An Angel Paid My School Fees!

Dear Family and Friends, 30 October, 2008

Finally! Everyone is enrolled in school, school uniforms are all made, school supplies have been bought and we can all step back and take a big sigh of relief.

The director of our school and our teachers picked out fabric for uniforms at our primary school this year. The children are thrilled and this past week, they started wearing their new uniforms. From the youngest to the oldest, everyone was wearing big smiles.

Through a very generous contribution from a friend, we were able to send an additional 23 children to school this year. Some of these children and their parents had come to our gate earlier asking for help and we had to send them away because our school funds were finished. Some of these children were on Social Action’s list of most needy cases but Social Action also had no funds left for school fees.

But, one very special boy named Florent went home and told his mother that an angel had visited his school and had paid his school fees! Florent lives in a village about 5 kilometers from Yako. His father has died and he is the youngest of 5 children. Florent is so determined to go to school that he walks to school barefoot each morning. Because his home is so far away from school, he does not go home for lunch but stays at school without eating, waiting for classes to resume for the afternoon session from 3 to 5:30.

Last year, Florent’s mother did all that she could but was only able to pay for about half of Florent’s school fees. The director of the school should have sent Florent away but because Florent is so diligent in school, the director allowed him to finish the school year. This year, the director should not have allowed Florent to start school because of his unpaid debt, yet out of the kindness of his heart, he allowed Florent to enter the 3rd grade.

Our Social Worker, Adiara, was at Florent’s school paying the school fees of another child that we knew was in need. While there, the director told her about Florent’s difficult home situation and his desire to study. After paying all of the school fees, Adiara had just a small amount of money left. And, after she calculated it, she found that she had just enough to pay Florent’s debt from last year and to pay for this year’s school fees.

Two days later, Florent and his mother came by the orphanage to thank us for paying his school fees. I noticed that Florent’s mother was wearing a small cross on a chain so I asked her if she was a Christian. She said that she was and that they walked the 5 kilometers each Sunday to attend the Catholic church here in Yako. The mother then continued to tell us that Florent had come home from school saying that an angel had stopped at his school that day and paid his school fees.

Florent is small for his age and Adiara told me that he was wearing the same ragged shirt and torn pants that he had been wearing 2 days before at school. He was also barefoot. So, we dug into some clothes that we had in storage and found a pair of shoes, 3 shirts and 3 pair of shorts that fit Florent perfectly.

We are now looking for a mother living close to Florent’s school who would be willing for Florent to eat lunch with her children each day and then return for the afternoon session. We have not found this woman yet but if you consider that the Lord sent an angel to pay this little boy’s school fees, He certainly has already prepared the heart of some mother to give little Florent his lunch.

Herman
Please continue to pray for Herman and a place for him in the blind school. We have run into a snag that is discouraging but not too difficult for our loving Jesus to solve.

Herman has a place in the first grade class but the school has not been able to find a foster family near the school to care for Herman throughout the year. Tomorrow I will be calling the woman responsible for finding foster homes for children like Herman to see if she has found a family for him. If she has not, Herman will have to wait until next year to start school. If she has, we will quickly get Herman ready and settled in Ouaga for classes to start on Monday, November 3rd.

Thank you so much for your prayers and for your generous tangible support. Our children are thriving! And, Jesus is King!

Love and blessings to you!

Ruth. . . . Mom. . . . Grandma