Geoff is in the North

The bottom pic is of Kevin carrying packages from the administration office! The kids love it when we receive things from people back home. And I love seeing the pure joy on their faces!!!! Just thought I'd share a big smile with you . . . The top pic shows another frequent source of joy for me!! Now that Toby reads (about anything he can get his hands on!) the other two just love to hear him read to them. And we love that all of them enjoy learning together!!!

It's late, but I just thought I would try my hand at this blog business again . . . it's been a long time since I've shared anything in this space. The kids have just gotten into bed--well, they oughtta be, it's 10:20 p.m. Time just seemed to race away from us tonight. It was a busy day for me with laundry. I tend to wait too long until I have a huge pile of stuff and it takes me hours. The kids' business of the day was to play, play, play. They rode bikes, fetched water, helped wash the van, played at David family, played at the Dangers' house, played with their leap pads and took almost every book out of the bookshelf to read. (Thankfully they put them all away before bed time.) Kevin decided he would eat a termite today. The neighbor was catching and eating them and his rational was that he had never tried them, so WHY NOT? He announced to me that "they have no guts." Which I think loosely translated means, "they have no taste." He was eating it while it was still alive--when I tried my first (and ONLY) termite it was cooked, but still, it had no taste. OK, enough on that bit of disgusting fare.

Earlier in the day we had devotions on Kings David and Solomon, and then later in the day on the dangers of lying. (Kevin is sometimes too keen to conceal the truth and this is a topic we've returned to more than once.)

I guess all in all as I look back at the day I see that we did a good job of keeping ourselves busy while Daddy was away. He left this a.m. (at 4!) with approx 40 others piled in a lorrie covered with a tarp. They traveled to the North for a week of ministry to the "invisible children." The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) led by Joseph Kony terrorized the people in the north for years. At night they would raid the villages, killing, kidnapping and forcefully "recruiting" for their forces. Often children were made to kill others on the spot--sometimes their own parents. Those who were not captured would flee their villages each night (as this is when the raids were carried out) and would sleep in locked IDP (internally displaced peoples) camps. Hence, the name "invisible children" was taken up as they disappeared in the night to the camps.

Geoff and a few other leaders with the young people from New Hope are sleeping in an IDP camp this week. They arrived just before 7 p.m. and began immediately to set up camp. They will do some building, along with spiritually ministering to the people in the area. Please pray for them as they are there among those who have been so spiritually battered. "Internally Displaced" is an appropriate term in two ways: physically, of course, they have been uprooted from their villages and the way of life they once knew; and spiritually they are tormented by the things they've seen and done. Please pray for the deliverance of those beautiful creations of God who have been forced to participate in such atrocities against other creations of God. They don't fit into society anymore: their relatives don't know how to handle them and the schools often don't want them because they are too "violent". Our young people from New Hope have been through much heartache, but their experiences are so different than those to whom they will be ministering this week. Pray for the spirit of God to minister to them and to give them wisdom as they are in the North.

It will be a busy week for all of us. I plan on keeping up our regular schedule of school, devotions, bread baking, staff fellowship and Sunday afternoon Bible study with the girls while Geoff is away. So far, so good. Pray that the children maintain a peace and a joy despite Daddy being gone. Toby and Acacia cried for awhile tonight over missing Daddy and then Toby began to remember other people he misses. It's difficult for missionary kids to assimilate all the emotions that come with the constant stream of people in and out of their lives. "Hello" and "Good-Bye" are frequently used words around here. Especially now that it is summertime in the West. We have one team after another of people flooding through and the kids get attached to people who are only here a few weeks and then are gone--sometimes never to return.

As I hear news from Geoff and the team, I will attempt to update here. Thanks for listening!

Mary