I have good news and more requests for all of you...
Mariam’s back and adjusting pretty well. The biggest challenge is getting her sleep schedule back in order and helping her with bowel movements-so painful after the week at her home with different food and sleep patterns. She has been in a lot of pain and not sleeping as well. One of the vitamin supplements we are trying with her-Pediasure, has some probiotics that should help, but she was off of it the week at her parents so we have to get her back on track now. Praise, she only lost 1 Kg, and though she is a little overwhelmed by the stairs each morning, she is adjusting pretty well to the new surroundings.
We are almost fully unpacked, though still several boxes in storage-I think they will still be there when I leave . The electrician’s work is almost finished, painting done, and a few more small items the carpenter finished today. The hot water geeser that my roommate, the boys and I use is not working quite yet, and we have not had a very strong or fast internet connection since the move. It is hard to get some of the work I need to done-as far as research is concerned and to update you all-so pr that it will get better! Thankfully, the week I am at the hospital each month I should have better access, so I can do more then in my free time.
Requests:
-Our stairs inside are not the safest; we have already had two accidents-thankfully not worse than a nasty bruise and a pulled nerve for staff, but please pr for safety for the children, and especially Mariam as she sleeps upstairs and cannot brave the stairs alone.
-Mariam-health (especially bowel problems, rest and continuing to gain weight and improve immunity; getting her to swallow her medicine can be a problem as well, and there is so little to mix it with here that she likes (we need instant pudding or applesauce, which we don’t have here; and it has to be warm)
-Continued direction for each day, to trust Him and believe that He is at work in me here, and to trust in His plan for me after I leave (there are so many unknowns); time and the resources to research, plan, implement and reassess the vitamins schedule
-Staff: one person just quit and another who is just not following through (of the staff that come weekly to help with the intervention center for children with disabilities-Debbie trains them and they run the program); there is a need for people who are on fire for Him and for His children-especially those with disabilities. I really think someone (a third person) needs to live here to help the staff I will be leaving behind. I don’t know if I will be coming back for quite a while (if at all), but I see a great need for someone else to come and offer assistance and support. If you are a nurse, teacher, student or anyone with a heart for children in crisis and sharing His light with them, I encourage you to earnestly pr about coming (whether short or long-term). It will change your world!
- Again, my time here is coming to a close quickly and I don’t want to miss a thing; every week goes by and I think, what have I accomplished and how much I still want to do? There are always things that come up, and with the move several plans have been changed. I trust Him completely in what He wants to use me for, but I also don’t want to be lazy in completing what I came here to.
-Restarting SS: we need a big enough space and safe place to bring the children and our rooms are too small for all 30 kids; we also need the energy and time to continue it with all we are doing to finish the house, care for the children in the home and restarting the intervention center program next month
-Pr for each one of these children in the home to continue to learn from our devotion time and love the Lord; there are a variety of causes of behavior issues which makes it very difficult to assess them (so many factors: environment, abuse, malnutrition...)- My desire is that they come to know the Bread of Life and share that with a nation that needs so desperately to hear!
-Joshua, the 5 yr-old with Autism should be coming next month. We do have another young girl (orphaned) coming to live here (maybe just temporarily)-she is 20, pr for her arrival and transition here; and pr for both her and our live-in person, Richa to come to know Him.
-I go to the hospital again next week and will be there 1 week each month now until I leave in April!
Now to explain my title for this post...
Last Sunday I was blessed and encouraged by a message from John Piper, and my home church at VBC. I am learning so much, about His will and promises, and about His purpose for me here. The message from JP was from John 6:27-40, and was a humbling reminder of my purpose on this earth and here; it is titled “Behold, Believe, Be Raised” and is from a message on the 22nd of November 2009. It challenged me to place Him at the center of satisfying my every desire, and remember that His will is made perfectly clear in these lines. My last post I mentioned Ephesians 1; I believe this passage in John 6 is His answer to me, for this time, of what His will is-that I am kept in Him and satisfied with Him, and that this truth is clear to those around me. Please ask Him for that with me! Romans 8 and Mark 6:33-38 have also been key players in my fight for faith and seeking to fight against my own selfish unwillingness to give all I am and have for building His kingdom-no matter how hard it can be at times! I have found myself looking at Mark 8:33-38 time and time again, and asking myself daily, am I really willing to lose my life for Him? Am I demonstrating that in my heart attitude as I live out His will for me?
