July Update

Hope For Life July 2012 Update

Praise the Lord! Hilliary and Gwen, our intern from Moody Bible Institute, arrived safely in Rwanda. They are enjoying living at the home with the boys, showing God’s love to them, and teaching them how to play baseball!

 

Paul tried to translate the baseball rules to the boys, but they only seemed to catch the gist of it. After the first inning, only one child remained in the outfield and everyone else wanted to bat. Eight-year-old Simeon, and a few of the other younger boys, ran around the bases, purposefully stalling so that Hilliary had to chase after them to tag them with the ball. They would giggle as she ran after them, trying to show off how much faster they had gotten in the last six months. The most hysterical sight was seeing six- year-old Claude at bat. Mid swing, Claude would switch the bat to his other hand and circle around, trying to hit the ball. To his delight, his batting technique somehow worked and got him on base once!

God is continuing to bless and grow this ministry. Our Wednesday outreach program has grown to 20 boys. The devotion this week was led by Gwen, who talked to the boys about how God is always there with them and for them. She asked the kids if they have ever felt like nobody cared for them, and several sad faces nodded their heads in acknowledgement. They were joyful to hear of God’s love and care for them, even when it feels like no one else does.

On a sad note, after much discussion and prayer, HFLM staff have decided it best to send nine-year-old Nsabiri back to his home and mom. He has been negatively influencing the other children and even posed as a threat to them. We are saddened that other disciplinary action did not change Nsabiri’s attitude and that this resulted in his departure from our program. However, we are committed to following up with him at home. Please join us in praying for a heart change and for his safety at home with his mom.

In the coming season, HFLM is focusing our efforts on internal development. Our Executive Director, Hilliary, is looking forward to implementing a new structure at the home that will increase supervision and unity. We believe that it is essential to equip our Rwandan leaders to run the home and we are excited to focus on this. Hilliary hopes to impact our leader’s characters and deepen their relationships with Christ through intense staff training, theological training, and discipleship courses. We pray that this will aid in transforming our staff from the inside out.

Your prayers and gifts make all the difference to our children in Rwanda and your ongoing partnership allows us to meet our goals and continue transforming their lives. Thank you for joining us in showing God’s love to Rwandan street boys!

God bless you,