Thank you, Freeman Fourth Graders and Teachers!

The Fourth Grade students at Freeman School, Aurora, Illinois, celebrated Valentine's Day by sharing their love with students in Burkina Faso, West Africa, by hosting L.A.P.S. for Love. L.A.P.S. for Love stands for Let's All Provide Supplies. The students walked four laps around their school yard to raise funds to build another classroom for Therese's former school in Yako, Burkina Faso.

The children raised money by finding people to sponsor them per lap and by seeking donations.

LAPS of Love was a huge success! Together, these students raised $2100. This money will go a long way to further the education of students in Burkina Faso. More than that, the Freeman children showed the children of Burkina that they care about them and that they are worthy of an education.

Donna Meets her Sponsored Kids--

Donna Schroeder is here to visit her daughter, Becky, to visit Burkina, to eat tô, and to experience whatever each days brings to her. Today we went out to visit the Schroeder's two sponsored children. Both of their children are little first grade boys, one living inside of Yako and the other living about 10 kilometers outside of town.

Rachid is a very timid and shy little guy who was singing and dancing inside, but was sitting still and stoic on the outside.

Alidou is a more outgoing little guy and his eyes were dancing as he realized that inside the bag was a t-shirt, a ballcap, a harmonica, and other special things. . . just for him.

Both families were blessed by a 200 bag of rice and a few other very practical things for preparing the family meals.

Video of the Drilling

If you want to watch a short video of the drilling, just 36 seconds long, click here!

Water at the School Property!

A team from Fada, north-east Burkina, were here on Monday and Tuesday, drilling for water on our school property. And, they found water!!!

This is the first of hopefully three wells that we will drill with the money sent from Faith Lutheran Church in St Louis, MO. Thank you Faith Lutheran for this gift of life and for the opportunity to introduce the people who live right around the school property to the 'living water'.

They well is 61 meters deep. The water will be tested in the next few weeks to assure that it is pure. But, at this depth the drilling team is certain that the water is pure.

This week, another team will arrive and begin pouring the concrete terrace that will be the foundation for installing the hand pump.

We are thankful to the Lord for all that He is doing for the children of Burkina!
Thank you so much for your faithful prayer support and for your partnership in our projects here.

Mobile Nursing Units

This month we held our first medical outreach in a neighboring village about 14 kilometers from Yako, a village called Doure. We worked with a local pastor, the village chief, and several of the village fathers to arrange a temporary shelter that was placed under some nice trees so that the mothers and children were not waiting in the hot sun to see the nurses.

The nurses treated over 100 children. Four of the children were very sick, with very high fevers. But before leaving our temporary clinic their temperatures had started to go down.

This month, we have two nurses visiting from St Louis, Katy Frankel and Lyndsay Kleekamp, Katy and Lyndsay worked shoulder to shoulder with our nurses Josie and Bea to evaluate and treat the children.

We will be returning to Doure each week now and hope to also start this project in another village very soon. This video shows some of the hundreds of mothers and children who came for medical treatment. The need is so great! We could go out everyday into a different village and still not begin to be able to meet the need. But, we are thankful for this opportunity that the Lord has given us to help the children.

Thank you, Riddering Team

Still catching up on things that happened last month--

We received a wonderful visit from a team of 6 from Missouri and Florida. They were Jeff Riddering, Mike and Delaney Riddering (father and daughter), and, Brenden, Kathy, and Kelsey Graczak. (This was Brenden's second visit and he brought his mother and sister with him.) Jeff and Mike held a 3-day seminar for the believers here in Yako on the theme of 'Signs of the End Times'. And the team worked in our baby rooms, painted baby cribs and our monkey bars, re-built the walls around the orphanage kitchen and the primary school kitchen, installed electricity in one of the huts that we have built. . . . and encouraged us in many, many other ways.

We have lots count of how many times Jeff has been to Burkina, but it is always a tremendous blessing to have a 'Jeff Riddering team' here to visit.

