Monday, July 15, 2013
New Website
We now have a website it is www.lovechangesall.org Our new name is Love Changes All. We will be updating under http://www.lovechangesall.org/news.html please check it monthly for updates.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
With God all things are possible!!!
If you would of told us when we started our journey into full time missions that we would one day be moving to a country where we were going to start something from the ground up we would have told you that you were crazy. We would of said "Isn't it enough to just sell all of our things and move to another country to help with an established ministry." Of course we did start that way by moving to Mozambique last year and working at the Iris Ministries Pemba base where we served as hospitality leaders for almost a year and we ere so grateful for the time that we spent there and for all of the lessons learned there because that year in Pemba gave us the confidence that we could do what He has called us to do in 2013.
If you are new to our blog or just haven't kept up with us then you maybe asking what are you doing in 2013? Well on January 1st we moved to Costa Rica where we will be rescuing children from the sex trafficking industry. We will also be working with under privileged children to hopefully save them before they get into the industry. We have found that the needs are great here and we are really not sure where we should begin.
We have found a great little place to live outside of San Jose in a providence called Tibas. Our landlady is a sweet older lady who is very happy that we are here. She has been taking good care of us by buying us additional pots and pans, sheets, blankets and even brought us over lunch on our first day of Spanish school. This place even has a washing machine so it is definitely nice to not have our clothes hand washed anymore. We are so grateful to God for this wonderful place to live.
We know the first and most important thing we need to do is learn the language. So after 20+ years of not attending school we have started language school. We are going to class Monday-Friday and from 8-12pm. This has been a little bit of a challenge for us but we have found that you can teach old dogs new tricks and after our second week of school we have seen that we are learning a lot. For me, Cindy, it has been easier than for John. I have had some Spanish in High School so a lot of it has been coming back plus I did learn some Portuguese while in Mozambique so that is helping too. John has found out that he did know more Portuguese then he thought but is having a harder time than I. But, I must say he is doing remarkably well and he has come a long way since that first day. Our teacher, Fransico, is amazing and he will speak very little English so we are totally immersed in the language.
Next week John is going to go to private lessons in the afternoon. He is going to be studying from 1-4pm and I, Cindy, will be learning my Spanish from a girl that used to be in prostitution. She was in a safe house for a few months but when she turned 18 she had to leave so I am going to work with her and pay her a little something to help me. This is a win win situation for all as she will now have a job and I will be on the streets practicing my Spanish. Hopefully, the next week John will feel more comfortable with Spanish and will be able to join us.
Also, during these first weeks we have had several meetings with PANI, like child protection, and have found out that the needs are great especially for children ages 12-18 but especially the boys. It seems that people are willing to help out the younger children and maybe even the older girls but no one seems to want the boys. So, starting the first week in February we are going to go to the area where the homeless boys and girls hang out and bring them sandwiches. Right now we are only going to do this once a week but hope to do it more often once our Spanish is better. We want to start relationships with these children and see what is the best way to help them.
In the future we would like to rent a building to start a community center. This would allow us to feed the children on a daily basis and also have some programs for them to keep them off of the street for a little while. This would also allow us to work with people that are 18 and over. Again building up the relationships with them and having them come to learn to love and trust us is the key. We are also still figuring out how the best way to do this is and thinking at the moment that the community center would be best in the area where they hang out. So, of course we will need guards and other volunteers to help us so please pray that God will give us the right strategy for helping these precious children.
We have also been learning our way around here. We are for the most part on our own so we are having to figure out everything as we go. We do a lot of walking as it helps us find our way around and then it also gives us a chance to practice our Spanish. We do not have a car so we either have to walk, take a taxi or a bus. We are finding that for what we are wanting to do we are going to need a car. There are areas that we would like to go and visit but is really hard without a car so we have been looking and are finding that older used cars are pretty expensive here. We are going to need @ $10,000 for a car. We are asking each of you to pray for our need of a car and if you feel that God would like you to donate to our car fund then please click here please mark that it is for Thalheimer missions and that it is for the car fund.
