Ashaninka volume 13

Vilma's 5th baby was born this week, in her wood house.  I am amazed at the strength of these women.  Lydia laughed at my wide eyes and said, "All five of mine were born at home too, and the last one came early so my husband had to help me and he had no idea what to do!  I had worked in the orchard all day long with pain but figured it would still be a few days......"  Yeah, my eyes stayed wide for a while.

Some of these children are malnourished and/or don't have a healthy diet, which affects their abiltiy to concentrate.  Brent has been working with them to learn John 3:16 and it is taking a while.  Some of the 8-10 year olds just can't seem to memorize it.  Songs, on the other hand, seem to stick quickly and easily.  We have quite a group of singers.  I want to video them one day singing "Jesus Loves Me", it is so touching and beautiful.

Lydia and her daughter, Kelly, are hungry to learn.  We sat on the tree stumps in the dirt living room and talked about God's power to help us understand the Bible when we read it.  As we talked, the hugest frog I've ever seen hopped in, followed by a chicken, which was followed by a tiny puppy.  All without as much as a glance from these ladies....all in normal day, I guess.

Kelly has also started coming to our church in Pichanaki for Friday night youth group and has brought several friends.  She may just be our first children's Sunday school teacher!

I'm pretty certain I receive more of a blessing on these Thursday evenings than our Ashaninka friends.  I get hugs, kisses, more hugs, smiles and sweet conversation.  Our heart's desire it for all of these friends to be our brothers and sisters for eternity.