ART MARKET

Today was the first day that Holambra held an art market at the Pioneiro plaza. It was quite well organized with many stands selling things. Jeremy’s Dutch dancing group danced and did a great job. They had a nice presentation thanking many of the Dutch people there for their involvement. The mayor was there as well, as was the cultural secretary, and representatives of the counsel. We had a nice time catching up with different people from Holambra, which has been a great blessing to us. Many more people from the Dutch community are beginning to help the project financially and other ways. The Lord begins to open up many more doors for Lar Feliz.

I HAVE LEARNED HOW TO HOLD 4 HANDS AT A TIME..

Today, at the seminar for child development for crèches, we learned about how important the affection of a mom and dad are to a baby. When a child doesn’t receive this, many problems develop. Sometimes with my work at the baby house, when I arrive, the babies almost attack me for my attention, so much do they need love. It is many times that when I sit on the floor, 4 or 5 of them try to sit on my lap at once and cry and fight when there is no room left. When I walk together with them to the playroom, they cry and fight to hold my hands, so much so that I have learned how to hold four hands at a time, two little hands for each of my hands. It breaks my heart to know how these little souls are suffering so for love. It keeps me going when I am tired, to just give a little bit more to those who don’t have enough.

FRIDAY ALREADY!!

Unbelievable that it is Friday already! Sometimes the weeks just fly by. Today we had so many visitors for the new children. It is always so interesting and often heartbreaking to find out the stories behind the children. Today we have 71 children living with us!
Last week we received 12 year old twins, two boys and then a couple of days later their 16 year old sister. Their parents, who are living on the streets, came to visit today. It is so sad to hear about their living situation. I pray that God will intervene. Pray with us for I, A and R and their family!!

COLDS AND RUNNY NOSES

This week at the baby house, we are battling colds and flu with the cooler weather change. We have a lot of runny noses, coughing, and sneezing. Yesterday morning, it was pouring the rain, so we were all crowded together in the little living room. It did create a scenario for some very bad tempered babies! I brought some materials for making them some necklaces. We used normal string and cut up some colourful straws to slip on the string and make some necklaces. It was a little bit rough going at times, but the kitchen manager also came to help, and with more hands, we managed to sooth the babies fighting over the straws and have an enjoyable time together for a rainy day. Today the sun is out so, I am hoping to take them on a walk to see the animals at the first farm. Maybe the fresh air will do us all some good.

Lar Feliz will look TIP TOP

Yesterday we got a confirmation about a big project that the local college will be doing at Lar Feliz. A group of students have already visited twice and made a list of all the maintenance that needs to be done. During the month of June groups of students will be coming to paint houses, lay floor tiles, fix the soccer field, change doors etc etc. We are so excited about it because not only will Lar Feliz look tip top again, it also means expanding our circle of friends. It always is so amazing how God opens doors!!!

JONAS BROTHERS, SONIA AND ADOPTION

Some of you of course want to know how the Jonas Brothers Show went. Well, if you can imagine 45.000 people in a foot ball stadium and 90% of them being teen-age girls screaming at the top of their lungs at every word the Jonas Brothers said. All together Elisa and I had a very nice day. We were on our feet from 10;30 in the morning until 9;00 in the evening. But Elisa called it one of the best days of her life. So what else can I say as a dad, then it was one of the best days of my life too.
The Jonas Brothers were a great example here in Brazil. Because the audience was so big, but there was fighting or whatever because no alcohol was sold whatsoever. Most shows here end of with lots of trouble because of all the drinking.
For those of you who have been praying for Sonia; she as an appointment in the hospital today, which by itself is a miracle because at first there would be no room for more appointments this month. So hopefully they can schedule the surgery soon.
We asked you to pray for two adoptions in progress. The one of the little 2 year old boy is going great!! He is bonding with his new family and it is all going well. Unfortunately the 6 year old girl came back to the project and now the judge will decide what will happen next.

THANK GOD FOR VOLUNTEERS....

Yesterday, I was able to spend some good time with the three Dutch volunteers from our home church in Holland who have come to the Project to help. Among them are a trained psychologist/social worker, and a handy man. They are very energetic to learn and to help in any way possible. They will be staying from 3—6 months, and we will be fitting them into a program at the project this week. The last time that they came they helped make a lot of Christmas cards, and also made some nice lamps, together with the children to sell back in Holland. This year, they will also be involved in various craft projects. They are a very hard working group, and it is such a blessing to have them here. They are favourites among the children too.

THE JONAS BROTHERS.....