In closing we would like to say thank you to everyone that has supported us with prayers. financial support, encouragement etc because if it wasn't for you guys we would not be doing what we are doing. Remember that whatever we reap you also reap. We love each and everyone of you and would love to hear from you so please send us an email at cindy@pishonriver.com. Also if you would like us to pray for anything please let us know.
Lots of love and blessings,
John and Cindy
Prayer needs:
Our son Jeremiah to have less stress at work
Financial needs/ we are taking a big step here and we are now responsible to pay for all of our living needs like housing, car, food etc
For a nice car at a very reasonable price right now it is looking around $10,000
The sale of John's moms house to be quickly and at or above asking price. Also, that she she will find a place to live that is more suitable for her and that she likes immensely.
If you would like to make recurring monthly donations to us please send me an email at cindy@pishonriver.com and I will set it up for you. If you click here it will allow you to make a one time donation but not recurring so I will need to set that up. You can also mail checks to Wellspring Fellowship P.O. Box 71733 Albany GA 31708 please include a note that it is for Thalheimer Mission.
 |
| view of Costa Rica Mountains |
If you are new to our blog or just haven't kept up with us then you maybe asking what are you doing in 2013? Well on January 1st we moved to Costa Rica where we will be rescuing children from the sex trafficking industry. We will also be working with under privileged children to hopefully save them before they get into the industry. We have found that the needs are great here and we are really not sure where we should begin.
 |
| Living Room |
 |
| Small but nice kitchen |
 |
| Bedroom always a breeze blowing!!! |
We know the first and most important thing we need to do is learn the language. So after 20+ years of not attending school we have started language school. We are going to class Monday-Friday and from 8-12pm. This has been a little bit of a challenge for us but we have found that you can teach old dogs new tricks and after our second week of school we have seen that we are learning a lot. For me, Cindy, it has been easier than for John. I have had some Spanish in High School so a lot of it has been coming back plus I did learn some Portuguese while in Mozambique so that is helping too. John has found out that he did know more Portuguese then he thought but is having a harder time than I. But, I must say he is doing remarkably well and he has come a long way since that first day. Our teacher, Fransico, is amazing and he will speak very little English so we are totally immersed in the language.
 |
| Lunch for our 25th Wedding Anniversary!! |
Also, during these first weeks we have had several meetings with PANI, like child protection, and have found out that the needs are great especially for children ages 12-18 but especially the boys. It seems that people are willing to help out the younger children and maybe even the older girls but no one seems to want the boys. So, starting the first week in February we are going to go to the area where the homeless boys and girls hang out and bring them sandwiches. Right now we are only going to do this once a week but hope to do it more often once our Spanish is better. We want to start relationships with these children and see what is the best way to help them.
 |
| Our friend Marvin and one of his friends singing to us our first week here!! |
In the future we would like to rent a building to start a community center. This would allow us to feed the children on a daily basis and also have some programs for them to keep them off of the street for a little while. This would also allow us to work with people that are 18 and over. Again building up the relationships with them and having them come to learn to love and trust us is the key. We are also still figuring out how the best way to do this is and thinking at the moment that the community center would be best in the area where they hang out. So, of course we will need guards and other volunteers to help us so please pray that God will give us the right strategy for helping these precious children.
We have also been learning our way around here. We are for the most part on our own so we are having to figure out everything as we go. We do a lot of walking as it helps us find our way around and then it also gives us a chance to practice our Spanish. We do not have a car so we either have to walk, take a taxi or a bus. We are finding that for what we are wanting to do we are going to need a car. There are areas that we would like to go and visit but is really hard without a car so we have been looking and are finding that older used cars are pretty expensive here. We are going to need @ $10,000 for a car. We are asking each of you to pray for our need of a car and if you feel that God would like you to donate to our car fund then please click here please mark that it is for Thalheimer missions and that it is for the car fund.
