Recently Clinton told us about a young man (let’s call him Joe) he knows from the neighbourhood. Joe had been on the streets for some time. He doesn’t know his father and his mother is trapped by a life of alcoholism. From what we were told he was not wanted by extended family, so he was making his own way. That’s not uncommon here; there are many young people on the streets. What is uncommon is someone rescued him from a life of hopelessness. Clinton was moved to help this young man. Most poor people are not so generous. They are more likely to hoard what they have instead of sharing. It’s really a “protect my own” mentality.

As “head boy” of his school, Clinton was able to use his position to plead Joe’s case to the administration of the school. The results - this young man is now able to stay at the hostel as a guest of the school. We see this as very good news because that means that even those who are poor can reach out to others less fortunate than themselves. In the process of helping Joe with housing, Clinton talked with him about his spiritual life and Joe accepted Christ as his Saviour this week. On Easter Sunday Joe joined us for church and he stayed with us all that day and night too. We packed a snack bag for him as is our weekly custom for our other two boys (Clinton and Simon) before we brought them back to school the next day. Our family is growing!
Praise the Lord! You have been a part of this ripple effect, you know. We are seeing the second generation of seeds that were planted months ago. God is working in these young lives and we give Him all the glory.

Your financial support is giving us the freedom to feed and care for these young people whose parents just can’t for various reasons. It’s a pleasure to have them in our home. This month is the “winter” holiday for school kids, and Simon and Clinton will be taking a little time away to visit family. They are based at our house during weekends and holiday times like this and we enjoy these “extra” times with them. Simon will be travelling to the north to attend a ministry friend’s wedding as well as to visit his elderly grandmother. This will be only the second time he has been with his grandmother. Can you imagine? He is very excited to surprise her. Like I said, it’s a pleasure for us to help. It’s almost like watching dreams come true. Of course we have to pack some food for him.... Well, we can’t send him empty-handed, c’mon,... I’m Italian, remember? What I wouldn’t give for a Claro’s market around here!