Kids!

Today I just want to send out a bunch of pictures of the very cute kids that I am blessed to work with. Enjoy!

 When Omar is focused on something, he is very serious about it. He is definitely a detail oriented person! He is 17, and joined the Bible club a couple of weeks ago.

 Guatemala Independance Day was in September. Geovani is proud to be Guatemalan!

 Omar is happy now.

 Joshua, the youngest, got in on craft time, but only long enough to scrunch a few newspapers, then he was off again!

 I'd love to teach Omar to read. I'm not a teacher, but I'm doing a good job of faking it! ;)

 Geovani loves to be praised, and when we clap for him, he joins right in.

 Making a big tower.

 Omar and I working on sorting and building.

 Yay! We made a house!

 I love this picture of Geovani. :)

 Poor guy. Even playing has a teaching element. These are groups of 2.

 More letter practice.

 Geovani finally accepts me touching him. On Thursday I looked at him and smiled, like I always do, and for the first time he looked right at me with eye contact and smiled!!! That was the first time he had responded to only a smile! He'll smile at me if something fun is going on. 

 Working hard.

Poor Joshua! He found some water (there was a leak in the windows I didn't know about and he crawled through the water on the floor) and had to wear girly pink pants while his dried! 

The next pictures are from the school I volunteer at. I have a met a lot of the kids in the school and I sure love being with them!

 Bryan had just finished a running race so he had a gold chocolate medallion as a prize. They also gave out red pop. His little stained lip is so cute! This little guy is quiet and so sweet in class.

 Everyone got medallions for participating in the races.

 Erica and I. So sweet!!!

 Kevin is deaf, and very active! He gets frustrated as very few people can sign with him, so he can be a handful at times!

 Marcela is beautiful. :) She had a seizure as a baby, and as a result could not walk for a long time. Through therapy at the school she has learned to walk again. She doesn't speak, but she is very docile and sweet.

 Gustavo! He is very sweet, and loves to just sit and talk with me. :)

 Making castles!

Who wouldn't love working here?!?

Hope you enjoyed the picture bombing! Happy Monday!

Friday Praise and Prayer.

Happy Friday all!

Today's Praise:

• The afternoon Bible club is going really well. Later, I'll do a separate post with more pictures. But the three boys seem to love it, and I am really growing to care for them. I rejoice in their accomplishments, and try to avoid bombarding facebook with status' on how great they are all doing!
• The water saga is over. This really started in November when I moved into the house. It is partly my fault that I didn't get onto it much more aggressively, but I am SO relieved to have a new water pump, a clean and functioning cistern, no leaks and really good water pressure all the way to the house. The workers just have to come on Monday to pick up the leftover materials, and I'll be free!!! This has been such a stressor for me, and I have had to practice patience, and being nice to people when I just wanted to break down and roll up into a little ball until it was all over!
• I was in contact with a man in Uganda who runs a ministry for people with disabilities. He sent me a Bible study called Designed by God: A Biblical Theology of Disability, Suffering and Church Ministry. It is distributed by Joni and Friends Ministry. I printed it off this morning (all 160 pages of it!) and I really look forward to getting into it. From skimming it, I am excited about what I see already.

Today's Prayer:

• For more children to join the Bible club. It is so fun, and I know that the majority of children with special needs rarely (if ever) leave their houses. This is a great chance for them to learn, grow, play, get to know others like themselves, be loved on and to learn how much God loves them and considers them special. This is a new program that no one here has heard of. Culture, fear of the unknown and lack of trust in me (as a North American) have caused many families to refuse to let their children come.
• CNA paperwork. I handed in more revisions last week. So we know that someone is looking at it. It just takes time.
• Wisdom. I always feel like I could use a lot more of that than I have! ;)

Thank you so much to those of you who pray for myself and for the ministry. Living here, I have realized more and more how important and essential prayer is for daily living. When I start to feel out of control, it usually takes me a while, but I do remember that I have been leaning less on God, and more on myself. Not the greatest plan. So thank you to you all. Have a great weekend!

Friday Praise and Prayer.

I'm sorry, I missed last Friday! Some friends came to visit for the weekend, and I was so excited about it, that I forgot.

Today's praise:

• I was able to spend a good weekend relaxing and hanging out with 2 very good friends of mine. We went to a beautiful place called Semuc Champey.

