Friday, February 29, 2008

Does Jesus have a Mailing Address?

One of my favorite activities to do with the kids at the children's home during down-times is coloring. We have an enormous tub of colored pencils that people have donated; as most of the kids leave for school in the morning, our eight kids who stay behind for the later second session of kindergarten start clamoring for that tub of pencils and some paper. It's a joy to see their imaginations at work as they gather around a kitchen table and practice writing names and drawing objects. Usually after a good half hour of drawing, the kids will slap our names on whatever they created that morning and give us the precious gift of their artwork. Rachel and I have a large drawer filling up with drawings that say something like "Form: Kuya DJ and Ate Rachel, To: Armie." So we are still working on spelling and the whole To/From concept (which, as you can see, they tend to get backwards), but it is sweet nonetheless. However, something different happened the other day. One of our five year old girls made a drawing of herself and wrote "I love you so much Jesus" and instead of to Kuya DJ and Ate Rachel, it was designated "To: Jesus." She handed me the paper, and with complete sincerity and childhood innocence, commanded "You give this to Jesus."  All practical answers to that aside, there was only one response I could give in such a tender moment:
"Of course."

DJ Langefels
Director of Child Development (New Faith Family Children's Home) 

Cuatro Christian School Update

The Cuatro Christian School 2008 school year is almost over. At the Cuatro Community Center, where we hold our school, we will have graduation on March 7. We currently have about 70 students who will graduate. Our kids are currently from pre-school to the 3rd grade level. Throughout this past school year we have had many volunteers come to work with the students either in groups or individually; they have taught art, music, drama, assisted teachers, read with kids, and have tutored students. The teachers that I have are great with these students - they challenge them and pour their life into them everyday. The students have progressed tremendously since the beginning of the year in things like classroom etiquette, learning letters and numbers, and reading. The students are excited along with our teachers for our upcoming summer months. And to start our summer off we will hold a VBS at the Community Center for all our students. I am very excited to see what God has in plan for our next school year.

Kim Courtright
Cuatro Christian School Headmaster

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Our Nursery is Growing!

How to describe the New Faith Family Nursery? In one word – blossoming! We began with 5 little ones: Angel (2 years), Moses (2 years), Andrew (9 months), and the twins, Jacob and Daniel (6 months). It has been very enjoyable to see all these children come together and live as a family. A few weeks ago, Daniel and Jacob had each just finished a bottle and, being very sleepy and ready for bed, were crying as they lay on the bed. Angel and Moses came into the infant bedroom (as they do frequently), hopped up on the bed and each cuddled with one of the upset babies. They each patted the back of one of the twins while Angel sang “Jesus Loves Me”. Then in a matter of a few minutes, Angel and Moses had lulled the babies to sleep! It was one of the sweetest moments to take in.

Now our days are filled with even more excitement with the addition of three more babies to our family. Little 3-month-old Kenth is a captivating bundle of joy. He is so content to just take in his surroundings. With his slightly curly hair and sweet smile it is so hard to put him down! Just 6 days later, we grew again as we received 8 month old twin boys, Jimber and Jimbert (who we call Jimmy and Bobby). These two boys are always so happy and smiley that it makes them such a delight to be around. They both could just lie in our arms, staring into our eyes and reaching for our faces forever. We continue to trust in our LORD daily and can’t wait to see the plans that He is unfolding in all our lives!   

Daisy Chell

New Faith Family Nursery Director