In closing we would like to say thank you to everyone that has supported us with prayers. financial support, encouragement etc because if it wasn't for you guys we would not be doing what we are doing. Remember that whatever we reap you also reap. We love each and everyone of you and would love to hear from you so please send us an email at cindy@pishonriver.com. Also if you would like us to pray for anything please let us know.
Lots of love and blessings,
John and Cindy
Prayer needs:
Our son Jeremiah to have less stress at work
Financial needs/ we are taking a big step here and we are now responsible to pay for all of our living needs like housing, car, food etc
For a nice car at a very reasonable price right now it is looking around $10,000
The sale of John's moms house to be quickly and at or above asking price. Also, that she she will find a place to live that is more suitable for her and that she likes immensely.
If you would like to make recurring monthly donations to us please send me an email at cindy@pishonriver.com and I will set it up for you. If you click here it will allow you to make a one time donation but not recurring so I will need to set that up. You can also mail checks to Wellspring Fellowship P.O. Box 71733 Albany GA 31708 please include a note that it is for Thalheimer Mission.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Now in Costa Rica
This is just a quick update to let everyone know, that may not received our newsletter, that we are now in Costa Rica. God has called us here to start something from the ground up rescuing children from sex trafficking, the streets etc. We have been here not even a week and we have had several meetings with PANI, the agency that works with children, and have found out that the needs are so much greater than we even thought.
So please pray for us as we learning our way around a new place, having to learn a new language and also to do only what God has called us to do. However, one thing has been checked off of our list and that was finding a place to live. Praise God that we found a great place to live.
This is just a quick update for all who have not gotten our latest newsletter. If you wold like to be on our mailing list please send me your email address to cindy@pishonriver.com
We are so grateful to all of you that have sacrificed to support us on this new adventure with God because none of this would have been possible if it wasn't for your love, prayers and generosity.
LOve and blessings,
John and Cindy
Now missionaries to Costa Rica but Mozambique still has a place in our hearts and we are working on scholarship funds for there and here.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
This month's newsletter was entitled Trusting in God and was about all of the challenges that we have faced in the last month. This newsletter got mailed out to all of those that we have addresses for. We have tried to get it uploaded on our blog but keeping with the tune of this months letter we have faced another challenge and that is trying to get it uploaded on the blog. So, if you have not received a copy of this month's newsletter and would like to have a copy please email me at cindy@pishonriver.com and we will be happy to email you out a copy.
Again we am sorry that we were unable to get it uploaded here. We are working on a new website that will allow us to post these things more easily.
Thank you for all of you love, prayers and financial support because with you none of the would be possible.
Love and Blessings,
CIndy and John
Thursday, August 23, 2012
REACHING FOR YOUR DREAMS
Sometimes you may never know who you are going to meet and this month we were blessed to meet a writer, Jennifer Miskov, who wrote an amazing book called "Silver to Gold" and we highly recommend it. This book is about not settling for less and reaching for your dreams no matter what. Even if you lose people or things along the way you should keep pressing for those God given dreams. So, after reading the book we got to thinking about our lives in the past year and all that God had done in it.
As all of you know our dream of becoming full time missionaries began a long time ago but it really started last year when we decided to sell our 105 year old historic home. Some people were thinking that we were crazy to sell our dream house, yes we had a dream to restore a historic home, but our dream of being full time missionaries was calling us. So we decided to put our house on the market, even though the housing market was terrible, and trust God. Well in one day our house was sold!
Next stop was Pemba, Mozambique where we attend the Harvest Mission School and said we were going to test the waters for full time missionary work. Three months of classes, going into the bush and living in a small closet sized bedroom, eating beans and rice and getting to know each other in a whole new way and we still survived.
After school we did an extended outreach where we spent 10 days in the bush, which we led, and then we went around Asia for a month. While in Asia we got to go to Hong Kong, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand and then back to Hong Kong. We got to work with NightLight, an organization that helps get girls out of prostitution, work in a YWAM base with HIV children, and go with some amazing people from Jackie Pullinger's ministry to pray over a nation that was full of drugs and oppression.
