The
Adjei Bimonthly(ish)
Sept 2003
Ok, we’ll get the bad news over with first. About 6 weeks after having
our car stolen, our house was broken into on a Sunday morning whilst we were
out at church. We had our video, stereo, 2 gold rings and $400 stolen. It
was quite a shock as we have very tight security compared to most houses
in the UK. We have a 2.5metre wall with 15cm spikes on top surrounding our
whole house and garden and gates which we keep padlocked. On the house we
have bars covering all our windows (a little bit like prison!) Also the robbery
took place in broad daylight, we arrived home to see the front door open!
The robbers had managed to cut and pull down about 3 metres of the spikes
from the outside wall, then had levered off one side of the bars on our bedroom
window- leaving big holes in the wall of the house. Then having got what
they wanted, they let themselves out through the front door and back over
the wall. To be honest we really lost very little compared to what they could
have taken and we are hoping that we will be able to claim some of the loss
back on our home insurance. However as we know now that they have had a good
look around the house and know what else there is worth taking, we have decided
to raise the outside wall by another 50cms, for extra security.
Please pray that the insurance company will be fair in their payment to us.
Also that we will find our car- we’ve been without it now for nearly
3 months, which makes some journeys very long (and painful!) on buses.
We have also decided that it would be good, soon to move house, so that we
can be nearer the new girls home and nearer a school that our girls will
be able to go to in the future. Please pray that we will be able to find
a buyer and get a reasonable price. Since buying our house 7 years ago
there has been an economic crisis that has pretty much stopped people buying
property, certainly at the prices people were paying 5 years ago.
Church
We asked you before to pray that we would find a building in town that we
would be able to use for church on Sunday mornings. Well we have, so thank
you! It is just a few hundred metres from the stadium where many of the street
kids sleep and hang around, also very close to the old bus terminal where
there is now a night shelter and close to the main central street market
where many more street kids sleep, rob etc.! We have been using the building
now for about 6 weeks and have had varying numbers turn up. This last week
10 people who live on the streets came (including 3 babies), which we were
really pleased about. It is hard to get street kids into a routine of doing
anything. Days of the week, times etc. are often a bit difficult for them
to remember. Please pray that we will be a dynamic and welcoming church that
brings God’s presence in a special way, so that they will actually
want to come!
David will be going to Mexico in November to attend a New Frontiers International
conference. The invitation came from one the leaders who came to visit
us in February and encouraged us so much to start a church. David will
also be able to meet personally with 2 of the leaders who came out to Bolivia,
to review what has been going on since February and talk and pray about
the future.
El Alfarero (The Potter)
The girl’s home has now had it’s first stage of the building
completed and is now ready to be lived in! We also have a few girls who have
been saying for a while that they would like to go and live there. However
we are just waiting for one more worker to be able to join Sharon’s
team of people to live in the home. We had been hoping to open the home this
week, but now have decided that it is best to have the security of one more
worker. The home looks great though and we can’t wait to have it up
and running. Please pray that we will find the right person very quickly
so that we don’t have to delay any longer. There is the possibility
of a young lady from a local church and together we will be making a decision
about her next week.
As we don’t yet have the full amount needed to build the staff’s
dormitories it has been decided that the builder and his team will return
to work for a while on building a second large dormitory at the boy’s
home (El Camino) as there are presently 25 boys! The staff at the girls home
will be moving into some of the girl’s rooms when we first open until
their own rooms are built.
Big Gaby
I feel a bit bad calling her “Big” Gaby, but its the easiest
way to explain her! Anyway, Gaby decided to return to the YWAM training base
for 6 months to work as staff on the current Discipleship Training School.
We were very happy with this decision as the leaders at the base are good
at developing their staff, in their giftings, responsibility and spiritually.
Her long term goal is still to work with girls coming off the streets, but
at the moment she is considering trying to spend some time in England first!
She is in the process of filling in some forms to work as a volunteer on
a YWAM base in England. If anybody has any other ideas of anything she could
do in England for 6 months to a year please let us know. The work she is
most used to is housekeeping, cleaning, shopping and cooking, but we would
be happy to chat (via email) about any ideas you may have and whether they
are likely to work or not. She has a lovely, serving heart and is very hard
working and trustworthy. Obviously her 4 year old son, Nathan needs to be
taken into account in any plans she has.
This picture is one that Gaby drew to thank people for their support during
her DTS.
Family
Jasmine has just had her 3rd birthday. She loved her party and dressing
up. Her favourite thing about birthdays though is the birthday cake- which
is strange as she rarely eats cake! She loves singing “Happy Birthday” though
and blowing out candles- time and time again. In the end, over the space
of a week, she had had 6 birthday cakes! So she ended up feeling very special!
Gaby also is a real party girl. The difference is though that she loves to
EAT the cake! She also loves dancing and is a very sociable little girl.
Her most exciting news though is that she is now walking, she is very pleased
with herself for learning to walk and wanders around with a huge grin on
her face.
Both girls loved having my sister Catherine to stay in August. We went for
a few days holiday and had a great time staying in a lovely chalet in the
mountains. Jasmine wandered around the place often singing the words “Happy
holiday”. One day we went next door to a restaurant for lunch and before
long Jasmine was asking if we could go back to our happy holiday- she couldn't
understand taking time out from a holiday for a boring task like eating!
When David goes to Mexico in November, my Mum and Dad will be coming to stay
here with us, so we have something else to look forward to!
Thank you to all of you who have given so much in prayer and financially
for us personally and for the building work over the last few months. We
value you all and know we are blessed to have such a great and reliable
support team.
With our love,
Sarah, David, Jasmine and Gaby
xxx
;)
