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We praise
God for the perfect day He gave us to celebrate Children's Day on Sunday! It is
traditionally the first day of swimming but with the cold and rainy weather
we've had, we all had doubts if it would be warm enough to swim. God blessed us
with a hot and sunny day...and our kids have a healthy glow to prove it! Close
to 150 people came from our church and the colony to join us for lunch and a day
of fun and fellowship. There was a water slide for the little ones and the
soccer field, basketball court, and playground were in constant use. Mike added
a balance beam to the deep end of the pool and the kids had a blast trying to
make it to the other side without falling off. (Of course, it turned into more
of a challenge when we gave them jousting sticks!) God blessed us with another
perfect day on Monday and the festivities continued. After lunch, the kids were
doubly blessed to receive a bag full of candy and to discover they had no chores
for the day. As soon as all the adults finished the dishes, everyone came
together to play hockey for the first time. Viktoria, Jake, Lobinho, and Mike
jumped on a team while I strapped on a whistle as the
referee/photographer. Everyone loved it and the little ones learned more about
time...they must have asked 10 times during the 3 minutes they were in the
penalty box if it was time to go back in! The afternoon was filled with more
games, soccer, basketball, sand volleyball, and rollerblading. We had brownie
and ice cream sundaes with homemade hot fudge sauce and whipped cream for
snack. I had fortunately made plenty because 15 of Donei's friends showed up to
spend the day with us and teenage boys can eat! Amanda and Jake filled about
200 water balloons and organized a balloon launch and relay which left everyone
soaked and ready to swim. We ended the day at the pool with a bonfire and a
weenie roast and again thanked God for another special day for our
kids.
Today, the
judge invited the entire CLM family, as well as all the kids currently placed
in children's services in Guarapuava, to a movie at the theater in the
city. Our kids were already excited about the movie, so you should have seen
them when we told them we were going to the Children's Park afterwards...and
then to the pizzaria for dinner! The sponsors of our students at
Imperatriz blessed us with a donation and asked us to do something special for
the children at Entre Rios. In the past, they have bought things just for our
10 students who go to the private school but this time wanted to do something
special for all of our kids for Children's Day. It was a perfect opportunity to
take them out for dinner since we were already in the city. Again, God blessed
us with a warm and sunny day and the smiles, hugs, and "thank yous" from our
kids blessed each of us. Our desire is for each of them to feel treasured and
we are so grateful for everyone who helps to cultivate the true worth and
precious value that God has placed on their lives. Please pray that the Holy
Spirit continues to delve deep within each one, taking away any seed of doubt
that it is their fault they aren't with their families.
When we met the CLM Turvo family at
the cinema, our two groups were the only ones who arrived on time. The program
was delayed as we waited on others to arrive. It was a little frustrating
because we had rushed to get there but God used the time to allow the two
families to visit. Aninha shared that they also had a wonderful Children's Day,
celebrating the love and value that God has for each of their children. The big
event was the water slide down into the deep end of their new swimming area.
Carrie prepared a special treat...BUCKEYES! Anything with peanut butter is
always special for our kids because we can't buy it here.
Please continue to pray for
Aninha. She has fallen twice this past week. Her knee is sensitive and feels
unstable at times. She needs to rest more but it is difficult for her when
there is always so much to do. She has lost over 10 pounds and desires prayer
to continue to lose more weight to alleviate the pain in her knee. Also,
Luiz just finished planting about
3,000 eucalyptus trees which will make for a great investment for the future.
May God bless their plantation!
We
have one birthday this week at Turvo. Luiz will be 53 years old on Saturday.
He is originally from the state of Minas Gerais and was raised at
the Nepomuceno Boys´ Home. Twenty one years ago, Luiz and his family came to
CLM as our farmer. As the years passed, he and Aninha felt the call to serve
as missionaries at CLM. Four years ago, they were even more specifically called
to serve as the Directors at the second CLM Home in the city of Turvo,
Paraná. He is very knowledgeable and loves to learn new things. Luiz and
Aninha have four beautiful children, Etienne, Natalia, Allan, and Romualdo.
Please keep Luiz in your prayers for good health, wisdom, daily renewal and
strength, an intimacy with Christ and with his family, and his ministry as a
father to the children at Turvo.
Thank you for interceding on behalf of each of our children, each
of the missionaries, and for the ministry of CLM.
