The Thomas family from our church sent leg braces for Paulo (read recent post titled "Paulo").
Fitting them on him. They are a perfect fit!
Isn't he cute? The tias (dorm mothers) were so thrilled, they kept saying "It's a miracle he has braces! It's a miracle!" And they put him on his feet and were dancing around:o) He stood for a few second on his own for the first time! (Until he realized noone was holding on to him and he got scared and sat down!) It's such a blessing for little Paulo. Thank you so much Mr. and Mrs. Thomas!!!!!!
Homemade chicken pot pie...mmmmm....!!
We went to the Bocaria (the city dump) on Monday afternoon to join Vella, Tracey, and Francisco with their weekly children's church ministry there. They learned about the Lord's prayer, and we did lots of games and competitions. They kids are precious!
Tuesday morning dad fixed some phone line problems and reconnected a few phones. Cara and I Walked across the street to buy plants for the girls garden. After lunch dad, Cara and I went in the garden with some of the girls, to do some make overs! The garden was beautiful, until some workers needed to bury some electrical cables and decided it would be a great idea to dig a huge trench all the way through their garden to bury it! So, yesterday we went in and dug up the dead plants and roots that had been shocked from the trench digging. And made it look very beautiful with the new plants! The little girls love working in the garden and making it look pretty:o)
Late in the afternoon we climbed on the truck for street ministry. First we went to the city police station. They have cells there for men who are waiting to go to trial. Several armed police men walked with us down to the cell. It smells like urine and is very filthy. The men come filing out, having not showered for weeks. We prayed for them, and dad shared with them how this world we live on is like a grain of sand in the universe and there is no other life but here on earth, because God created us for Himself . But God loves them so much! And he read in Romans 8 "There is therefore, now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but walk according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of Life has made me free from the law of sin and death."
Afterwards we prayed and passed out bread to the men. Then the police escorted us out, with rifles hanging on their shoulders.
Next after it was dark, we drove to a back alley, and gathered a bunch of street kids. Some as young as 8 years old. One little boy really tugged at my heart. He was 8 years old and named Faustinho. He was wearing a mans black dress shirt, socks without shoes or sandals, and a little pink back pack that had no zipper, and was stuffed with a white bed sheet. His only possessions. I asked him where his mom was, and it turned out his mother lives in a village quite far away, and he ran away from home because he was being beaten.
We took the kids up on the roof of a building, and had a time of worship. Then we prayed for them. I shared with them there. I asked "How many of you are afraid of something?" (most of the kids, except the real tough ones, raised their hands). They were afraid of snakes, lions, witch doctors, the dark, ghosts, night mares. So I had the little boy Faustinho come up, and a very tall boy named Angelo. I asked, "Does Faustinho need to be afraid of snakes, or thieves, if he is walking with Angelo next to him?" "No!" "Why not?" "Angelo will protect him!"
Great, so we did a little skit to find out. Another little boy came up and was instructed to go steal Faustinho's back pack from him. So he starts taking it from Faustinho, but Angelo pushed him away.
And that is what Jesus does for us. He is much bigger than Angelo, and he will protect you! When you are afraid, you just call on Jesus, and he will help you. When you have bad dreams, you just say "No, Satan! I am a child of God and you can't scare me!"
I also told them that they need to walk on God's road. Not the wide road where witch doctors and thieves and murderers and bad people walk. Instead of stealing, they can ask for what they need, instead of going to the witch doctors, they can go to church, etc. And when they are walking hand in hand with God, he will look out for them!
I loved it. Sometimes you just feel like " This is what I am living to do!" And that's how I felt last night sharing with those street boys. My heart was so full of compassion for them.
I will try to get Cara or dad to share some of their experiences with you too!
Have a good day!
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