Surprise!`

O.K., in ten days we have gone from a very queit home with three children living here and often only one present at any given moment to a veritable zoo with ten children, three under 2 years of age! Last week-end two young ladies joined our ranks. Adriana, 16 and Deborah, 11 joined the Miriam Home ranks. We are so very happy to have them, but heartbroken that they needed to come. Both have been abused for a long period of time by both the older brother and father. The physical hurt they have endured is hard enough, but the impact the abuse has had on their minds, emotions and spirits is simply devistating. Please pray for both of the girls. There is little to nothing left of child in Adriana - she looks closer to 25 than to 16. Deborah is the exact opposite, she looks like the child she is, but she is a shell that has yet to crack - she never uses more than two or three words at one time. Both of these precious girls needs God's healing! In the picture Deborah is in pink on one end and Adriana is in green on the other end.

Now for the good news (sort 0f)! The babies are on their way home! Yes, that means to here =). We got a call this afternoon, the judge decided to remove Altieres and Thavildy from their mom. We are sure at this moment why. Suraia (administrator of the Miriam Home) and I visited them in their home last Tuesday and even though there was a lot to be concerned about (primarially the extreme poverty) both babies appeared healthy and their mom had stopped drinking - our biggest concern. At this moment we don't know if there were problems we didn't know about but we will certainly find out soon.

Summary - boredom is not a big factor around here!

We have a new family with us and I just have to introduce you to three really cute little kids! From oldest to youngest we have Richard (7 years old) Taina (4 years old) and our own little Pooh Bear, Flavia, 14 months old.

Chief cook and bottle washer

The last two weeks were a little different. Eva, the house mom who runs the Miriam Home during the day went on vacation and I got to be her stand in. Eva's job is secure. She has super powers: a radar like sense for identifying dirt and dust and the multi-tasking skills only moms can understand. I have to admit my meals were simpler than Eva's (but no one went hungry) and there are corners in the house that got a two week reprieve. Still, it was great to spend so much one on one time with the kids.

One little conversation I had touched my heart. I was doing lunch dishes and talking to Jean (11 years old) and he was telling me something about school. He stopped and said "Tia, it's nice to talk to you - most adults don't like to talk to kids." I know that Eva, and the other house moms we have here, love these kids, and enjoying talking and playing with them. I also know that they just don't have enough time to make the great meals they make, clean the way the clean and find time for Uno. I guess I am o.k. with plain jane lunch and missed corned if Jean feels like someone has time to talk =)

Enter stage right...

Life in a ministry to children at risk is hardly ever boring. It can be exciting, frustrating, heart breaking and thrilling but it is seldom boring. That's because children are full of life and have a new challenge to offfer every day. This last week I have been really frustrated and sweetly encouraged by the kids in the Miriam Home. Last week I told you that our babies were returned to their mom. As of today they are doing o.k. We have had a chance to visit them at the day care center where they spend the whole day, Monday through Friday. They have arrived at the center grimy but dressed in warm cloths and though both have runny noses neither is seriously ill. That is the big fear we have. Both children have really delicate lungs and a cold cna turn to bronchitis or even pneumonia really quickly. Please keep praying for Altieres and Thavildy!

The real frustration this week was the sudden departure of Renata (the lovely young hat model in the picture last week). She went to school one day and didn't come home so we went looking for her and found her in a friend's home. The next day she went to school and didn't come home, but this time she wasn't at her friends house or any other we could find. It took three days for us to find Renata, praise the Lord she is safe. The bad news is she is in a different shelter, much less of a "Home" setting. It reminded me of the hardest part of working with YWAM - when the kids give up on themselves!

