They are splashing in the pool. It’s blazing hot here right now! Left to right – Bonnie, Jan, and Bernard. All three boys are from the Okahandja Children’s home run by Christ’s Hope. We call it the ARK of Okahandja. The ARK in Noah’s day rescued Mister & Misses Bear, Mister & Misses Elephant, and all the other Mister & Misses animals. The ARK here rescues children at risk. We have 13 children that have come to us for various reasons. Some are not well cared for because they have a single parent who is struggling to care for them, or they are from an extended family who is unable to care for them on a full-time basis, or they are orphans. Some have struggles in school, they have learning disorders, or emotional problems, so caring for them becomes somewhat of a challenge.
Right now the ARK is run by a single young German woman (Julia) who has social services experience and expertise. She is assisted by 3 women who help with housekeeping, and a few volunteers (mostly from Holland at the moment.) The volunteers usually stay one year, but some only 3 months or 6 months. As you can imagine this makes keeping a regular routine rather tough with people coming and going all the time. The ARK has recently changed management, exchanging a set of house parents for Julia and because of that and the fact that there is no “Father” image in the homes - the boys especially are reacting to the change with some behaviors that warrant special attention.
Guess who the Namibia Country Director called upon to help? You guessed it: Tony the hammer. (Oh, that was his nickname in Kenya last summer, sorry, some of you don’t know that one) Hammer – get it? The builder. Me? Well I support where I can. We’ve stepped into the role of “Principal” just about 2 weeks ago, and it’s not anything we planned for or were really prepared for really. But, God is helping us as we get to know and love these kids.
Today the three oldest boys came over to help me with a sanding project. I’m re-painting two wooden chairs and my arms were screaming at me to stop torturing them with the repetitious and tedious work. So, I used my project as an excuse to borrow the boys. Julia gladly agreed to part with them, and in about one hour the four of us had the sanding done. I thanked them with glasses of orange Fanta and a swim in the pool, which they loved ! You can see from the pictures that it was a very fun and playful afternoon. It’s probably chilly winter weather where you live right now, but here – it’s around 95 degrees and a dip in the pool is a perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
Thanks for praying for these boys and others like them who need to know how much God loves them and how they can serve Him and live a life that puts a smile on the Father’s face. They need instruction on how to grow up to be a Godly father, since they’ve never had that role model in their own lives. Keep Tony in prayer too, he grew up without that Godly role model himself so he’s having to depend on his heavenly Father daily for instruction on how to do this. Uncle Tony is becoming more familiar to them and already I can see them relax and feel more secure around us. It seems quite clear that God has extra bonuses planned for our time here. Three of them played in our pool today.
Have a wonderful day filled with thanks-giving! We miss YOU!
Right now the ARK is run by a single young German woman (Julia) who has social services experience and expertise. She is assisted by 3 women who help with housekeeping, and a few volunteers (mostly from Holland at the moment.) The volunteers usually stay one year, but some only 3 months or 6 months. As you can imagine this makes keeping a regular routine rather tough with people coming and going all the time. The ARK has recently changed management, exchanging a set of house parents for Julia and because of that and the fact that there is no “Father” image in the homes - the boys especially are reacting to the change with some behaviors that warrant special attention.
Guess who the Namibia Country Director called upon to help? You guessed it: Tony the hammer. (Oh, that was his nickname in Kenya last summer, sorry, some of you don’t know that one) Hammer – get it? The builder. Me? Well I support where I can. We’ve stepped into the role of “Principal” just about 2 weeks ago, and it’s not anything we planned for or were really prepared for really. But, God is helping us as we get to know and love these kids.
Today the three oldest boys came over to help me with a sanding project. I’m re-painting two wooden chairs and my arms were screaming at me to stop torturing them with the repetitious and tedious work. So, I used my project as an excuse to borrow the boys. Julia gladly agreed to part with them, and in about one hour the four of us had the sanding done. I thanked them with glasses of orange Fanta and a swim in the pool, which they loved ! You can see from the pictures that it was a very fun and playful afternoon. It’s probably chilly winter weather where you live right now, but here – it’s around 95 degrees and a dip in the pool is a perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
Thanks for praying for these boys and others like them who need to know how much God loves them and how they can serve Him and live a life that puts a smile on the Father’s face. They need instruction on how to grow up to be a Godly father, since they’ve never had that role model in their own lives. Keep Tony in prayer too, he grew up without that Godly role model himself so he’s having to depend on his heavenly Father daily for instruction on how to do this. Uncle Tony is becoming more familiar to them and already I can see them relax and feel more secure around us. It seems quite clear that God has extra bonuses planned for our time here. Three of them played in our pool today.
Have a wonderful day filled with thanks-giving! We miss YOU!
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