Thursday, January 22, 2009

Meet our 5 newest little ladies!!

In the past 2 weeks we have had 5 new girls join our family! 
And in 2 weeks we will be getting 4 more little girls who have spent a year in the "transition house", aka Little Dorm, where they live after the baby house before transitioning into the bigger kids dorms. So we are growing, and having fun!

Meet the new girls:
Eliza, age 11
She came along with several other children from a center down the road 'Padre Andre's'. You may have heard me mention that center before. Paulo, who lived in the girls dorm for 1 1/2 years, was from that center. Receiving these kids is totally an answer to prayer! The center director was removed from his position, and a new Padre put in place. This new Padre has a heart for the disabled children, and is going to reopen the center after cleaning it up and repairing it, as a center for disabled or special needs kids!
"Mimi" (Emilia), age 4 
and her sister and 2 brothers arrived 2 days after Eliza. 
Their mother died, and their father was unable to look after his 8, 6, 4, and 2 year old children, and work. So we will take them until they are a bit bigger and he can make arrangements to care for them. 

Serina, age 6
Sister to Mimi. She is smart, and loves to help. She passed first grade this year, and I have been reading with her to help her with her reading skills. She is improving quickly!
Their brothers are Horacio, age 8, and Jose, age 2. These four siblings love each other and love to be together.


Rosa, age 2
Our baby house is full, full, full! So Rosa has come to live in the girl's dorm. Her dad died, and her mom has 3 other school age children. Her mom was leaving her alone in the house all day while she went out to cart water for neighbors or do odd jobs for people to earn a little money to feed her kids. We have agreed to take Rosa at least until she starts school.
She was very shy when she first came, and didn't speak to anyone. She is slowly starting to break out of her shell, and she even smiled a little bit. I love to hold her in the mornings while she takes her naps, or sit and read to her. She's very sweet!

Fatima, age 7? 
(We don't know how old she is for sure)
Fatima arrived today with her little brother. Her mom abandoned them, and her father mistreated her. They were taken by someone who discovered what was going on, and brought to the central hospital. Their dad is now in prison. Social services brought them to us today.
She is a sweet little girl, and I am praying God brings emotional healing to her quickly.

We are loving on these precious little ones, and praising God that He lifted them out of the dust and has set them up in heavenly places! They are treasures, and it is a privilege to be here, mothering them.

Please lift these 5 girls up in prayer!


4 comments:

intense_fragility said...

they are so beautiful! i will be praying

Jessica said...

What a wonderful ministry! Fun to look through your posts. So fun to see you serving God in Africa.

*carrie* said...

Blessings to you, Anna, as you care for these dear and beautiful children!

Thank you so much for your kind birthday comment.

Anonymous said...

Anna, they are so beautiful! I can't wait until one day I can come to Africa and do what you're doing! You're in my prayers!
- Hope Kostensky