Pray

The following isn't the most fun or cheerful bit of info I've had to share with you all but without a doubt just as important as any news of progress.  As I have mentioned many times before the orphanage takes in girls from abusive impoverished backgrounds, which many times includes the worst of human behavior.  The past week has been a troubling one as we have had several examples of this behavior that have hit several of the girls hard.

Last week an older woman (in her late 50's, but looked much older) walked into the orphanage house with a younger woman and two little girls.  The older woman introduced herself as the grandmother of the two little girls and the other lady as a close friend.  Ruth H. (the director of the orphanage) talked casually with the women about how they had heard about the orphanage, and then the two little girls were dismissed to go play around the house with the rest of the girls.  The grandmother went on to tell us that the previous week the two little girls had lost their mother.  It turned out that their dad had come home to their small shack and in a fit of rage shot their mother in front of the older daughter (7 years old) and that now he is in prison for 18 years.  The girls were living with their uncles and grandmother but she has very little to support them with and their uncles are just as unstable as their incarcerated brother.  So with no one to turn to, the girls have come to us until they are 18 years old.

This Friday evening, Catherine and I went over to hang out with the girls and play with them.  Friday night is one of the most hyper times for the girls because not only is school out for the week but many of their parents/caretakers come and pick them up to take them for the weekend.  In the middle of playing ninja with them (which involves me defending myself again 6 or more attacking ninjas) the doorbell rang.  "Its my mom" one girl shouts.  "No, its my grandma, she said she'd come this week" says another girl.  I ran down to open the door and saw that it was William, Juliet's father.  William is a single dad who is a carpenter who does odd jobs where he can get them.  He raises Juliet's older brother (12 years old) alone and has no idea where his promiscuous ex-wife is.  He has been consistent in coming and picking up Juliet for the weekends.  When she came running down and saw him, her face lit up and ran over to give him a hug.  He asked me briefly if she was behaving well and then took her by the hand and walked off.  This morning as I was walking into church, Ruth Ramirez (the caretaker that lives in the orphanage) took me aside.  She had tears in her eyes when she told me that Juliet's dad had been killed last night and right in front of her.  It was sort of hard to believe at first and then Ruth went on to tell me that Juliet was always praying for her dad because he was always getting into fights.  Well, it turns out that a neighbor heard the commotion and called the cops and took Juliet in for the night.  That was late last night 

and when Ruth H. received the call this morning, she left immediately with her husband, Isaac to go get Juliet.  The danger now is that the government will take Juliet away and stick her in one of their huge state run orphanages (which resemble a more run down version of the projects).  

Juliet is the girl in the green dress, second from the left.

As I said, this isn't the most uplifting news I've had to share with you, but it is equally if not more important.  I am reminded time and time again that this orphanage is not built with bricks, new clothes, food, donations or even volunteers, but with prayer.  I am absolutely convinced that without prayer, I am simply filling time, at best.  Life change is not brought about by food, shelter, new clothes or things, not even loving attention.  Real change is made through diligent and constant prayer.  So I ask you, the reader, to please not let this pass by as just another bit of news.  Please stop, take 5 minutes to pray for these girls.  Pray that God would protect them and provide for them.  Pray that those of us working with the orphanage would give them Christ's love.  Please continue to take time everyday to pray for these girls, and please pray for the Thomas family as they deal with losing Mitch to cancer.  Prayer is much more important than any donation we could receive from you so please take time, make time to pray for the girls here.