• Afternoon Bible Club is going well. We have a new member, Omar, who is 17 years old. He is very sweet, loves to play soccer, and pays very close attention to details.
• I am loving helping out at the school for kids with special needs. I am learning a lot, and have incorporated some of the info into my Bible Club.

Today's prayer:

• CNA paperwork. A judge's office called asking if I could take a teenager who was abused by her stepfather and has a baby. I am not licensed, so I cannot take any children. But it is hard to hear specific stories, and know that I can't do anything about it.
• The little abandoned boy in the Coban hospital. I saw him today, and for the past couple of months I thought he was a girl! That is what I was told, and his clothing reflected that. But today he had a boy name on his crib and definitely boy clothes on. He is so pitiful. When I thought he was a girl, I had hoped (s)he would come live in my home. He is 10 months old, and still without an orphanage placement. Please pray he finds a good home.
• Safety when I travel.
• Families affected by the rainy season. The rain is needed, but there has been flooding, and this makes life difficult for everyone.

Hope you all have a great weekend! 

Fun things.

Now that I have finally stopped just waiting for my girls to arrive, I have decided to pursue other things. One is the Bible Club that I have written about. I am having a great time with it, and I think the boys are too!

 Geovani LOVES to kick around the soccer ball. Keena and I spell each other off. ;)

When he kicks the ball and we miss it and it goes past us, he gets this big grin on his face, and laughs and laughs.

 On Tuesday when I went to pick up Gevoani , he heard my voice and came running around the tortilla stand that his mom and sisters work at, and went straight for my car with a huge grin on his face. The above picture is when we arrived at my house. We were waiting for Keena to open the gate, and he leaned forward excitedly to see the house.

Hearing about how God made the plants and flowers, and then colouring them.

This club is only 2 days a week. Because of families hesitancy to let their kids go, I decided to start slow, and gain people's trust gradually. So last week I also started helping out at the local school for kids with special needs. It has been so much fun to hang out with those kiddos! Class is only during the morning, and I go 3 days a week. Yesterday was the first day I could take pictures. They were doing crafts for upcoming Independance Day.

 Erica. She might be my favourite. Shh, don't tell the others! She is so cute and sweet and soft spoken. She also has no problem giving the boys a whack when they take her stuff! 

 Gerlinda. She loves to be praised, and loves to give me the thumbs up!

 Sergio. Cute, but oh is he a handful! He knows what is going on, and could obey if he wanted to, but if he is bored or seeking attention, he goes over to any other child that is working well and starts to harass them. Then he gives me a big hug goodbye and all is forgotten. Almost. ;)

 Rigoberto is sweet and quiet and works very well. On this day, I helped him tape the feather to his crown, and put it on his head. He was so excited about it, that he grabbed me and gave me the longest and hardest bear hug. So cute!!!

Hugo on the left, and Jonaton. Cute boys! 

Jhoseline. She is in the teen class, but I had helped her with her crown, so I wanted to take a picture of her. 

There are 13 kids in the class that I help out with. They are a handful! I have loved getting to know each of their little personalities, and I love helping them accomplish things and give them praise and confirmation. But I am definitely NOT a teacher! :) That takes a special gifting, for sure.

My days stay busy and fun. Still keeping up with the Children's Home paperwork. They are asking again for me to re-submit some things. 

So things are moving along slowly but surely with the Children's Home, and while I'm waiting, I'm going to not stress and enjoy the time!

Friday Praise and Prayer.

Happy Friday!

Today's praise:

• The first 2 days of Bible club went well. Not as expected, but still well. :)

Geovani loved playing with the new soccer ball! He is Guatemalan through and through. Whenever he would kick the ball past myself or Keena, he would laugh and laugh!

• I spent my first day helping out at the local school for kids with special needs, and I really enjoyed that too.
• My youth pastor from when I was a young teenager is featuring the Children's Home at her birthday party!

Today's prayer requests:

• Wisdom for dealing with the kids who come to club. They are not well disciplined, and I want to discipline with love and patience. 
• More workers with a desire to work with kids with special needs. Because the children are having discipline issues (not obeying, hitting, etc.), I need one staff with each child. I anticipate this will change, but I would like to accept more children. 
• CNA paperwork. We got another request for something not originally asked for. Wouldn't it be great if there was one big list of "things to hand in" that was the same for everyone? Why yes, yes it would be.

Bible club! Less Bible, more Crazy!

Well, yesterday was the first day of Bible Club. I haven't come up with a fun name yet, so this will have to do for now.