After traveling around Asia we then went back home to Georgia and prepared for the next leg of our journey in full time missions, which is where we have spent the last 6 months, Pemba, Mozambique. This month has brought us to Cape Town, South Africa where we came to renew our visas and have a much needed break.
We now see that another dream has been met. We have wanted to travel the world and though we won't say that we have traveled the world yet, we will say that we are having a very good start at it. We have been in 10 countries so far and 7 of them were in the last year. SO, yeah we think another dream has been met though we do think that there could be more countries for us in our future.
We say all of this to get you encouraged to reach for your dreams. We will tell you that the journey has not always been easy, but we can say that we are so glad that we didn't stop reaching. Sometimes dreams take you to faraway places and sometimes they take you closer to home but the point is to keep reaching for those dreams. Don't every stop dreaming and keep reaching for the gold.
What about your dreams? We would love to know what they are and how we can pray for you to reach those dreams. We would love to encourage you on your journey of dreams. Remember that God is not a small God so keep dreaming and dream BIG! Step out and make your dreams real.
We love each and everyone of you,
John and Cindy
Sometimes you may never know who you are going to meet and this month we were blessed to meet a writer, Jennifer Miskov, who wrote an amazing book called "Silver to Gold" and we highly recommend it. This book is about not settling for less and reaching for your dreams no matter what. Even if you lose people or things along the way you should keep pressing for those God given dreams. So, after reading the book we got to thinking about our lives in the past year and all that God had done in it.
As all of you know our dream of becoming full time missionaries began a long time ago but it really started last year when we decided to sell our 105 year old historic home. Some people were thinking that we were crazy to sell our dream house, yes we had a dream to restore a historic home, but our dream of being full time missionaries was calling us. So we decided to put our house on the market, even though the housing market was terrible, and trust God. Well in one day our house was sold!
Next stop was Pemba, Mozambique where we attend the Harvest Mission School and said we were going to test the waters for full time missionary work. Three months of classes, going into the bush and living in a small closet sized bedroom, eating beans and rice and getting to know each other in a whole new way and we still survived.
After school we did an extended outreach where we spent 10 days in the bush, which we led, and then we went around Asia for a month. While in Asia we got to go to Hong Kong, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand and then back to Hong Kong. We got to work with NightLight, an organization that helps get girls out of prostitution, work in a YWAM base with HIV children, and go with some amazing people from Jackie Pullinger's ministry to pray over a nation that was full of drugs and oppression.
After traveling around Asia we then went back home to Georgia and prepared for the next leg of our journey in full time missions, which is where we have spent the last 6 months, Pemba, Mozambique. This month has brought us to Cape Town, South Africa where we came to renew our visas and have a much needed break.
We now see that another dream has been met. We have wanted to travel the world and though we won't say that we have traveled the world yet, we will say that we are having a very good start at it. We have been in 10 countries so far and 7 of them were in the last year. SO, yeah we think another dream has been met though we do think that there could be more countries for us in our future.
What about your dreams? We would love to know what they are and how we can pray for you to reach those dreams. We would love to encourage you on your journey of dreams. Remember that God is not a small God so keep dreaming and dream BIG! Step out and make your dreams real.We love each and everyone of you,
John and Cindy
Thursday, July 19, 2012
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
Reader beware as this months newsletter is going to be very different than anything that we have every written before. God has been speaking to us on what kind of culture is being raised up here and around the world and so we are going to share with you what we have been asking ourselves for the past few months. The hopes of this letter is to get people to do some serious thinking about giving. We are going to ask some questions and give you our views and we pray that this will spark a fire inside of you and that it will get you talking among your friends and families about how giving in a wrong way can affect a generation and generations to come. So here goes:
As we have watched the many visitors coming here we have noticed some things that have brought us into a place of asking questions and wondering why. We are seeing outspoken people receiving many many material gifts such as mp3 players, jewelry, and money. That the people are learning that if I can speak English, hug visitors, even if they don't want to, and hang out with them then they will receive gifts. That it is necessary to do these things so that they can receive. Now don't get me wrong we all like to receive gifts but what is it saying to a person if they are always asking for things and are never said no to because they can tell sad stories which manipulates visitors into giving them things. In fact the stories being told may not even be true.
