To get past my bloggers block I am going to reduce the subject mater down to the the major changes within our household in the last two weeks. We've hit big big land markers.
First off, Eric has moved into the halfway house! We are very excited about kicking off this ministry. Eric, his wife Kenia and their daughter Lauren are settling in to their new home and we are preparing to receive men in the rehab process and to accompany their re-entry into society.
Friday, Barbara graduated from her college course in marketing. We had a great celebration with her and are glad that she is searching for job openings here in Itu. But should she be led to stay or to move on, we pray that God would imbed her in a very meaningful involvement of what He is doing in the Kingdom.
Carioca moved out of our home on Monday. This was a tough one, but he is on his way to live in Dallas TX and to see what will come of his relationship with Sarah Lang. Carioca has been a core part of our home and team for two years now. We had a huge party at our house to commemorate his move and to celebrate Barbara's graduation, complete with churrasco and a DJ, and we partied till the cops showed up. It was the only worthy way. God blessed us in immeasurable ways through his involvement here. We would have loved to have kept him here... but this experience has reminded us that our home serve to bless, to give purpose, and to send out in a purposeful way. We pray that Carioca caries a new peace with him where ever he goes, and that he will come back, even if only to visit, rejoicing over the wonders he has seen.
And finally, Buno. Bruno came into a Celebrate Recovery meeting in September, brought by mom and visibly upset about having to talk to a group about his involvement with drugs. Soon he warmed up to Eric (I’m sure the “fro” and guitar helped!) and Mark and became a regular at youth group as well as C.R.. We invited him to spend a couple of weekends with us and we enjoyed having him in the house.
At the end of 2011 his mom called saying he had disappeared. We searched and prayed but never heard anything before we left the country for Christmas. We did not hear from him or his mom for a month, then our first Sunday back at church Bruno snuck in late and found his place next to Mark.
A couple of weeks earlier, as Mark and I drove from Ohio to Michigan, we had prayed for him and said to each other, “if he comes back, we’ll welcome him into our home.” Sure enough. After talking to Barbara and Carioca, we sat with him mom, Isabel, and offered for him to live with us during the week while he goes to school. So Bruno is the kid in the house. For a 16 year old, he is small and underdeveloped for his age. He has not gone to school in 5 years, and he has not been well fed. But with all these disadvantages, he's doing great. We give him extra homework every day which he does surprisingly willingly, and he is learning to respect others with noticeable improvement. There is a lot more we could write on this... but just pray for us and we'll try to keep some updates coming.
So this is our new starting point. Every thing is a little different, but that's normal. Throughout it all God continues to show that He is God, and we are blessed.