I had a plan! I bought fun things! I had a yummy snack! I had 4 kiddos coming!

Then real life kicked in.

One boy canceled. He has CP and spends most of his day in bed. I visited the family last week, and the mom was excited to let him go. Grandma seemed hesitant, but willing. Then the mom called my friend (who had introduced them to me) and said he couldn't go. Grandma didn't want him to go, and if mom sent him, grandma wouldn't care for him during the day anymore. Well grandma does all the care for him, and mom just pays for the diapers, etc. Doesn't take much interest in him. So she didn't want to lose her babysitter!

I think grandma is just scared. This is a new concept, and she has no idea what my intentions are. I am sad, as I think it would be so good for him. I'm praying they change their mind later on.

Keena, the lady working with me, and I went to pick up the other 3 kids from the next town over, Tactic. We picked up Geovani first. He is 14 and has Down's Syndrome. I had met him, his mother and 2 sisters the day before, but the mom only spoke Pokomchi, and the sisters didn't translate. They just told me that he could go. So as we were picking him up, Keena was able to talk with her in Pokomchi, and answer her questions. I think the mom felt better after that.

Next we picked up Joshua, who I wrote about previously. On Monday, his mom Alma, took me to meet another woman who has a son with Down's Syndrome. She knew what I was doing, and had spoken with her husband. She then proceeded to tell me that she and her husband had heard stories when they were younger about children who had been taken to programs run by North Americans, then the children were never seen again. This kind of mentality is pervasive in the more remote villages, and with the uneducated. There is a lot of fear in this culture, and stories like this run rampant.

Alma assured her that I had been attending her church for a while, and she knew that I wasn't going to steal her child. She agreed to have little Wilmer come and said she would bring him down to Alma's house for me to pick him up. To get to their house required a long drive up the mountain on a one lane road, then about a 10-15 minute hike farther up the hill. I couldn't do that with other kids waiting in the car, so she agreed to bring him down.

Not surprisingly, he wasn't there. I had arrived about 20 minutes late, so didn't wait for him any longer.

The  car ride was very subdued. They didn't know where we were going, but they were happy anyway. :)

Once we arrived at my house, it was instant chaos. I didn't feel in control of anything for at least the first hour! Hindsight being what it is, I should have just let them get to know the place, and play. I did let them play for a bit, but I was excited to get onto the program part!

This picture is so blissfully deceptive! It looks like both boys are so interested, and I think Geovani (on the left) really was. But I was just trying to keep Joshua still while I read a Bible story. I got to where "and God made the light" and then gave up.

 Geovani colouring in his booklet. I lovingly printed them out, cut them and stapled them thinking it would be such a fun activity! Not so much.

Another deceptive picture. Joshua spent most of the time throwing the crayons on the floor, and trying to run away. He hasn't been disciplined much at home, and so he struggled a little at my house. :)

Music was a big hit. For a bit anyway. Joshua was listening to a music player, and Geovani was playing the xylophone. 

Geovani loved to kick the big exercise ball around, and played a bit with the toys. 

Joshua climbed in this box, and played there for a very long time! He would close the flaps, then open them, then close them, then open them. He also did a LOT of running! He preferred to crawl when he got here, but I was persistent with him, and after a few times of picking him up to walk, he didn't try to crawl again. He was tired by the end of the day, and kept falling. But it didn't deter him from walking, so I was happy. :)

I wasn't able to take any more pictures, as they kept us busy! I think it was a good thing we only had 2 kids! There was a lot of one on one work. 

We had a snack that Joshua proceeded to throw on the floor. We played outside with the ball and the wagon. And Joshua had a lesson in not throwing toys everywhere. 

All in all, I enjoyed it. But I sure was tired after dropping them off! 

We made it! Celebratory Snickers. :)

Tomorrow the same 2 boys will come in the afternoon. I've changed my plan a little. I'm going to let them get used to the place first, and not try too many programs yet. The house is new, and overwhelming. They need to get to know the place first, and get to know us, and learn to listen, before I start anything else. At least I know a little more about what to expect tomorrow! 

Keena didn't even know what Down's Syndrome was. I explained it to her before we picked up the kids. She enjoyed the day, as her big expectation was that they would cry the whole time they were away from their family! And since they didn't, she was good to go! 

I look forward to eventually adding more kids, but I think I'll just stick with these 2 for now! :)