The Girls
Wednesday has been quite a day. We arrived at the school with a few things on our to do list, the second day of Bible School, some construction and getting two girls enrolled in school. The picture of one girl was left by the group from last week and the other was a girl I fell in love over the past couple of days.
We showed pictures of the girls to the matriarch of the church and she went into motion. She knew who they were and where to find them. (God was moving!) Within minutes, the girls and their guardians were standing in the church. Everyone was happy to hear of the girl’s opportunity to go to school.
Rosaline (I think) was the group identified last week. She lives with her grandmother, who said that her mother has dementia of some kind (I suspect some kind of mental illness), and the kids were being abused. Rosaline is the youngest and was taken in by her grandmother, who could not afford to pay for school and the uniform and supplies. The other girl, Mialove, is a girl who lives with her aunt, who is older, and her grandparents. Cost was also keeping her out of school.
We met with the principal, gave the girls a pep talk about working hard and doing their school work, paid the families for the uniforms and committed to paying for these girls for years to come. Everyone exchanged hugs and kisses with big smiles. The girls will start school next week.
To finish off this part of the day, after many people heard about the girl’s good news, there are several other families who have children that they would like to have in school. One young boy’s father was killed in the earthquake, one family has 7 children, there are many who want to go to school. I wish I could arrange to send them all.
It was a busy day. Bible School went well today, the younger children heard the story of the lost sheep and the lost coin, and then played games and made sock puppets. Our team visited the beach across from the church and most got their feet wet in the ocean, ( Dale actually went swimming). There was an impromptu drum circle with some dancing, construction continued on the wall and the church, relationships were built, there is some sunburn, and we are feeling God’s presence as we settle in for the evening.
Beth
