So much has happened in 400the last few weeks! Four of the beautiful Baby Centre kids now go to baby class, which is the equivalent of preschool or kindergarten. I got to help do the"back to school" shopping for Andrew, Malachi, Angela, and Wycliffe, and they were THRILLED to have their own backpacks and uniforms. I was a nervous wreck on their first day, and after I dropped them off I checked the clock every 15 minutes until it was finally time to go and pick them up! Malachi came running up to me when I arrived and yelled "I love school! but I had to draw SO much!" Andrew just said "they let me drink tea!"
We are trying to raise money to send two more of our toddlers to the school. Brandon and Johnny have been quite jealous of the others! The school fees and cost of uniform can add up to $100 or more per child per term. The school they are attending is incredible, and completely worth it. The children are learning so much and their teacher has been riding the bus home with them to make them feel more comfortable. They have only been going for two weeks and their verbal skills have already improved drastically.
I was surprised that I was so emotional about the kids going to school. I was scared that they would be in shock or afraid of being away from the Baby Center for the first time - some of the children here have issues from being abandoned and I was so worried that they would think we were leaving them for good. But when they ran to me talking about how much they loved school I thought I would burst with pride - I cried I was so happy at their reaction! I think the Lord blessed both them and me with extra grace for the transition.
The fact the older kids are attending school has been a huge blessing, because we have taken in four tiny new babies! So even though the Baby Center capacity is 36, we now have 40! But when you see children that young who are in need, you just can't say no. It really was such a miracle that the school offered scholarships to the four older kids right after we all started praying about being over capacity! Below are some pictures of the new babies! Ezra and Adam are about one month old, Christian and Ezekiel are a little over 2 months.
Little Ezra:
Christian:
Ezekiel:
Adam… check out that amazing head of hair!:
“Abandoned Child Male 2” - that is what was written on Adam’s hospital bracelet. Look at his little hand in Cason’s!
Thanks so much for reading! Please pray for these kids if God brings it to mind.
Colleen