Baby Rachid

We received a new baby last week named, Rachid. He is 4 months old and his mama just died. Rachid's story is that his mama was very young and was engaged to be married. While she was waiting for her wedding date, it become known that she was pregnant and not by her fiance.

The waiting husband agreed to take Rachid's mother as his wife but refused to take the baby as his own. While the family was waiting for Rachid to be old enough to be weaned, his mother became sick and died.

We will take care of Rachid until he is one year old and then he will integrate into the family of his father where one of his father's wives will care for Rachid.

Video Team

Our second team to visit in the month of January was from St Louis and they were a team of 5 people, John and Sharon Anderson, Jim and Shari Grueninger, and Scott Armstrong. The purpose of this team's visit was to take photographs, still shots and video to use in making promotional materials for Sheltering Wings.

Their time with us was short, just one week, but it was power-packed and we felt that God gave us divine opportunities to capture on video various aspects of our project here.

Please pray for Scott that the Lord will lead and guide him as he completes the tedious work of editing and that the end product will bring glory to the Lord and will present clear images of the Sheltering Wings story.

A Gift from Manna Relief

We received a huge gift of a dietary supplement called PhytoBlend from Manna Relief this month. PhytoBlend powder provides our children with natural vitamins and plant-sourced minerals in nutritionally effective amounts and will be added to the food for the children in the orphanage and in our schools each day. For the children in our schools, their lunch is the most nutritionally sound food these children will eat all day. And for some, it is the only meal that they eat per day.

Our children say 'Thank you Manna Relief' for making this available to us and thank you to each of you who contributed to the 'Spare Change for Real Change' program to make it possible for us to have this product!

Jill and Alyssa return to Australia

Our Australian friends, Jill and Alyssa, left the end of January to return home and to start another year of university. After spending 2 months with us here in Yako, we have many, many happy memories of our time together. Jill and Alyssa will be missed by everyone, our children, our workers, and Becky and I here in the house.

In addition to leaving memories, the girls brought funds to buy more school books and to build another 'hut' in our courtyard to protect our children from the sun and to give them a place to study in the evenings.

Thank you, Jill and Alyssa, for coming all the way to Yako to visit us, for all that you did for us while you were here, and for the sweet memories that you left with us.

New School Books

Our Australian friends, Jill and Alyssa, came in with big hearts to serve and also with contributions from home to buy more school books. We had already bought some books but were still in need. Thanks to their fund raising efforts and faithful friends from Australia we were able to buy new books for our primary school and for our 7th grade class.

For our 7th grade class we bought History books and copies of a novel that the children needed for their French class.

This is a picture of Alyssa and our 7th grade class.

Meet Josias

Introducing Josias, born on December 13, 2010!

Josias came into the orphanage on Jan 1st. His story is that his mama is not well mentally and his papa is unknown. There are a few holes in his story. . . . but pending more in depth information and a home study, Josias will probably be available for adoption.

Josias is good size for a Burkinabe newborn and he is eating good!

Emma has a Home in Denmark

Emma has a Home in Denmark

Another of our little ones, Emma, made it home to Denmark in time for Christmas.

Emma was abandoned in the bush as a newborn infant and Social Action placed her in our orphanage. After preparing all of her papers and placing her on the national list of children available for adoption, she was proposed to a couple in Denmark.

After waiting for long years through the adoption process in Denmark and then waiting for Emma's case to go to court in Burkina, Thomas and Jean arrived in Burkina in December to pick up their child.

Emma is now two years old. She was a little shy but after just a few minutes, she allowed her new mother and father to take her in their arms and to release all of the love that they had waited for so long to give to her.

We are rejoicing in the goodness of the Lord in giving a child to these parents and that their child. . . . is our Emma.

Dec. Food Distributions

Sponsorship Food Distribution

Sponsorship food distributions are held in December and in June. This month we held distributions in six different distribution centers in and around Yako. The distribution centers are churches where there are clusters of children who live right around the church. The children come to a weekly meeting at the church where our workers stay in close contact with each child to monitor their progress in school, monitor their health and to introduce them to Jesus.

