Friday, January 01, 2010

End of 2009, beginning of 2010

Dear Family and Friends, December 31, 2009

Orphanage Christmas Activities

Thank you so much for your generous response to my request for funds for a Christmas party! So many of you responded and this really touched my heart.

We have partied now 3 times with the orphanage children. On the evening of the 23rd Sarah, Lisa and Ruth, (my short-termers who are here) planned an evening of fun and games. We played Twister which was great fun and then we played another game where each person tied a balloon on his ankle and then tried to pop the balloons of the others without getting their own balloon popped. This was just a riot with 25 kids hopping and dancing around the courtyard trying to pop their neighbor's balloon. The girls had baked cookies so at the end we sat together telling and acting out the Christmas story, eating snacks and drinking kool-aid.


On Christmas morning, each child received a gift. Because of your generosity, we were able to
have matching outfits made for everyone. The children love this. The girls picked out the fabric and two local taillors made our outfits. The boys each received a new pair of shoes and the girls received hair extentions. And, everyone received lotion, candy, and a packet of cookies.



Although you may not recognize them, these are some of our children acting out a skit at church on Christmas Eve. The message of the skit was that Jesus is more powerful than anything that the enemy can try to do to us. The boy in the chair was the son of a animistic village chief who converted to Christianity. During the night he was tormented by demons but he cried out the name of Jesus and the demons left. The next morning he began telling his father and younger brother what the Lord had done for him and they also committed their lives to Jesus. The people in the congregation were clapping and cheering! I was really proud of our kids!

January 1, 2010

Hmmmmm, I wonder how many times I will write 2009 and send it out without catching it this year? I hope that you all have a blessed and properous New Year!


We celebrated the New Year at the church last night with singing and dancing, drama, preaching and praying! Some of our older children did not get home until around 2 AM and then the boys were up again at 7 killing and dressing the sheep which will be part of our traditional holiday meal. With the meat, we will have huge bowls of spaghetti.

Right after lunch, Ruth, from England, and I will leave for Ouaga, a bit of shopping, dinner, and then on to the airport for her to catch her flight home. It has been a joy to have Ruth here with us. She came in during her Christmas break from university and spent 3 weeks with us. It will be hard to say 'good-bye' to Ruth. Within just a few days, she had slipped into our African family life and the children all adore her.This is a picture of Ruth and Yolande, one of our girls, at our Christmas party.

Love and blessings to you!

Ruth

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