Making contact and a difference. Post #7

There is no greater gift to a child than time. Here is an except of an update from Tony and Terri about some time spent with two of the kids……..

When we arrived at the Lord’s Servants Home, we briefly made contact with the two children we sponsor. Elizabeth is 8 and Austine is 13. Elizabeth was fairly quick to warm up to us but Austine appears to have a learning disability and was somewhat withdrawn. We had to make an effort to find him to spend time with him. We prayed about what we might do to break down this barrier and asked for advice from Bob and the local Pastor. We decided to take the two children into town for ice cream and a trip to the store for some new clothes. I also bought a spoke wrench to try repair a bike which Austine indicated he wanted repaired. Thursday afternoon Terri and I took the kids to Khetia’s (The local Super Store). We bought them some shoes and clothes then stopped by the snack shop for ice cream cones and a cold soda (Terri and I initially skipped the cones). It became clear that neither of the kids had ever eaten an ice cream cone. I then got one and ate it. After watching me they quickly got the hang of it. Austine began to open up at this point. Yesterday (Saturday) morning Austine didn’t have school so I asked him to help me with my pipe work. We seemed to hit it off pretty well after that. I helped him fix the bike last night. Austine also helped Terri with her duties and so we are excited that these breakthroughs will present more opportunities to encourage and support these two children going forward. Elizabeth always wants to hang around Terri now and always wants another picture taken. We spent some time with the kids this evening (Sunday) and began to say our goodbye’s. We were surprised when Austine left in tears. We have had some good talks and hopefully have had a positive impact on his life. We will continue to pray for both of these children and support them as the Lord leads.

……..Tony and Terri