This month we distributed 200 pound sacs of corn and soap to 110 of our sponsored children who are living in extended family situations and attending local schools.

In December, we hold the distributions right before Christmas so that the family will have a little extra for their Christmas preparations. As usual, the distributions were times of great joy in seeing each of the children again..

I love this picture. This is Nonwendi, a sponsored child from Songnaba, a small village about 10 kilometers outside of Yako. Isn't she beautiful?

Yako Christmas Tree Ceremony

The Christmas Tree Ceremony

Each year in Yako a Christmas Tree Ceremony is held and gifts of food, blankets, and clothes are given to vulnerable children and to the aged by the government. This year we were busy with sponsorship distributions on the day of the Christmas Tree Ceremony so I did not plan to attend.

But, at 10 in the morning of the day of the ceremony, I received a call saying that I must be at the ceremony by 2 PM because the orphanage would be receiving a gift. Of course, this was a pleasant surprise and we scrambled to re-arrange responsibilities so that I could be free to go to the ceremony.

In total, a meal was provided for 300 children and 35 senior citizens, all social cases, and they were each given a gift of rice, some clothes and a blanket.

Then, 2 orphanages, ours and another one in town, and an association which works in the domain of AIDS each received 100 pounds of rice, 400 pounds of corn, some clothing and soap.

We are thankful for this surprise gift which made our Christmas dinner just a little sweeter and gave each of our children a new outfit of clothing.

A Visit from France

A Return visit to Burkina for Jacques and his Parents

This past week we have enjoyed a visit from France of Jacques and his parents.

Jacques was adopted in 2006 when he was not quite 2 years old and he is now 6 years old and in the first grade. The family lives in a small village in the Alps, near the border of Switzerland.

Jacques is doing wonderfully well and his parents are delightful. They will be spending Christmas with us here in Yako and then will do a little traveling and sightseeing in Burkina before returning home in mid-January.

Yesterday, the family searched out and found the village where Jacques was born. They took pictures of the village and the maternity ward where he was born to save for him as he grows older. Jacques is 100% French and 100% Burkinabe. Within hours he had blended right in with our children here at the orphanage, playing soccer with the primary school boys and eating tô with our children. He speaks beautiful French. . . of course, and is a delightful little boy.

Therese and her family

We have had a very sweet week-end with Therese's mother, grandmother, and sister here in Yako. Today we will be going to Ouaga for Therese's physical exam required by the US Embassy. The family will stay in Ouaga for a few days while all of their papers are finished and I will return to Yako to introduce little Emma who is going to Denmark with her new family.

Last night we had a little party so that our children could say 'goodbye' to Therese. It was bitter-sweet, but everyone is happy for Therese and her family. This picture was taken on an outing to visit a man-made resevoir outside of Yako.

Jill and Alyssa from Australia

The Australians have Arrived!

I would like to introduce two beautiful young ladies to you, Jill Ennever and Alyssa Craig from Australia. Jill and Alyssa arrived in Burkina on November 30^th. They will work with us at the orphanage for 2 months.

Jill is here fulfilling a public service requirement for a course at her university. Alyssa has just finished high school and has come along as a friend of Jill's and has come with a heart to work.

Both of the girls are already involved and integrated into the orphanage. Their days are filled with loving on and caring for our babies, playing soccer and other games with the primary school children and older children and helping me with administrative things. This past week they were able to make a trip to Ouaga on the public bus to attend a soccer game between Egypt and Mali.

In the picture, Jill is on the left and Alyssa is on the right. In the middle is a young girl that we discovered while doing the widows' distribution that needs a sponsor so that she can go back to school.

Widow's Distribution

Widow's distribution--

On Wednesday, December 1, we held our monthly Widow's Basket food distribution. Because of my work schedule, I am not able to go each month to visit the widows but we employ a widow who goes in my place and talks with, encourages, and prays with each of our widows.

Most of the widows are really doing pretty well. They all complained about how they suffered with our cold temperatures right now. (Well, yes this is our wintertime and it can reach down into the upper 60's during the night.)