God answers prayers, and dreams do come true. Elisa has always loved the Jonas brothers, and American group that sings pop rock. It has always been her dream and prayer to see them in concert. Tonight for the first time in Brazil, they will be giving a concert in Sao Paulo. For her birthday this year, her grandmother bought her tickets to go. So, this morning early, Paul and her are leaving to already wait in line for what may be a wonderful show.

PRAY FOR SONIA

Today we would like to ask you to pray for Sonia, our financial administrator. Her eye has been bothering her for a while now and yesterday she went to the doctor, who told her to stop working immediately. She will need a surgery in order for the problem to be resolved. As you can imagine she was very shocked and worried. Will you pray for her that she will have peace about it and also for the surgery to be done as fast as possible. Pray for us, because even though Sonia has been showing us more or less how to do her job, now we will be on our own doing the payroll etc.
Also we would like you to pray for the two kids who went to their new families this week. The older one is still having some problems, is crying a lot. Pray for both of them to adapt and love their new families!!

PLEASE PRAY FOR JL

Please pray for our special needs child J.L. He is a boy who survived a gunshot to his head. This week, he went through some tests at the hospital and afterward became quite agitated. He is in the baby house where he is cared for together with the babies and toddlers. The monitors always go the extra mile to care for his special needs. It takes a lot of patience to feed him, as well as having two people at a time to change him and bathe him. As well he is always fighting having his teeth brushed and clamps down. I watch them care for him a little bit in awe because they never complain about him and actually love him very much.

DIFFICULT DAY FOR TWO SISTERS.....

Today was a difficult day for two sisters. For six years, they were all each other had with regard to family. Today the judge ruled after years of trying to find a family to adopt them both, to send one sister to a loving family to be adopted, while the other sister stays at Lar Feliz. Please pray for the two of them, that God will fill them with his peace during this during this turn of events. Hopefully one day they will be able to understand the reason why.
We have another little boy who has been at the project since his birth. He will be adopted this week by a wealthy loving family. He has grown with us and has become a polite beautiful boy. It is no wonder that the family immediately fell in love with him at the first meeting. His life now is a rags to riches testimony.

MOBILE PHONE.....

MOBILE PHONE- Over the years I have heard a lot of comments about my mobile phone. Most of comments where about the fact that the phone sometimes doesn’t stop ringing. Well one of those days was yesterday. I was showing the some friends of the project the new home for the babies when the phone rang. The social worker of the court house called and said that the next day a couple would come to meet one of the toddlers. Most likely they will be adopting him. That was great news, since the boy will be almost three years old and was born here. Then 10 minutes later the phone rang again. This time it was one worker of the child protection services asking if we had room for 14 year old twin boys. The reason they needed to come was child abuse. Sometimes good and sad news is all mixed together in our lives. I wonder how many times it will ring today

UPDATE ON NEW BABY HOUSE

We are so excited that the building of the new home for babies is going so fast. In about three weeks the roof will be on and the we will enter in the finishing touches like; tiling, wiring, plumbing, ceilings, painting etc etc. We are praying for it to be completely down by the end of August.This new home will make such a difference for the now 16 babies and toddlers, as well as for the staff working there.

The home will have three different living rooms, a dining room, 4 bedrooms and three bathrooms. They will have three times the space that they have now. To finish the house we still need to see about 80.000 reais come in. We have all kind of fund raisers planned and we are SO confindent that it will get done, because the blessing of the Lord is tremendous.

PICKING FRUITS....

Here in Brazil, our weather is changing now, and we can enjoy a little bit of “cold” weather. It is also the time of year at the project that many of the children come down with colds and flu, especially at the baby house. We have a tangerine treat our home that gave lots of fruit this year. Yesterday, Paul and I spent some time picking the last of the fruit and putting them in boxes to bring to the children. It is a type of tangerine that is very very sour; usually we use it to make juice only, but the kids of all ages just love eating those sour fruits plain. In the baby house, we have been accustomed to make fresh juice daily for them in order to get enough fluids and vitamin C.

A HUGE SMILE

Today 12 kids were invited by a big flower business to participate in the running marathon. They could choose from several distances and at 8 o’clock this morning of they went. When they came back a 12 year old girl came up to me with the biggest smile and a big champions cup in her hand. She came in second and it looked like she had just won 1 million dollars. Those things are so important for these kids. It shows them that they are good for something.
Many of these children think they are worth nothing, and often believe that it is their own fault that they are at Lar Feliz. Our prayer is that they find out soon that God knew them from even before they were born. Pray with us!!!

BABIES ON A OUTING.....