Another thing that most visitors will never see is that the people do not keep the gifts that are given to them. Of course they keep them while the person is here that gave them the item but once they are gone the item is usually gone too. The item is probably stolen or sold which says to us that they don't really care about that item in the first place and that more visitors are coming in so they will just get more stuff.
What about people that are not as outspoken as others and may not get as many things as other people? When other people are bragging about what they received and the meek person has received nothing what does this do to their self esteem? How would you feel if you saw other people always receiving gifts but you were not receiving anything yourself?
One question that we keeping asking is why are we giving? Are we giving to help the people or are we giving to make ourselves feel better? Is the gift that we are giving to them actually going to help them or is it hurting them by creating more of a beggar spirit?
Now don't get me wrong we are not saying to not give to them but give to them in the proper way. Give to them in a way that will help them and not hurt them. You maybe asking how does that look like and so here are some examples. What about taking food to the family so the entire family can eat, fixing up their house (such as repairing their roof, a big need here) , just hanging out with them, loving them and getting to know them and their families real needs. As you build up relationships what about encouraging their children to stay in school. So the children can be raised up as leaders instead of takers. This way we change a generation of orphan spirits into a generation of Kingdom mindset.
We love each and everyone of you and we are so thankful that you are on this journey with us. We pray that this letter does ignite something in you and that we have not offended anyone in anyway. We feel like God has taken us out of our comfort zone and that we are to share with you some of the struggle that we see.
We are coming back to the states either the end of November or the beginning of December until sometime in February. So if you would like for us to speak at your church, home group, youth group etc please email us at cindy@pishonriver.com so we can set up a date. We would love to see as many of you s possible when we are home. Also we would love to hear your thoughts about this latest newsletter so you can email them or just post a comment on the blog.
May God continue to stretch each and everyone of us.
Lots of love,
John and Cindy
PRAYER REQUESTS
Reader beware as this months newsletter is going to be very different than anything that we have every written before. God has been speaking to us on what kind of culture is being raised up here and around the world and so we are going to share with you what we have been asking ourselves for the past few months. The hopes of this letter is to get people to do some serious thinking about giving. We are going to ask some questions and give you our views and we pray that this will spark a fire inside of you and that it will get you talking among your friends and families about how giving in a wrong way can affect a generation and generations to come. So here goes:
As we have watched the many visitors coming here we have noticed some things that have brought us into a place of asking questions and wondering why. We are seeing outspoken people receiving many many material gifts such as mp3 players, jewelry, and money. That the people are learning that if I can speak English, hug visitors, even if they don't want to, and hang out with them then they will receive gifts. That it is necessary to do these things so that they can receive. Now don't get me wrong we all like to receive gifts but what is it saying to a person if they are always asking for things and are never said no to because they can tell sad stories which manipulates visitors into giving them things. In fact the stories being told may not even be true.
Another thing that most visitors will never see is that the people do not keep the gifts that are given to them. Of course they keep them while the person is here that gave them the item but once they are gone the item is usually gone too. The item is probably stolen or sold which says to us that they don't really care about that item in the first place and that more visitors are coming in so they will just get more stuff.
What about people that are not as outspoken as others and may not get as many things as other people? When other people are bragging about what they received and the meek person has received nothing what does this do to their self esteem? How would you feel if you saw other people always receiving gifts but you were not receiving anything yourself?
One question that we keeping asking is why are we giving? Are we giving to help the people or are we giving to make ourselves feel better? Is the gift that we are giving to them actually going to help them or is it hurting them by creating more of a beggar spirit?
