Spring 2018

Thank You!

    I wish I could relay to you the children’s smiles and jumps for joy when they saw us and the tight squeezes from one of the older girls as she squeezed me every time she saw me.  Soon she will go to technical school, possibly university and will make her way in the world.  Because she is blessed to have grown up at this orphanage she is well taught and can care for herself fully when she leaves.  The directors tell visitors, “Neekola and her sponsors have helped us from the very beginning.”  Your sending has not only made a huge difference in the quality of life and the joy for the children, but mostly their relationship with the Lord.  Thank you.

Happy Spring to you!

    As this season began my friend, Dwell, reflected on how during winter when the trees have lost their leaves they look dead - however, despite the dead appearance, things are actually happening on the inside.* 

    After the long winter it exciting to see the first bright bulbs almost sing against the grey/white wintery landscape.  Now we see with our eyes the results of that unseen work - God’s colourful creation unfurling its masterpiece of bright colours.  I hope spring (and fall for those of you in the southern hemisphere) is greeting you well and finding you blessed.

*this thought is continued at end of newsletter

New Roof!

    As I type it is raining – and it pleases me to no end to know it’s dry in the orphanage. For the first time in thirteen years they don’t have to worry about water dripping or rain damage to the building.  Can you imagine what a relief it is for all of them?  How wonderful it must it feel to enjoy the sound of the rain pitter patter on the roof and knowing that you are safe, warm and dry and no damage is happening.  It is a huge deal to them.  Everyone at the orphanage sends you a BIG thank you!

A wonderful Reunion

    It was pitch dark.  As we rounded the corner of the dirt road we saw beams of flashlights outside the orphanage.  When the flashlights started frantically pumping up and down I knew those were our kids.  They had been watching for us and were rushing to tell everyone we were coming.  When we pulled into the driveway everyone was lined up waiting for us – Mama and Papa and all the children.  All the emotion of the waiting to see them overwhelmed me as I got out of the car and I cried as the children surrounded us crying, “Neekola!  Neekola!  Neekola!!”  Next time it will be “Neekola and Drew” as they fell in love with him when they met them in person for the first time.

    Exhausted from travel and our late arrival time, we had a late dinner then went to the room they prepared for us.  The children chased us down the hallway, pressing cards into our hands that they had made with love as they waited our arrival.  I was touched.  I love their drawings.  I couldn’t believe the room they gave us.  I have been going there since 2004 and my room has always been down in the unheated area of the orphanage a verrrrrrry far away from everyone else (and the bathroom).  Now that Drew came with me, they gave him the red carpet treatment, and moved us down with everyone else – right next to the bathroom.  It was wonderful.  I mention that because to get to the bathroom from my room you walk down a short hallway, then 52 long paces down a long freezing cold (now heated) hallway, through a door and down another hallway, and if you really had to go, it was not a fun walk in the cold hallway.  What a treat to be close to the bathroom!

Hard to Leave

    The morning we left the children made us cards and pushed them underneath our door and left a pile of them in the hallway.  One little girl looked uncomfortable.  Another said, “She is embarrassed about the card she made you.  It’s not pretty enough.”  I said, ‘We really want your card, please bring it to us.” The two girls ran off and returned with the card which had Drew’s name misspelled by the way they spell it, but phonetically it’s more correct.  “Oh!  I LOVE your card!!!”  I said, pointing out several details and she had drawn.  “I told you!” said the first girl who has known me her entire life, “Neekola always loves EVERYBODY’S work, it doesn’t matter how good it is.”

    I was interested to see how open the four new children were to us.  Before we arrived I wondered what the children were telling them about me.  I imagined they might say, “Neekola is always nice, she never yells at you, she brings us toys and gifts . . . “  I never found out what they said, but the four new children were very excited to meet us both and were not at all shy, and very sweet.

    I drank in every minute with the children and the people who came to the orphanage to visit while we were there.  I was looking forward to this trip for months, and now it’s over.  I cried in the car as we pulled away from the orphanage.  I turned away from the window so the children wouldn’t see me cry and snuck a glance at Drew sitting next to me.  I was surprised to see tears rolling down his cheeks too.  Next newsletter I will  have him write his impressions of his first visit there.

Learning to Help

Let me help you with your boots: 1, 2, 3, 4! Okay, now the other one.

Continued from the Beginning:

    Aren’t God’s answers to our prayers like those first beautiful spring flowers?  Sometimes we have prayed and believed for a long time and things seem like they will never happen – like looking at those “dead” winter trees.  However, don’t judge the book by its cover – as you pray there is lots going on inside that we can’t see.  When you see the healing, when you find the lost keys, when you get the promotion – it’s like bright colourful flowers popping up against the grey of the unknown.  I encourage you - keep your faith turned up, God is at work.  Be encouraged!  Your answer is on the way.  God is faithful.  Look for the flowers . . .  expect to see them!