This Saturday, just like every Saturday, our children´s intercession group prayed for you, supporters of our ministry and children´s sponsors. We are grateful for all you do, and pray for health and blessing over each of you! We are encouraged to see our children learn about the power of prayer, and are excited to see the answers that will follow.
(Pix: Natali, Christina, Rosa, Jahaziel, Manuel, Greysi)

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By poetry we mean the art of doing by means of words what the painter does by means of colors—Thomas B. Macaulay

Ministering to children through the gift of teaching makes me feel alive. It´s exciting to see my students learn new concepts and express themselves in new ways. Three days a week from January to February, I taught a poetry/art class (part of my graduate work over 10 years ago!). I had taught this course before, but this was the first time in Spanish! The students learned to use words creatively to make nonsensical and meaningful poems, incorporating art. They incorporated into their poetry onomatopoeia, Bible verses, acrostics, free verse, rhyme and rhythm, cinquain, and haiku. They learned to draw stylistic portraits with oil pastels. The kids were stretched and grew in their ability to write poetry. Beautiful!

Here is our final poem (translated):
WHERE I´M FROM
By Jahaziel, Greysi, Iris, Oscar, Alberto, and Rachel
26 February 2013

I am from the drum stick.
I am from chalk.
I am from the fish hook.
I am from magic tricks.
I am from a leaf.
I am from a smile.
I am from swimming in the river.

I am from a pirouette.
I am from the ballet ribbon.
I am from Psalm 19.
I am from jumping rope.
I am from the sunflower.
I am from Mama´s cooking.
I am from the kitty cat.

I am from volleyball.
I am from bread.
I am from mathematics.
I am from choreographies.
I am from tears.
I am from joy.
I am from taking walks.

I am from CR7.
I am from the photograph.
I am from coconut.
I am from letters of the alphabet.
I am from adventures.
I am from playing defense.
I am from a joke.

I am from cement and a saw.
I am from the goal post.
I am from fish in the water.
I am from mangos.
I am from praising God.
I am from the earth in a garden.
I am from mission trips.

I am from words.
I am from the child´s heart.
I am from a butterfly´s colors.
I am from peace.
I am from rain and wind.
I am from the voice of God.
I am from traveling.

Over 100 of our children (including kids from our daughter Club in a village Gotitas de Amor) received boxes of gifts from Samaritan´s Purse. Our choreography team put on a show for the kids, and we handed out refreshments. It was a blessing to see so many smiling faces.

Here are our Club children receiving their school supplies—notebooks, paper, pencil holder, pencils, pens, eraser, ruler, and glue.

Thanks to all our sponsors who sent in your donation, and thus encouraging these children to get an education and helping the parents with their kids´ basic school supplies. Thanks to those who sent in extra for your child or for a child without a sponsor.

Remember you can send a donation once a year, if you want, to cover your child for the year.

If you are not yet sponsoring a child and would like to, let me know. 54 of our 86 children have sponsors, so there are still 32 kids who need sponsors. There are 7 who have been with us the longest and whom we want to match with sponsors as soon as possible: Rangel and Juan Carlos (twins), Patrick Atac, Gianella (“Janela”), Angelo, Daniela and Kimberly (sisters). PICTURES OF THESE KIDS IN BLOG—SCROLL DOWN TO DECEMBER 10, 2012 ENTRY