Now don't get me wrong we are not saying to not give to them but give to them in the proper way. Give to them in a way that will help them and not hurt them. You maybe asking how does that look like and so here are some examples. What about taking food to the family so the entire family can eat, fixing up their house (such as repairing their roof, a big need here) , just hanging out with them, loving them and getting to know them and their families real needs. As you build up relationships what about encouraging their children to stay in school. So the children can be raised up as leaders instead of takers. This way we change a generation of orphan spirits into a generation of Kingdom mindset.
We love each and everyone of you and we are so thankful that you are on this journey with us. We pray that this letter does ignite something in you and that we have not offended anyone in anyway. We feel like God has taken us out of our comfort zone and that we are to share with you some of the struggle that we see.
We are coming back to the states either the end of November or the beginning of December until sometime in February. So if you would like for us to speak at your church, home group, youth group etc please email us at cindy@pishonriver.com so we can set up a date. We would love to see as many of you s possible when we are home. Also we would love to hear your thoughts about this latest newsletter so you can email them or just post a comment on the blog.
May God continue to stretch each and everyone of us.
Lots of love,
John and Cindy
PRAYER REQUESTS
- For God to continue to reveal new things in all of us
- Continued healing for John's mom as she is recovering from shoulder surgery
- For our son Jeremiah as he is getting settled back in TX and is learning his new job as a train master! (Way to go Jeremiah we are so proud of you)
- Divine health for us and all of our friends and family
- We are traveling to Cape Town July 27 to renew our visas so for our protection and that we will find favor with the embassy in Cape Town and receive a longer visa then 30 days
- Pray for our local workers as they are going to have to run the department while we are gone and we will be gone for 2 weeks.
- That we will have the strength and peace to continue with the journey that God has called us on.
- Our financial support. Thanks to Wellspring Fellowship you can now donate online via the following link: http://www.iwellspring.org/#!Donations/cpk3
- We would love to prayer for you so if you have any prayer requests please email them to us at cindy@pishonriver.com
Thursday, June 14, 2012
A MONTH TO BE THANKFUL FOR
It seems that the months here in Pemba are just flying by and so hard to believe that we have been here for over 4 months now. We are still getting adjusted to life here but we are definitely getting more and more use to life here now.
During this last month we have had a lot to be thankful for. After 2 months of work we finally got to see the completion of some building projects that had been going on in hospitality. This may not seem like a big deal but trying to deal with visitors and construction workers was a challenge. The work was supposed to be finished in about 3 weeks and before our busy season started. Well of course they didn't met the 3 week deadline but at least they were finished before our first big rush of visitors.
The end of May started our busy season here in Pemba and it started off with 65 visitors to be picked up within 2 days. In fact, we picked up 50 people in 1 day. That is a lot of rooms and beds to get ready! But, not only that once a visitor is picked up at the airport we must then give them an orientation. This orientation lasts about 1 1/2 hours and then we take them on a tour of base. So thankful that they all arrived and more importantly that all of their luggage arrived and that we did have a bed made for all of them. Not bad for our first big rush of people! Of course we had some help from our local workers and we are thankful for their efforts.
Another day to be thankful for was June 1 our Children's day. This is a day that we feed chicken, rice and cabbage and sodas to all of our Iris children and then we give them presents. But, this day is not just about our Iris children we also feed all of the village children and this year was the most ever because we feed over 4000 children. This is a huge feat for our kitchen crew because they work for an entire day to get everything ready and then they feed everyone. John and I left base after 5pm and there was still children in line waiting for their meal. Another thing to be thankful for was that we did not have any riots this year. The village children tend to get pushy and want their food fast but this year everything seemed to run smoothly.
We are continually grateful for the care packages that come from home. A new rule has come in to affect where we will now be charged for all of our packages that we receive. At first we told everyone to stop shipping packages from home but God has told us to trust in Him and that He will take care of it. It really lifts up our day when we receive a package from home so please keep sending them. We have no idea of what the charge will be for the boxes but we will Trust Him and He will take care of it.
We had some DVD's taken from us but we are happy to report that we have received them back. God is good all of the time!!