The high point of the week has been the positive steps forward Jean has been taking. Jean is 11 years old, comes from a pretty rough background and is probably three steps away from being a street kid. He has been in the Miriam home for a couple of weeks and it has for sure been a challenge for everyone who works with him It is also pure joy to see the potential jean has to be a man of God. Right now he is deciding what kind of a man he will be. I can't even tell you what a priviledge it is to have a part in helping him decide for Jesus! Please pray for his precious heart to be moldable by the Holy Spirit

The whole world (and two precious babies) in His hands

It is hard to believe but I am on Brazilian soil for almost six weeks! It has been good finding my place in the Miriam Home ministry. At this moment that place is "tampa buraco" (a plug!) =) Between driving lessons (learning the stick, oh the joy) and writing letters and newsletters (but obviously not blogs) I have been filling in whereever I'm needed. It is a great way to start because I get to know all the members of the team and the different areas of ministry. I have been fill in house mom, found out that I needed a refresher course in pressure cookers, given tours of the house to visiting dignitaries, helped with school work, accompanied kids to the doctor, played secretary in the office and collected donations around town. My latest activity has been picking up and dropping off children, but only in a restricted area since my shifting skills are still being honed.

When you think about working in a children's home it is easy to go all sentimental but living day to day brings you back to reality pretty quickly. In the short time I have been here we have had a few "reality checks". The biggest to date happened on Tuesday of this week. Altieres and Thavildy, twin babies that have been in our care for over a year were returned to their birth mother. This precious pair arrived weighing less than 6 lbs each, at nine months of age. They were so week they didn't have the strength to roll over on their own, much less sit up. Today they are dynamos! Still tiny for their age, Thavildy, runs and twirls, she honestly looks like a ballerina doll! They are so full of life, joy and excitement they capture the hearts of everyone they meet. Their mother, I really believe, loves them; sadly, she loves to drink more. Knowing the physical conditions the children were going to worse than any I saw in the favelas of Belo Horizonte) and the mother's inability to care for herself, not to mention two babies with serious health issues, my heart broke. When I went to my apartment Tuesday night Fran (a Bible School student) asked if I could help her with some home work. She was having trouble understanding the concept of our being co-heirs with Christ and co-participants in all of the promises of God. As we talked God ministered these powerful truthes to my heart, regarding my babies. "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion and the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you." Is 49:15 God's love for Altieres and Thavildy is greater than all of ours combined and they are being held in the strong, sure hands of the Living God. That gave me the peace of mind to sleep Tuesday night and it is the firm hope I hold on to for the twins.

Have a great week! Jonni

I'm leaving on a jet plane ...

If you are humming a tune right now it means you are a part of my generation =) I just wanted to light the fireworks, send up the flares and celebrate that I will be arriving in Brazil on April 1st. God has the best sense of humor EVER! I will be letting you know how to pray and praise first hand very soon. Thank you so much for standing with me waiting for the victory!

Joy Comes in the Morning

On a previously quiet Saturday in June 5 new children suddenly descended upon the Miriam Infant Home. Three of them were siblings, Jonatas (8 years old), Giovana (6) and Sandrinha (4) and they were not there of their own free will! They were brought to the Miriam Home by the juvenile authorities because there was an abusive situation going on in their home. The children arrived scared and sad; they really only wanted one thing - their mom!

The first nights were cried to sleep and more than once their days involved impromptu attempts to go home on their own. There were huge challenges for both the Miriam Home staff and three little ones who really couldn’t understand why they were taken from their family.

It is difficult for children to believe you want to help them when they don’t realize that the treatment they receive at home is not “normal”. It is more difficult to see the children step back into the same family when you’re not sure the situation has changed (the authorities returned Jonatas, Giovana and Sandrinha to their family two weeks later). It would be nearly an impossible job if not for God’s grace! By His grace we know that the power for the children’s healing is His Spirit - Spirit that is not limited by geography, family lines or the power of any earthly authority. By His grace we know that He loves these three children more than any person alive, and He put them in our hands to bless them. By His grace we believe that He will continue the good work that He began in the Miriam Home. By His grace we wait for the next Saturday surprise!