Visiting the children of Shelemiah is always a joy. Running to me with hugs is about the best experience anywhere. Makes me miss my grandchildren. But the kids of Shelemiah never fail to greet me in the warmest way. I needed their help this day and they were quite happy to oblige, but we started with some fun first. Balloon animals. Thanks to Scott for leaving these behind, we had lots of fun making shapes akin to animals and other shapes too. What I really loved was seeing a few of the boys allow their creativity to take over and make some very crazy balloon art. Tying these things at the end is always the challenge. We found a few skilled balloon tiers which saved me a few slices on my fingers. Yea.
While the children monkeyed around with their balloons, Dennis took me to a young lady whose husband recently died unexpectedly. He has a way of doing that, Dennis, connecting people where they can be used best. I told her briefly about my story and shared the reality that God will bring joy back to her life. Although doubtful at the moment, she received prayer gratefully and I look forward to seeing her again. I’m so very thankful to people like Dennis who have compassion on ladies like this and offer them a place to stay while they figure out what to do next. Women have very few options in this culture, and even fewer when their husband dies.
We settled into the project at hand, coloring thank you cards. I have a huge pile of cards to use as thank yous for all of YOU and needed their help in applying their best artistic skills to make them beautiful. Some of the kids even took the initiative to fill in their own notes on the cards addressed to Heidi and I. So fun. The younger children colored in Bob the Builder coloring pages and did a magnificent job with their crayons. Such fun and creative children are never without songs. We wrapped up our time together with songs and a few dance moves. Praise God for the people who genuinely love the orphans.
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| Little Faith, who received a dress a while back, was afraid of me this time (sniffle). |