Someone had given us a special gift for Christmas gifts for our widows and we used this money and bought a nice warm blanket for each of our widows. They were really thrilled.

Two of our widows, Lizetta and Salimata, are pretty weak and sick. When we asked Lizetta if we could pray for her, she said, 'yes, please pray that the Lord will call me home'. Salimata has lost a lot of weight and is very, very thin.

Please pray for these two ladies.

Lizetta

Salimata

A new bicycle for Barka--

Barka is a young girl who lives in the orphanage. Her mother is still living but her father has died. Barka came to the orphanage last year because there was a primary school in her village but no secondary school and she was ready to go into the 7th grade. During the summer vacation, Barka goes back to the village to help her mother to work in the fields.

Barka is a sponsored child and her sponsor is at the top of the 'wonderful sponsor list'.

For 'back to school' her sponsor sent a special gift to buy Barka a bicycle.

Barka's full name is Barkawennam which is a Moore name that means 'Thank you, God'. By her smile, I think that you can tell that Barka is thankful for her new bike.

Barka and her new bike

Happy Thanksgiving!

Holiday Greetings!

Even though I just recently returned from a visit home, as the holidays approach my heart naturally 'turns toward home'. I hope that each of you have memory making times with family and friends during the Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations and that you find Jesus in the center of each activity.

Here at the orphanage, our children are busily preparing special songs, dance routines, and skits for our Christmas Eve family time at church.

New families for two of our children--

After the work, sweat, and tears of years of effort, we are preparing two of our children to leave the orphanage and to meet their adoptive families in December. If all goes well, Therese and Emma will spend Christmas in a new country with their new families.

Therese came to the orphanage in 2006. She was very sick with malaria and chest congestion. Within a short time, we learned that Therese has an enlarged heart and that her heart condition can not be treated here in Burkina. Therese is now 10 years old.

Therese's case is too complicated to go into depth here but the good news is that Therese had her day in court this month and her adoption has been approved. Therese will be leaving in just a few weeks and will become a member of a beautiful family in the US.

Emma is a little 2 ½ year old who was abandoned in the bush shortly after her birth. She was found by someone in the village and Social Action sent her to our orphanage. Emma is a delightful little toddler who will be joining her new family in Denmark.

Please pray for Therese and Emma's little hearts as they prepare to leave the orphanage and also the hearts of their adoptive families as they welcome their little ones home.

School News--

In visiting our classrooms this past week with my camera I asked the children if they were happy to be able to go to school. And, I thought that this little girl said it all with her smile. She is one of our little third graders.

This picture is of our 7^th grade class with Becky and Daniel, our English teachers in the back of the room.

Please continue to pray for the Holy Spirit to permeate our classrooms and to draw the hearts of our children to Jesus.

First week back in Burkina--

Welcome Becky Schroeder!
Becky arrived in Burkina on Oct 24th. She is from St Louis and is planning to live and work with us for one year. Becky is a college graduate who has come with a big bag of skills and a big heart to learn and to serve.

Becky will be teaching English to our 5th, 6th, and 7th graders and she has already started tutoring a couple of our older orphanage children in English. She is working with our toddlers in pre-school classes and is spending 4 or 5 hours a day working in the baby rooms.

Becky has been busy making friends both with our children here at the orphanage and with our local workers.

Please pray for Becky as she continues to adapt and adjust to her new life here in Burkina.

New School Year 2010-2011
School started for us here in Burkina on October 4th. In our primary school this year we are running 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 6th grade classes. And, in our new school building we are starting a middle school with a 7th grade class.

In visiting both of the schools this week, I found that everything is in order. Our students have all settled into the new school year and our teachers are happy with the progress that their students have already made.

New Children in the Orphanage
Each year at 'back to school time' we have observed that a couple of children move out of the orphanage and a couple of children move into the orphanage. And, this year is no exception.

