We are a group of young couples from Valley Church in West Des Moines, Iowa who have felt God's call to help The Pines Christian Care Center for Children in Welkom, South Africa as they care for children who have been orphaned by the AIDS Pandemic in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Links
Contributors
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Kevin Barber
Today has been rather eventful and emotional for the team.
This morning we visited Morning Star, a day care specifically for HIV-infected children. We were able to have time to get down on the floor and play with the kids. They sang and danced for us, and we were all deeply touched - "This Little Light of Mine" will never again sound the same to our group. All other emotions are still too raw to put into words -we all get tears in our eyes just thinking about these precious children and their circumstances. Despite having this terrible disease, they are still able to sing and joyfully praise God.
The Pines accepted 3 children today from Morning Star whose mother is very ill and in the hospital with no one else to care for them. (See previous post) The ladies took them to the hospital to see their mom and also to visit Nswaki. We read books to her and to other sick children.
The guys continue to make progress on on the flat. The walls of the living quarters are completely constructed and will be ready for finish work.
Tonight we celebrated Corey's birthday tonight with a meal of Bobotie, an authenic South African dish. Following our meal, the children joined us for the dessert and sang Corey "Happy Birthday" in both English and... French? The kids liked the ice cream and thought the apple crisp was... interesting. Corey was showered with hand-made birthday cards by the children, which he will treasure always, and he said it was the best birthday that he's ever had!
The new children are adjusting well and making friends. They were overjoyed to receive a few sets of clothes, some of which were the ones we carried from Des Moines for the orphans. The looks on their faces tonight had drastically changed from what we had seen earlier today. Of course, they still need our prayer in many ways as does their mother.
Our Devotion Today: Exodus 3
As always, thank you for your continued prayers and encouraging comments.
Show / Hide Comments 3 Comment(s) Post a Comment
Kevin Barber
Today has been rather eventful and emotional for the team.
This morning we visited Morning Star, a day care specifically for HIV-infected children. We were able to have time to get down on the floor and play with the kids. They sang and danced for us, and we were all deeply touched - "This Little Light of Mine" will never again sound the same to our group. All other emotions are still too raw to put into words -we all get tears in our eyes just thinking about these precious children and their circumstances. Despite having this terrible disease, they are still able to sing and joyfully praise God.
The Pines accepted 3 children today from Morning Star whose mother is very ill and in the hospital with no one else to care for them. (See previous post) The ladies took them to the hospital to see their mom and also to visit Nswaki. We read books to her and to other sick children.
The guys continue to make progress on on the flat. The walls of the living quarters are completely constructed and will be ready for finish work.
Tonight we celebrated Corey's birthday tonight with a meal of Bobotie, an authenic South African dish. Following our meal, the children joined us for the dessert and sang Corey "Happy Birthday" in both English and... French? The kids liked the ice cream and thought the apple crisp was... interesting. Corey was showered with hand-made birthday cards by the children, which he will treasure always, and he said it was the best birthday that he's ever had!
The new children are adjusting well and making friends. They were overjoyed to receive a few sets of clothes, some of which were the ones we carried from Des Moines for the orphans. The looks on their faces tonight had drastically changed from what we had seen earlier today. Of course, they still need our prayer in many ways as does their mother.Our Devotion Today: Exodus 3
As always, thank you for your continued prayers and encouraging comments.
Show / Hide Comments 3 Comment(s) Post a Comment
