Nov. 1, 2007

November 2007 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends,

As I write you the radiators are heating up for the first time this fall.  It has been a beautiful season and this weekend is really the first time we have been cold.  This nice weather has been a very special blessing for us as it has allowed Joel and Lau to work very hard on house building.  Our building permits all came through about a month ago and every spare minute since has been filled with unloading wood, loading wood, digging, building a shed, supervising the excavator and water line installation.  Many a morning Joel has left before the rest of us get up and gets back after the boys are in bed.  But we are thankful for God's grace and provision that makes it possible to have our own little home.  Please pray for strength and endurance for Joel and Lau.  We are hoping the foundation will get poured before the real cold weather sets in. 

We have settled into a comfortable rhythm at home and the center.  Joel is teaching 9 art classes and one music class a week and working on a series of paintings for the chapel.  They have been having fun with clay and sculpting lately.  I am teaching 2 English classes and 1 Bible study.  It is a blessing to be involved in the children's education.

This year I have been involved in a new ministry to young mothers. Many of the girls we have worked with over the years are now of child bearing age and have young children.  With the issues and environments these mothers deal with, we often feel like we are walking into very dark places.   These small children are really the greatest victims in a huge system of exclusion and oppression.  I am finding that the poorest of the poor are the smallest of the small.  These young ones cannot articulate their need for adequate nutrition, safe living quarters, and affection from their parents.   They just grow thinner, sadder and unresponsive.  And due to the neglect and abuse the mothers have encountered, they are unable to observe that something is wrong or to know what to do to help their children thrive.  We visit the mothers regularly and find ourselves voicing the needs of these children and helping the mothers learn to respond and provide.

It is a spiritual struggle every time we visit them.  We usually leave feeling emotionally wrung out.  But we firmly believe in bearing Christ's light into these dark, hope-hungry places.  Please pray for Rachel, Audra, Anna, Robin and I as we build relationship with these young women and love them and their children.  We are focusing on four young ladies and I would ask for you to pray regularly for each of them.   Below I have described their individual situations and changed their names. 

-         Hannah is a young woman of 21 whom we have worked with for about 8 years.  When we first met her, she lived on the streets.  Now she lives with her boyfriend in an apartment, where they are renting a room from another family.  She came to the drop in center when she was living on the streets and when she returned to her family's house.  During her pregnancy, she received lessons at the center about mother and child's health issues.  On August 23 she gave birth to a healthy little girl.  It is obvious that she wants to learn about being a mother and we already see that she is building a strong bond with her baby.  She does not receive any support from her family and her parents both suffer from alcoholism.

-         Lydiais 17 years old and we have known her for about 5 years.  She came frequently to our center for two years while she was in school.  After her mother died, her family was evicted from their home and she began to live with her boyfriend.  She then stopped coming to the drop in center.  At 16 she gave birth to a son and again at 17 she gave birth prematurely to a little girl.  Her youngest child was recently diagnosed with Asphyxiating Thoracic Dystrophy, a severe, uncurable disease  Lydia struggles to meet even their most basic needs, as she really has no parental role models in her family.  She currently lives with her boyfriend's 7 nephews and nieces and his parents.

-         Elizabeth is 20 years old and we have known her for 1 year.  She gave birth to a son in May and has been staying at a mothers center because she does not have any other housing.  She shows many signs of attachment disorder and has not bonded well with her son.  Her time of staying at the mothers center will end soon and she will be forced to return to her parents home where she ran away from 7 years ago.

-         Sarah is 17 years old and we met her 3 years ago in our meetings with children on the streets.  She lived with her boyfriend on the streets and used drugs frequently.  Her connection with her family was entirely broken and from time to time she would find shelter in the apartment of her boyfriend's father.  The apartment was part of a slum-like building inhabited by many poor families.  Since finding out she is pregnant she moved permanently to this apartment and stopped using drugs.  She will be having the baby soon.  She has a severe case of attachment disorder and her boyfriend is addicted to drugs and abusive to her. 

Please lift these girls and children up in prayer.  Please pray for wisdom, hope and light for those of us who work with them.  May God's light enter the darkness.   Thank you.

 

Blessings,

Monica, Joel, Simeon and Abram

 

PS.  I know many of you really appreciate receiving The Cry, Word Made Flesh's quarterly advocacy journal. Due to increased postal rages they will be cutting back their mailing list only to those who request to continue receiving The Cry.  Suggested donation is $12 a year, but you may also continue receiving it if you let them know.  Look in the upcoming issues for more information or call the US office at 1800-CRY-4-KIDS.