Lastly a message from my church, given on December 19th 2010, from Rom 10:21 moved me to tears as I visualized His hands stretching open, and I saw and felt Him running to embrace me! I was moved with compassion for those who need to know the love of the Father, and overwhelmed by His love for me. May you feel the same today, that it is never too late to turn to Him and surrender all to Him because the reward is worth it-the assurance that you will be kept by Him and for Him for all eternity-nothing could be better than this! Yes, “ I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24).
Monday, January 17, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Change of Address... :-)
We have moved in and are slowly organizing and unpacking boxes and adjusting to our new home. It has been slow as there were many unfinished needs we had hoped to have before moving in: hot water (geeser’s were installed but not plugged in), electric outlets and lights (we only had some that were working the electrician has been here all week getting the rest in place), safety measures (gates for the upstairs to protect Mariam-the carpenter is working on finishing these and we hope to bring her home tomorrow!), plumbing (our kitchen was flooded and the roof also leaking with nowhere for it to drain from upstairs), not to mention it was just very dirty and a disorganized move. Although there have been many frustrations in the delay of some of this things, we have so many reason to thank Him!
We are all healthy and safe, resting peacefully at night when we have no reason but His presence to feel safe here. So thankful He is comforting us with His peace and giving us rest at night, keeping us safe from harm when we are back from the main road. It is so peaceful at night, quiet, no noise from the road like in the old house, and so beautiful! I will have more pictures (before and after) to post soon.
Praise:
-My roommate has decided to stay and we are connecting more every day-continue to pr for us to find ways to encourage each other and spur each other on.
-We are going to take a new boy in the coming month. He is 5 yrs old, abandoned at a nearby hospital, has autism and needs assistance to walk and use the bathroom. His name is Joshua. Please pr with us for his safety and smooth transition, the he would be strengthened and blessed when he comes.
-Even though we are all colder in the new house and under stress, we are all staying healthy and warm at night with heaters. We have not purchased the generator yet, but we have not needed it since we have not had full power to even utilize at this time.
-He is encouraging me daily with His words and revealing so many evidences of His presence and timing. I have loved daily just being able to devote time to pray scripture, and I have been praying Ephesians 1 and Philippians 1:3-12 daily for all of you supporting me and sharing in the journey!
-I am becoming more confident in practicing a little Hindi every day, forming relationships with people here, and finally starting to feel like I am actually making a difference instead of just being impacted in HUGE ways!
Requests:
-Mariam adjusting to the new house. She has been with her family for the past week, and that is a very long time for her to be there. Often she loses weight, has bowel problems (because of the different diet she has there), and can be very angry. We are asking Him to provide her safety needs, peace and a smooth transition back to full health!
-We are all exhausted and a little overwhelmed; ask that we would all be refreshed and strengthened to finish unpacking, organizing, getting things safely in order for the children especially to be able to adjust better.
-The boys are enjoying piano lessons, but we have gotten behind this past week. New books arrived this week, and I am hoping to start them up again. They love to “play” the keys, but it is hard to get them to focus and listen to really learn how to play and follow the structure. If they can be motivated to practice and listen, it could be so therapeutic and helpful to them. Ask Him to give me wisdom, patience and understanding with the boys different needs and to help me encourage them to learn and use their musical gifts for Him. A couple of the boys really love music and have an ear for it; it is just the behavior issues that are difficult to focus.
-The children will be going back to school soon (it has been delayed because of the cold), and the children with disabilities come back the first part of February. I am still working on finding the right vitamin schedules for these kids, needing wisdom and discernment and the time and working internet to research and find the right fit for each kid, and be able to monitor and assess after I’ve started them. It is hard to follow-up because kids don’t come consistently daily (except for a handful), and because of this I was not able to finish a full assessment on all the kids. It is also difficult because my lack of experience with children with disabilities and the language barrier; please pr for this, and if any of you out there have any suggestions please enlighten me!
-Safety, Health, transitions to the new home and surroundings-there are several reasons why only 10 minutes away is such a huge adjustment.
