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We have been blessed
with another wonderful week at CLM. Five different times this week, various
people from the community dropped in with gifts for our family. The first was
from Imperatriz, the private school here in the colony. The students there have
been participating in a project called Mata Verde, which focuses on what they
can do to preserve and protect the environment. They had beautiful handmade
notebooks of recycled paper for each of the kids, as well as several potted
plants. They also brought a special snack and cans of pop for everyone. On the
next day, a man from the Agraria, the German company in the colony, came with
over 300 servings of salgadinhos (appetizers) that were left over from a party
they had earlier in the day. The following day, another woman from one of the
nearby churches dropped in with several plates of potato salad and jars of
pickles and two police officers brought candy for the kids. Finally, a
Christian bookstore in the colony donated toys, Bibles, and some craft materials
to us. It is beautiful to see how so many people here reach out to help our
ministry. Please pray for each of them to feel the blessing of the Lord in
their lives for their generosity and thoughtfulness.
We received the
report cards from Imperatriz and Lacerda but are still waiting to hear from Dom
Pedro, where our older students attend. The exciting news is that Luana and
Raquel have improved in every subject and will earn a reward for their hard
work! Luquinho has also made some improvements academically but is having some
behavior issues. Arivaldo's teacher is very impressed with the gains that he
has made this year and he is becoming more confident in himself. Aline,
Alisson, and Alex (the last three to arrive at CLM) are the ones that we are the
most concerned about, specifically with reading. Cristiane and Elielton's
teacher commented that he's not participating and improving as he was
before. This year has been a challenge for our kids at Imperatriz, too.
Whereas they could pretty much skate by at the public school, the private
school's curriculum is much more advanced and has been a shock for those who
never really had to put much effort into their studies before. Our three
youngest, Everton, Gisi, and Diogo, seem to be doing fine except for an
occasional discipline problem with Gisi. Caroline and Carolaine are in the
third grade and also are adjusting well. This is Rita's fourth year at
Imperatriz and she continues to earn high marks. Patricia, Geovane, Lucas (5th
grade), and Romulo (7th grade) have had the roughest transition. They have been
dropped into advanced English and German classes with other students who are
already fluent and it has been an extremely difficult year, filled with bouts of
anger and tears. We are confident that this is a great opportunity for our
children but desire wisdom on how we should continue next year. Please pray for
each of our students to finish strong, as well as for each of the adults who are
committed to helping them feel successful with their education. Pray
specifically for Patricia and Geovane who seem to be emotionally struggling
worse than the others, and for Lucao who has skipped classes lately and has no
interest in school.
On Friday
afternoon, our farmer and our gardener took all of our older boys for a fishing
trip. Although it was cold and rainy, the boys came back with lots of stories
about their adventures and the "fish that got away!" Luiz shared with Viktoria
after they returned that he and Doni take full responsibility for the boys as if
they were their fathers on these trips. We are blessed that these two Godly men
work for us and are so dedicated to the ministry here. Please pray for them and
their families.
On Friday
evening, a group from a local church led by Viktoria's friend, Tuta, performed a
drama based on Max Lucado's book, "You are Special!" The story is about a
little Wemmick named Punchinello who can never seem to do anything right. The
people in his village all have gray dots and gold stars that they place on the
other Wemmicks when they do something bad or something good. Poor Punchinello
is always covered with gray dots, and dreams of earning gold stars. He meets a
girl named Lucia and is intrigued because she doesn't have any marks. She
explains to him that the stars don't stick because they don't matter. It only
matters what Eli, the woodcarver, thinks about her because He created her.
Punchinello is fearful but visits Eli, the Creator of his people, with Lucia and
discovers that Eli loves him and thinks he is special. The performers did a
great job of involving the children with their performance and everyone had a
great time. Please pray that the seeds planted by this story delve deep into
the hearts of our kids and they realize that they are intimately loved by their
Creator.
On Saturday
night, Amanda and I labeled and passed out new pajamas for all the kids, a
generous donation from the North Phoenix AC church for the entire CLM family.
The kids were so happy and loved posing for pictures to show off their new
duds! Thank you so much for this special gift!
Lucilene will be
travelling to Curitiba on Thursday for a consult with an orthopedic surgeon.
She has a fairly severe curvature in her spine and the doctors here in
Guarapuava have sent her to a specialist for further study. Marilda will be
taking her and they will return on Friday evening. Please pray for Luci's
doctor appointment, as well as for safety as she and Marilda travel.
We
have two birthdays this week here at Entre Rios. Maria Luiza will celebrate her
first birthday today! She came to us in February when she was just four months
old after her drug-addicted parents abandoned her. When they discovered the
baby had been removed, they tried to invade the Child Protection Agency. To
avoid more threats and attempts to get their child back, it was requested that
we take her since the parents were not familiar with CLM. Maria Luiza was quite
lethargic when she arrived and we were afraid that she had some significant
developmental delays. However, we realized very quickly that God had different
plans for this special little girl! She has become very active and alert, and
is very close to being able to walk on her own. Please pray for Maria Luiza's
future and God's perfect will for her life.
Raquel will be 8
years old on Saturday. She is the sister of Arivaldo, Everton, and Hellen.
They were removed from their family when it was discovered that their older
sister was being used as a prostitute to earn money for the family. Shortly
after the children came to live with us, their mother died due to complications
with the pregnancy of her ninth child. Raquel is a very sensitive girl who
cries easily. She struggles in school but recently has shown improvement. She
loves to color, play with dolls, and do puzzles. Please pray for a forever
family for Raquel and her brothers and sister, as well as continued healing for
the pain that she has already endured in her young life.
Aninha called and asked for
prayer for Letricia. She fell while playing on a trampoline at school and broke
her arm close to the elbow. She has already had an emergency surgery and is
in a cast. She is such a small and frail little girl and we covet your prayers
for her perfect healing.
The last bimester in
school is underway and the Turvo team asks for prayer that all of their students
finish strong and that Romualdo improves. Please pray for everyone who is
planning to come and serve at CLM Turvo during the next few months. There is
a couple from Bahia and another from Arizona, as well as Candice from
Australia. Another
couple from the Nazarene church in Sao Paulo is praying about serving there, as
well. Josiane spent this past week in Turvo helping out and was a huge
blessing to the entire family. Carrie will be finishing up her experience and
returning to Illinois in two weeks. She will be terribly missed and I'm sure
will be a wonderful advocate for Turvo and the miracles that she has witnessed
while she has served there. As you can imagine, with the number of children
that we care for, short-termers are vital to our ministry. Please join us in
praying for more workers!
Finally, Allan is
still looking for a job and we ask for you to pray for him, as well as the
entire Moreira family.
Thank you for your
support, encouragement, and prayers as we share the love of Christ with all of
these precious children.
Mary
Cochran