In watching over our sponsored children we made the decision this year to invite three of our primary school age boys into the orphanage so that they could continue their studies. We do not have very many primary school age children in the orphanage because usually they can stay with their families and attend a primary school near their home. But each of these boys were in very vulnerable situations so we appraoched the families asking whether they could come to the orphanage for the school year and then return home in the summer to help the family with the farming chores. And, each of the families readily agreed.

Jonas Illy
Jonas is an adorable little 6 year old who has been sponsored since he was a infant. His mother is not well mentally. Jonas is her oldest child and he has two younger siblings. Because his mother is unstable, she stays home with her husband sometimes but she also leaves home sometimes and randomly roams from village to village, sometimes with her children and sometimes leaving her children at home.

Jonas is now old enough to start school, so we talked to the family about the possibility of him coming to the orphanage. We are not completely sure whether Jonas is 'normal' or not. We have no way of testing him to determine his level of development. But, we are hoping that with a change in his environment that Jonas will succeed in school.

Zidane Sankara
Zidane is a young boy of 11 years old. We have been working with the family for 2 years now on behalf of Zidane but his situation at home has not improved. Zidane has been under the care of his aging grandmother who does not have the strength or the mobility to adequately take care of him.

Zidane is failing in school. His marks at the end of last year were 1.3 out of a possible 10. He was in a 4th grade class but could not speak or understand French.

Zidane is very small for his age so we are hoping that with a few months of good food and some vitamins, he will put on weight and grow. We have put Zidane back into 3rd grade and have set up special classes in French to help him come up to the level he needs to do 3rd grade work.

Idrissa Tebda
Idrissa is also 11 years old. His father is very old and he is blind. His mother has died. The family gave his father a new wife but she is very young and is not well mentally. Essentially Idrissa was the care-taker of the family.

This past year, Idrissa dropped out of school. In talking with the family and his teacher, Idrissa dropped out because of discouragement. He often missed class because of problems and responsibilities at home.

We talked with the head of the extended family as well as Idrissa's father about the possibility of Idrissa coming to live at the orphanage during the school year and everyone was in agreement for this to happen.

Because Idrissa has also done so poorly in school and because his French is not at the level that it needs to be, we have put him back 1 grade into the 3rd grade class.

Safe Arrival Back in Burkina!

Arrived back to my 'African Home' early this morning, October 23^rd. The flights were all good. Left pretty much on time and arrived pretty much on time. Not bad for international travel.

Thought that I would give you a general summary of my time at home. My calendar was full and it was a very blessed two months of time with family and friends and work related activities all mixed in together.

Attended the Festival of Nations where Small Rain hosted an 'American Food' booth as a fund raiser. Attended a Small Rain board meeting and a strategic planning meeting.

Made annual visits with my dentist to get a crown. . . . yuck! And visited a general surgeon to have a growth removed from my arm. . . . another yuck!

Had two opportunities to visit my home church, Southgate Church in Crestwood where I was able to greet the people, give a 10 year summary of the work in Burkina, and host a sponsorship drive.

Attended a craft night at Southgate where a group of ladies made bibs and burp towels for me to bring back to our babies. At this event, it was great for me to meet some new friends and to share their joy and entheusiasm in making these things for our children.

Attended 2 of the Southgate home groups, one in the home of the Joggerests and one in the home of Vince LaRusso. Great fun to meet and get acquainted with Southgate folks.

Had numerous lunches and dinners with new friends, old friends, high school friends, and family. Enjoyed the time immensely over coffee and cheescake but have returned to Burkina with a little excess baggage around my middle.

Made a trip out to Pennsylvania to meet with a church there thinking and praying about drilling a well on the new school property for us.

Met with several different people thinking and praying about making a trip to Burkina. . . some for a 2 or 3 week visit and some for a longer length of time.

Made a trip to Columbia, MO to visit with friends and the church there.

Made a trip to California, MO to visit with friends and the church there.

Celebrated with my mom on her 87^th birthday.

Between various parties and get-togethers, this celebration was about a week long!