-Only 3 months left and still so much I want to finish before I leave. Pr that I would trust His timing and allowing me to do what He wants, praise Him that no major unforeseen events or emergencies have come up, and that I would continue to seek His will for my future-whether I will return in the future, that seeds would be planted and grown beyond my time here, and that I would be able to share openly with the people here about my faith and hope, and my love for India as a whole.
I think that pretty much covers everything for now! I think we finally have a good enough internet connection that I will be able to upload picts and give more details soon… in the meantime, keep your eyes lifted up! Thank you for the prayers. I do encourage you to read the verses I mentioned and pray them over us as well. It has given me great peace to be able to surrender everyone I miss back home, and everyone I will soon be missing here through these passages.
We are all healthy and safe, resting peacefully at night when we have no reason but His presence to feel safe here. So thankful He is comforting us with His peace and giving us rest at night, keeping us safe from harm when we are back from the main road. It is so peaceful at night, quiet, no noise from the road like in the old house, and so beautiful! I will have more pictures (before and after) to post soon.
Praise:
-My roommate has decided to stay and we are connecting more every day-continue to pr for us to find ways to encourage each other and spur each other on.
-We are going to take a new boy in the coming month. He is 5 yrs old, abandoned at a nearby hospital, has autism and needs assistance to walk and use the bathroom. His name is Joshua. Please pr with us for his safety and smooth transition, the he would be strengthened and blessed when he comes.
-Even though we are all colder in the new house and under stress, we are all staying healthy and warm at night with heaters. We have not purchased the generator yet, but we have not needed it since we have not had full power to even utilize at this time.
-He is encouraging me daily with His words and revealing so many evidences of His presence and timing. I have loved daily just being able to devote time to pray scripture, and I have been praying Ephesians 1 and Philippians 1:3-12 daily for all of you supporting me and sharing in the journey!
-I am becoming more confident in practicing a little Hindi every day, forming relationships with people here, and finally starting to feel like I am actually making a difference instead of just being impacted in HUGE ways!
Requests:
-Mariam adjusting to the new house. She has been with her family for the past week, and that is a very long time for her to be there. Often she loses weight, has bowel problems (because of the different diet she has there), and can be very angry. We are asking Him to provide her safety needs, peace and a smooth transition back to full health!
-We are all exhausted and a little overwhelmed; ask that we would all be refreshed and strengthened to finish unpacking, organizing, getting things safely in order for the children especially to be able to adjust better.
-The boys are enjoying piano lessons, but we have gotten behind this past week. New books arrived this week, and I am hoping to start them up again. They love to “play” the keys, but it is hard to get them to focus and listen to really learn how to play and follow the structure. If they can be motivated to practice and listen, it could be so therapeutic and helpful to them. Ask Him to give me wisdom, patience and understanding with the boys different needs and to help me encourage them to learn and use their musical gifts for Him. A couple of the boys really love music and have an ear for it; it is just the behavior issues that are difficult to focus.
-The children will be going back to school soon (it has been delayed because of the cold), and the children with disabilities come back the first part of February. I am still working on finding the right vitamin schedules for these kids, needing wisdom and discernment and the time and working internet to research and find the right fit for each kid, and be able to monitor and assess after I’ve started them. It is hard to follow-up because kids don’t come consistently daily (except for a handful), and because of this I was not able to finish a full assessment on all the kids. It is also difficult because my lack of experience with children with disabilities and the language barrier; please pr for this, and if any of you out there have any suggestions please enlighten me!
-Safety, Health, transitions to the new home and surroundings-there are several reasons why only 10 minutes away is such a huge adjustment.
-Only 3 months left and still so much I want to finish before I leave. Pr that I would trust His timing and allowing me to do what He wants, praise Him that no major unforeseen events or emergencies have come up, and that I would continue to seek His will for my future-whether I will return in the future, that seeds would be planted and grown beyond my time here, and that I would be able to share openly with the people here about my faith and hope, and my love for India as a whole.
I think that pretty much covers everything for now! I think we finally have a good enough internet connection that I will be able to upload picts and give more details soon… in the meantime, keep your eyes lifted up! Thank you for the prayers. I do encourage you to read the verses I mentioned and pray them over us as well. It has given me great peace to be able to surrender everyone I miss back home, and everyone I will soon be missing here through these passages.
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