February Fun

February began with the joy of reuniting with the kids after being home in MN for the holidays. The first week back, we did the Bible School curriculum used by our home church during the summer. The kids had fun learning and dancing to the music and seeing in our Bible stories how “God Rescues” us. The kids also began their year of school which runs from February-November.

February is a month filled with teams visiting the Children’s Home. Our second week back, it was a joy to have the LIFE team (mission team) from our home church, Shepherd of the Valley, serving here. Projects at the Children’s Home were tackled and we had fun with the kids making tye-dye shirts and hanging out. We also came alongside the church we’ve been working with each year in the community of Oak Ridge. We spent Valentine’s Day loving our neighbors as ourselves. The Oak Ridge church designated homes for us to visit. Our team from Shepherd divided into 4 groups. With each of the groups was a member of their church, and an interpreter. As we visited each home, we enjoyed time together sharing God’s Word, praying, and bringing them food, supplies, and clothing. Lunch was served to around 200 children plus adults that were at the church with their kids. After lunch we helped the church to have a rummage sale with the items the team brought down and additional items from the Children’s Home. The cost of the items was small and the proceeds went to the church. We had fun playing games with the children and sharing the message of God’s love with them. It was a perfect Valentine’s Day!

The week after the Shepherd team left, we went back to studying the narrative of the Bible. We studied the Tower of Babel and the kids used a straw and Cheerios to try building a tower. After the Tower of Babel, the narrative takes us to the book of Job. In Job, the kids discovered that things don’t always appear as they seem. They tried on some funky glasses and had to try drawing and seeing what someone else drew. We talked about how in the good and the bad, God is God. Through it all, He is with us and we can trust in “Him and lean not on our own understanding”. After Job, we headed back to Genesis and began to journey with Abram and Sarai. We had fun making an altar from Whoppers, pretzels and Cheetos. After praying and worshiping God, we enjoyed eating the goodies.

We celebrated 2 birthdays in February, Danny and Victoria.

We hope you had a wonderful February and we thank you for your continued prayers.

In His great love,
Christie and Rick