Liberia

Here's an update from our Lifesong Liberia director, Bishop Emmanuel Jones:

Our newest school in Marshall is progressing smoothly with 84 students and 5 teachers.  This school is the first and only school in the Marshall community (of over 10,000 people) and presently runs from ABC to Grade 3.  There are over 50 children from the community who are attending school for the first time in their lives. 
We have also formed a parent-teacher committee to help us get more involved with the community and to do evangelism as well as creating an opportunity for community transformation.

Our second distribution of relief materials, which was shipped by Lifesong, took place over the Liberian Thanksgiving weekend.  Each of the children received a bag for their clothing, a blanket, 3 sets of clothing, a pair of slippers, and a camper cup. More distributions will take place this month at hospitals and old folks’ homes by the orphans as a way of learning how to share their blessings with others.

Lifesong Liberia celebrated its 1st anniversary this month.  Our schools held an All Schools Day which brought together all of our schools on November 22 as part of a celebration.  We were blessed with special guests from America, Andy Lehman and liaisons, Keith and Kay Knapp. 

Life at the orphanages is much better than a year ago but daily problems are always abounding.  We are able in a small way to make beauty out of ashes.

 

Have a great tuesday, everyone!

Dad, how do you get rich?

"all" the money from an 8 yr old girl's piggy bank

A Lifesong giver recently shared this story with us...an example of how we get to advocate WITH our children!

I was driving home from bible study one evening when my 8 yr old daughter asked, “Dad how do you get rich?” I asked her why she wanted to get rich and she said that she didn’t really know but when pressed she wanted to buy another American Girl doll. I explained to her that many children didn’t even have one doll, let alone two.

She wanted to know why some people were rich and some were poor so I answered because God makes some rich and some poor. I explained that if we are rich we should not use it for ourselves but we should give it to the poor to help them…this makes God happy. I very thoughtful little girl asked if I know some poor people. I told her that I did and she asked if I could take her to meet them so she could give them the money she has in her piggy bank.

Over the last few months she has asked me several times if I can take her to some poor people so that she can give them her money. Well, the other Friday night my wife and I were talking about an orphanage in Honduras that has some needs. We were trying to narrow down how many of the needs we could help with when our 8 year old asked if the people there are poor. We explained that they are poor and she promptly declared that she wanted to give them all the money in her piggy bank, except the dollars she has gotten from losing teeth because she wants to keep track of how many teeth she loses…but when she’s done losing teeth she will give that money too. Well, she and her 4 year old sister pooled their piggy bank change and came up with $15 dollars. She is excited to give the money and never wavered in her decision.

The ironic thing is that my wife and I wrote the single largest donation check we have every written but in Jesus eyes our daughter has given more because she has given nearly everything she has. I praise God that he has given us a heart to share and that we have the opportunity to influence our children’s hearts for the poor.

As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. "I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."   ~  Luke 21:1-4

Opportunity to serve more children | India

Bill Perkins (author, speaker, and Orphan Advocate) guides us through this video...

Giving a little glimpse into the Lifesong-India staff people who daily serve, love, and care for the orphans and vulnerable children in India.  You'll see how many years of faithfulness they have given to these children...

as well as the opportunity for us to continue to serve them...

  Check out Bill Perkin's ministry and how he is advocating for vulnerable children...