Another thing that happened to John and I was that we got our house painted. A team from Scotland came and painted our living room, kitchen and dining room. We no longer have blue peeling walls and we must say that they did a fantastic job. Not only did they paint but when we came home we found money hidden throughout our house. So they blessed us by painting and then they blessed us with money that covered most of the cost of the paint and supplies. Yah Jesus!!!
Lastly we would like to introduce you to our new staff member, Angelica! Angelica has come to work with us part time and is helping our cleaning ladies. She is such a sweet and lovely young lady. She has such an amazing story of forgiveness that I will have to share with you one day. She is such a beautiful young lady and we are so grateful to have her with us. Look for her picture to come in the near future.
We are so thankful for everything that God is doing in us and we want each and everyone of you to know that we could not being doing this if it was not for the love, prayers and support of each one of you. You are sowing seeds with us and you will all also reap the rewards.
With much love and blessings,
Cindy & John
P.S. Due to problems with our internet I was not able to upload any pictures this time. I will keep trying so hopefully soon.
It seems that the months here in Pemba are just flying by and so hard to believe that we have been here for over 4 months now. We are still getting adjusted to life here but we are definitely getting more and more use to life here now.
During this last month we have had a lot to be thankful for. After 2 months of work we finally got to see the completion of some building projects that had been going on in hospitality. This may not seem like a big deal but trying to deal with visitors and construction workers was a challenge. The work was supposed to be finished in about 3 weeks and before our busy season started. Well of course they didn't met the 3 week deadline but at least they were finished before our first big rush of visitors.
The end of May started our busy season here in Pemba and it started off with 65 visitors to be picked up within 2 days. In fact, we picked up 50 people in 1 day. That is a lot of rooms and beds to get ready! But, not only that once a visitor is picked up at the airport we must then give them an orientation. This orientation lasts about 1 1/2 hours and then we take them on a tour of base. So thankful that they all arrived and more importantly that all of their luggage arrived and that we did have a bed made for all of them. Not bad for our first big rush of people! Of course we had some help from our local workers and we are thankful for their efforts.
Another day to be thankful for was June 1 our Children's day. This is a day that we feed chicken, rice and cabbage and sodas to all of our Iris children and then we give them presents. But, this day is not just about our Iris children we also feed all of the village children and this year was the most ever because we feed over 4000 children. This is a huge feat for our kitchen crew because they work for an entire day to get everything ready and then they feed everyone. John and I left base after 5pm and there was still children in line waiting for their meal. Another thing to be thankful for was that we did not have any riots this year. The village children tend to get pushy and want their food fast but this year everything seemed to run smoothly.
We are continually grateful for the care packages that come from home. A new rule has come in to affect where we will now be charged for all of our packages that we receive. At first we told everyone to stop shipping packages from home but God has told us to trust in Him and that He will take care of it. It really lifts up our day when we receive a package from home so please keep sending them. We have no idea of what the charge will be for the boxes but we will Trust Him and He will take care of it.
We had some DVD's taken from us but we are happy to report that we have received them back. God is good all of the time!!
Another thing that happened to John and I was that we got our house painted. A team from Scotland came and painted our living room, kitchen and dining room. We no longer have blue peeling walls and we must say that they did a fantastic job. Not only did they paint but when we came home we found money hidden throughout our house. So they blessed us by painting and then they blessed us with money that covered most of the cost of the paint and supplies. Yah Jesus!!!
Lastly we would like to introduce you to our new staff member, Angelica! Angelica has come to work with us part time and is helping our cleaning ladies. She is such a sweet and lovely young lady. She has such an amazing story of forgiveness that I will have to share with you one day. She is such a beautiful young lady and we are so grateful to have her with us. Look for her picture to come in the near future.
We are so thankful for everything that God is doing in us and we want each and everyone of you to know that we could not being doing this if it was not for the love, prayers and support of each one of you. You are sowing seeds with us and you will all also reap the rewards.
With much love and blessings,
Cindy & John
P.S. Due to problems with our internet I was not able to upload any pictures this time. I will keep trying so hopefully soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)