is Lexi. That is what the girls have named our puppy. We have had her for about five months know but are just getting pictures up. She is a German shepherd Chocolate Lab mix. She is already a tall puppy so we are sure she is going to be a big dog. She is very well behaved and we are trying to teach her tricks. The girls love her.
Lexi our puppy
The last person we would like to introduce you to is DinDin. I do not have a picture of her yet so will post later. She is a new ministry partner. She came to us in June. She loves kids and has a huge servants heart. She has taken over most of the care at the orphanage and helps us out around our home as well. She is also working with the children at the church to start some more children's ministries. She is also teaching our youngest orphan John and Faith in school. We pulled John from the local school and decided to teach him at home because he was not learning at school and was to distracting to the other kids. He has been doing much better here and Faith is enjoying as well. They are excited to be classmates and cannot wait to share with Jonah and I all that they learned that day. She has been a huge blessing to have and we are excited to welcome her to our family as well.
In other news, we have a new ministry starting here soon. In mid September we are starting a short term bible training program. We have at least eight students for the first session and are excited for this new opportunity. It is a three month program with a focus on leadership and evangelism/outreach. We have six courses that are going to be taught with them working in the field to apply what they are learning at the same time. I have been given the wonderful opportunity to head up this program with the help of the church board. As we get started I will update you more about the ministry and let you know how it is going.