Last week, I was able, together with two workers Chris and Edna, to take the babies out to the park. It was a nice sunny morning and we went to a park in Holambra where there is a small playground and a lake with a walking path. The cook packed us a picnic lunch with lots of sweets and sandwiches, and I brought some chocolate milk packs, and the babies were dropped off at the park by the project van dressed in their best outing clothes. Once at the park, it was very easy to entertain them on the wooden swings and slides and tires. Everything was of interest to them, from the drinking fountain to the lake to the squawking geese trying to nibble what was left of the sandwiches. After the success of this wonderful day, we hope to do these types of excursions more often, giving the babies a taste of life and fun beyond Lar Feliz.

READING STORIES....

Last week I decided to bring a few of my favourite children’ books to share with the toddlers of the baby house. The books are in English and I translated the little stories as sat with the children on the floor. I observed such a strong reaction that I had never imagined. All of the children showed such a hunger and interest in the story that they were crying and fighting to get closer to me, and actually were trying to tear the books out of my hands. They caused such a commotion that it was difficult to go further with the story. Reading stories, I had done daily with my own children that was common and ordinary, was for these children, something precious, and something that they were actually fighting for. I will never forget the reaction that I saw from the babies and toddlers and have made it my goal to implement more story times with picture books at the baby house.

organizing acitivities...

With the hour changes of Asterio, we are also changing the hours of the children of bit. As of next week we are offering the following activities for the children; Bible study, Home work hour and choir, these three activities are required for all the children and teen-agers. Then we also have 8 other activities of which they have to pick at least three; toy room, internet, drama, dance, animal farm, crafts, theme groups and music lessons.
So we had our meetings with the children and explained everything. Now the work for the coordinators is starting to get all the hours organised without forgetting nothing or noboy!! Exciting!!

Getting ready for the fund raising dinner!!

On the 10th of June a fancy seafood restaurant in town will be holding a fund raising dinner for Lar Feliz.
We have a total of 180 tickets to sell, and if it all sells then we will have raised about 4000 reais, so about 2000 dollars. On top of that we will be holding a silent auction, something the people here haven't heard about yet. We will be selling arts and jewelery made by some artists but also by the children. Apart from the money we will be raising, we will also be making friends for life. So pray with us that this event will be a success!!

CHURCHES GETTING INVOLVED...

During the meeting with the new board last Saturday some ideas were mentioned and one of them was to get the local churches more involved with the families who have children living at Lar Feliz. That is something so exciting, because then our help goes further then just the children living with us. This way we can prepare their families better for the possible return of their child/family members.
Yesterday night we were invited to the monthly meeting of some pastors of Jaguariuna. This was great because there were about 7 pastors and we were able to invite them to become a closer part of Lar Feliz and the families of the children.
So this is a new development that we would really appreciate your prayers for that.

Good meetings!

Over the weekend, we had our first meeting with our board for awhile. After the two terms, we had decided to make some changes and have some new members on board who are eager to help with fund raising and any other type of work. We added four new members while keeping the remaining four who really have a heart for Lar Feliz and who helped out. The meeting went really well, and we all seem to be of one mind and heart and that is to glorify God through Lar Feliz. It was a refreshing time with such unity and help for us from this group of different professionals. Last night at the drink selling stand Lar Feliz was able to raise another $500 for the new baby house. We have a busy week planned, with some more meetings, and I would also like to do some new activities with the baby house, today, going horseback riding, and an outing later in the week. Hope that you also have a nice week this week, and may God bless the work of your hands.

DON'T FORGET YOUR MOTHER....

Don’t forget your mother! Mother’s day is a special day to remember. One definition of “mother” should be “someone who sacrifices her own desires for the care and benefit of her family”. For many women, it is the case that if she must choose of what she would want as opposed to what her family needs, she will choose the latter. Through the years, I have received a lot of sweet homemade presents from my children, a recipe book, a tray made out of matches, paintings that were not quite finished yet, and this year a big green coffee mug. Also, through the years, my mother has also received some homemade presents from me that were symbolic of the statement, “it’s the thought that counts.” This year, we had flowers sent to both of our mothers, a gift that they both love and enjoy. It is good to remember this day for them, because how many times have they remembered us, and put us and our wants above their own, too many too count! Don’t forget your mom today!

8 YEARS HAVE GONE BY....

The years have gone by so fast. Today we will hold our 3rd election of the Lar Feliz board. This means that Lar Feliz exists 8 years. There are many reasons to be thankful. God has blessed the work so tremendously and is continuing to bless it. So many children have come and gone and only the lord knows how many more will be coming. Today is a good day to stop and think back for a while. A day to stand in awe of the greatness of our Lord because of all the things He has done. 5 people will be leaving the board and 4 new people are coming in. We are praying for a more active board. A board that will not only help us with prayers, but also with ideas and helping hands.
Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; His love endures forever.
Psalm 106;1

changes....

