Meeting Mohamed & Shaku

This weekend we traveled to Bo to visit Mohamed, a boy our family has sponsored for the past several years, and his brother Shaku. Our children have referred to him as their "brother in Africa" and have been praying for him for a long time. Chris and I were very excited for our kids to finally meet him. I got to watch as my kids met and accept him as a brother. I was filled with joy as they walked, played, talked, and ate together. By the end of the day Saturday they were close enough to even get in trouble together. Sunday we met with them again at the church gathering where we worshiped and learned together. We are so glad that as a family we have taken the opportunity to sponsor Mohamed who, as a result, he gets to go to school and have access medical care, food and spiritual enrichment. 

It's hard to imagine the immensity of life change that a sponsored child receives. It can be life defining for a child that may have no other opportunity for education. If your family hasn't considered orphan sponsorship I can tell you it's an investment with great reward. 

-Justin 

This weekend we met Mohamed and his little brother Shaku. Shaku is 7 like me! Mohamed is 10 years old. Their parents died a long time ago. It  made me happy to be with them!! 

- Gideon

Mohamed was sad and cried because we were leaving. He didn't want us to leave him. 

- Isabel 

Getting to know Margaret's kids!

Over the weekend we spent a little fun time with Margaret's kids. We thought it would be easiest for our kids to get to know them better by spending time with them in small group settings. Friday night we had Margaret's younger boys over for some games & American pizza! These boys loved playing headbands! 

Pizza was a first for them! Most of them liked it. Simon loved it! (Simon is Margaret's sweet boy with Down's syndrome. His smiles are contagious!) 

Sunday night we had Margaret's girls over. They made jewelry and painted with Isabel.

They also played Headbands with the kids. These children are a blessing to get to know! We look forward to visiting with the older boys sometime soon! 

A day at the beach!

Friday was a big day for us ! 

First- little Jedi was feeling so much better! No fever! He had been running a high fever for most of the week and was so sick just the day before. Friday he was playing in the sand on the beach, Yay God! Thankful for all the prayers!! 

Becky and I took all the kids to the beach while Justin & Tom worked. They work so hard and we missed them but the children had a great time! This was the first time our kids had ever been to a beach or seen an ocean. The boys were jumping into waves that were huge!! 

Gideon, my nature loving child, was so excited to eat Barracuda & saw giant whale bones!  

The kids came home tired & a little red! (Poor Levi - my little red head- got a sunburn on his eyelids! Poor guy has looked like he has a red superhero mask on all weekend. I felt so bad for him, it hurt!)