Celebrated the 18^th birthday with my grandson, Nathan. Nathan will be graduating from High School in May. Nate's dad, Aaron, is on the right.

Attended a week-end retreat in Branson, MO with the Sheltering Wings board of directors.

Was grateful for the opportunity to speak at two local St Louis Rotary meetings where I was able to personally thank them for the generous gift of medicine, lab equipment, and motorcycles that they provided for us this past August.

Had a great time apple picking and picking out pumpkins with Amy, Lillian and Claire at Echert's.

Visited Goshen Fellowship in Edwardsville, met some old friends and new friends, and shared the burden of the Burkina project with them.

Attended the 2^nd Annual Run for Relief in Fenton, MO where the proceeds this year will go to Sheltering Wings. It was a little cold this day for this African Mama but a great day for the 220 runners.

Attended my grandson, Nathan's, high school musical 'You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Nate was Pigpen and he did a great job!

Left to return to my 'African home' on Oct 21^st. The flights were all good and I arrived here in Burkina around 5 AM on the 23^rd. My taxi driver needed to go straight to a gas station where he put about $2 worth of gas in the tank. We had a near miss with a moto. Yikes! But, I am safe and sound in a nice room where I slept about 8 hours today.

Love and blessings to you!

Visit to Columbia and California, MO

This past week I traveled to Columbia, MO and visited with friends and the church there. It was so good to have times of refreshing with dear friends and the believers there.

After Columbia, I continued to California, MO where again I visited with friends and the local body of believers. Here in California several groups of women have been making 'little dresses for Africa' for us and quilting the guilt that Lisa and I pieced together last year. These pictures are of some of the ladies who Vare involved in the sewing projects.

In California, I had 4 opportunities to talk with different groups in the church sharing the burden and the vision of the orphanage and school.

Thank you, Lord, for these opportunities to rest and to meet new friends.

Small Rain Fund-raiser

Small Rain Fund-raiser

A St Louis based non-profit called Small Rain hosted a food booth at the Festival of Nations this past week-end in St Louis with the proceeds going to the Sheltering Wings Clinic. The festival is an annual event which brings together foods and cultural experiences from many nations of the world.

The more adventuresome attendees could sample culinary delights from the Near East, the Far East, Europe and South America.

Small Rain ran an 'American' booth which made many visitors smile by serving hotdogs, lemonade, and ice cream bars.

Thank you, Small Rain! Thank you to all the many volunteers who made this great work a lighter load for Kate Horrigan and the Small Rain board!

The children of Burkina Faso thank you for your labor of love.

Appendicitis and Typhoid Fever

Please Pray for Emanuel--

One of our boys, Emanuel Kouda, is in the hospital in Ouagadougou. I received an urgent call yesterday from Mathieu, also studying at the university, saying that they had called an ambulance and that Emanuel needed surgery.

As it turns out, I had gone to OUA to take care of some business yesterday. My schedule got completely changed, but I am glad that I was there and was able to meet the boys at the hospital.

Ema has appendicitis and typhoid fever. The surgery was successful and he is now recovering in his hospital room and may be released today.

Please pray for Ema. He has been discouraged about his studies and he has been dealing with 'not feeling well' for some time now. He has lost a lot of weight. He is a very tall boy and now resembles a walking skeleton. Please pray that real soon Ema will be back on his feet.

Tene's First Return Visit to Burkina!

A Visit from the Alonso family!

It was a great joy this past week to receive Phillipe and Beda Alonso and their family for a visit to the orphanage and to Burkina. This was the family's first return visit to Burkina since adopting their daughter, Tene, in 2007.

Tene's early childhood was filled with pain and suffering but she has been wonderfully rescued and is now thriving in a loving family and a beautiful environment in France. One of her older brothers, Eloi, is in this picture. She has another older brother, Quinten, who was not available for the picture.

Tene is completely integrated into her family. She is thriving physically and mentally. She will be entering the 5^th grade this Fall. She plays the saxaphone, is an avid skier, enjoys swimming, and has many friends.

Here is little Tene when she came to the orphanage in 2005.