Boy, the last two days have been busy! Our internal director, Astério, had to cut back his hours drastically because of several other functions he has. A change of leadership always brings about change and that is what we are working on now. Instead of a general internal director we will now have a monitor coordinator. Marcello has already worked for Lar Feliz for a long time as an educational supervisor. Now he will be taken on the role as monitor supervisor as well. As of this coming Monday, Lar Feliz will also have a music/arts supervisor. This will be Ronaldo; he has worked for us for about 6 years already as a monitor and music teacher. This year he graduated in arts and will start focussing on Music (instruments and choir), dance, drama and crafts. So we are excited about that. Pray with us that these changes will go smoothly.

YESTERDAY LOTS OF FUN AND TODAY WISDOM NEEDED..

What a wonderful we had yesterday in the amusement park. We took 33 children of Lar Feliz. 12 and older was allowed to go around without adults and the rest of the kids were divided among the 7 staff that went along. Every year this park called “Hopi Hari” organizes a “Dia de Alegria”. A day of happiness, on which they invite non-profit organizations to bring the children they work with for a free day of fun. So no entrance fee was charged and a free lunch was provided. They had so much fun, and it was real special to just see all those organizations take care of their children and make sure they had a great day of fun.
On another note, we would appreciate your prayers today for our staff. Some we will have to let go, others we have to correct and train some more, so today I will be sitting down with about 5 of them. So pray for wisdom!!

MAY THE LORD ANSWER YOU WHEN YOU ARE IN DISTRESS..

Psalm 20:1 says, "may the Lord answer you when you are in distress;" Today the majority of the project will be going to an amusement park as a reward for their good behavior. It will be a wonderful, but also busy time for Paul and the monitors. I will be taking the baby house, who were also unable to go, to ride horses at our animal therapy farm. Whenever one is in the midst of a very stressful time, you can call out to the Lord who promises his peace. He answers our prayers in miraculous ways. He calms the storms and gives us grace to do the work that he has called us to do.

SCHOOL NEWS....

Our educational advisor on staff, Marcelo, as well as our teacher, Roseangela have their hands full with parent-teacher meetings. They must attend the meetings of every child from the project who attends school. Sometimes, it is a good encouraging report that the child has improved, and sometimes the meeting presents more challenges in directing us toward areas of the child’s behaviour that needs to improve. At the last parent-teacher meeting E., from the baby house, seems to be showing some difficulty in school. He is nervous during the day, and crying and eating too much. Some others who are teen agers are C., the girl that for some months, refused to go to school, and last, D. is a boy who lived quite a while on his own on the streets, shows difficulty in behavioural problems at school. Please remember them in your prayers. Also, let’s not forget all of the improvements that have taken place through the patience and perseverance of Marcelo and Roseangela. Thank the Lord many children have done well or ok this term.

Exciting... an outing!!

This week is an exciting week for the children. This coming Wednes we have a big outing planned
to an amusement park called “Hopi Hari” We will be going with about 50 people, but there is a BUT....
We will be having a meeting with the staff and then with all the children to discuss about 10 names of kids to see if they will be going or not. This because of their behavior the last couple of weeks.So for some kids it is still not sure if they will be going or not.
The new home home for the babies is growing so fast..Pretty soon we will be putting on the roof. After that we will have to see how the finances are in order to keep going or not!

HE MAKES ME LIE DOWN IN GREEN PASTURES....

Psalm 23:2-3
He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.
Today we are at home feeling sick with the flu. Rest is always the best medicine for colds and flu. It is during those times of rest that it is good to reflect on matters of the soul. It is good to get perspective away from the heat of the battles and the difficult trials. The Lord created rest for the body and the soul. A restored soul is one that is more effective, and efficient in facing the daily tasks. So, if you are feeling tired, take rest for your soul.

Good party and the flu.....

With all the business we were not able to write a little blurb for the blog yesterday. Today the whole house was quiet until noon. The event in Jaquariuna was a success. We had a great time selling and hopefully after paying all the bills, we should even have a profit. Happy home had a sweet visit of a church from Paulina. The members of the church brought stuff to make milkshakes, so the kids sure appreciate it. A flu has been going around and knocked Jeremy out for three days. Today Jill woke up sick, so let’s pray she gets well soon as well as Jeremy, who still is not all the way back to normal.