Childrens Prayer Service

Once a month the childrens home has a special child lead prayer and update time in the chapel.
Generally a couple children from each of the "Casa's" (households) says something that they are thankful for, shares how God has worked in their life the past month, or requests prayer for a certain situation.
The above picture is of one of the housemothers with three of the children in her casa.

Our boy Alejandro decided to come sit with his Tio Nathanael.

I love this service. It really gives the rest of the staff a chance to get to know the kids a little better.
Some of the things that stand out the most in my memory was a teenage girl sharing about the recent death of her mother. Her strength and maturity astounded me as she expressed genuine gratitude to God for her many blessings. She requested that we pray for her strength and comfort as she seeks God's purpose for her life without her mother.

Three children ask prayer for their mother who has been very ill. Their mother worked in the kitchen here at the orphanage for many years. She is currently battling some kind of devastating illness and her children are now living here "because she knew we would be safe". Please pray for Alma. Her children need her to recover.

A little girl with cerebral palsy shared "What it is like to be a child with a disability". This little girl whom I have known and adored for 4 1/2 years now broke my heart. She shared how badly it hurts when some kids mock her or are cruel. She shared how it feels to watch the other children swinging on the swings and sliding down the slides, wishing she could do it herself. She has a dream of walking without her walker and asked if we could pray that her legs would grow stronger and that her balance would improve.

Little Brenda certainly had my daughters attention as she shared what it was like to be disabled. We had a long discussion about it later. It is evident as I talked to my daughter ,and got a glimpse of her compassion, that experiences like being here this winter are shaping who she is and the woman she will become. She was baffled to find out that some children and even adults find it uncomfortable to interact with people who are different from them or have some sort of disability. She is so at ease and natural around the kids here who have disabilities. Wheel chairs and walkers are a common sight. She realizes that a girl with Spina Bifida is a girl just like her, with the same kinds of hopes, hurts and interests as any other little girl.....her legs just don't work the same.

I wrote about last months Childrens Service in another post and mentioned that two children here had a special prayer request that a family member would come and visit them. They have gone several years without a visitor. As you can see that is a majority of their life.

Just to show what an amazing God we serve I have an update.

This past visitation day these two children , pictured below, received a surprise visit from an aunt they had never met. A sister of their father. Their "house dad" Eduardo shared with us this incredible answer to prayer. Something as simple as a visit from a relative....meeting an aunt for the first time was something huge to these kids. I am so thrilled for them! I hope and pray that this relative will continue to visit and get to know these two precious children.

Aili insisted on wearing her new Mexican dress to the special service last week. She asked one of the people in charge if she could have a turn to share too. I new she wanted to go up, but I didn't know what she had planned on talking about. It was so cute. She was so brave and looked like such a big girl up there behind the podium.
The person translating was so used to translating from Spanish to English that she repeated Aili's first sentence in English instead of translating it into spanish. This resulted in chuckles of amusement from the audience. Poor Aili thought everyone was laughing at her (notice the red cheeks) but she continued as if nothing had happened. I only found out how rattled she was after she burst into tears afterwards. I assured her it wasn't her everyone had laughed at. She said something like:
"This is our last "day of prayer" here in Mexico. This has been a very good experience for me and my family. I learned a lot of Spanish. Sometimes it was hard to be away from home but I know God was with me the whole time."
Then she went on to thank God for keeping Silas safe. That day and the day before had been hard on little Silas. In two days he had been backed into by a truck, had a nasty fall, and climbed up a stack of 20 lb cement blocks only to have a couple tumble down on top of him. I think his guardian angel was working overtime. Aili's description of accidents and resulting injuries not only turned my cheeks red but they provoked more gasps and laughter from the audience causing Aili's face to turn even more red. It was pretty cute.
Right now, my 8 year old who seems to be going on 18 is preparing a lesson plan for her class of students. She recently assembled a group of orphanage kids and is regularly teaching English to them. She has props, stickers, homework, and prizes all in her teachers bag. I just shake my head and chuckle (when she's not looking of course!). She's such a little leader and teacher already...whats she going to do in 20 years?