|
The Adjei
Biannual(ish)
March 2009
Stung by a Caterpillar and a
Rat on my Head...
...not both at the same time
thankfully, but both true! I have always heard that hairy caterpillars
can sting but never took much notice. Well it is true! My foot brushed
up against one as I was walking along the street the other day. It was
bright green and VERY hairy- a bit like a muppet. Well a few seconds
later I felt like my foot was on fire. I dutifully found an empty bag
and pushed it into it with a stick to take home in case it turned out
to be really poisonous. Anyway it wasn’t, as within half an hour the
pain went. We then continued to keep the caterpillar in a glass as a
pet for the next few days. Lily dubbed it a “nake” and before long we
were all referring to it as a snake.
 Now the rat business is a looong story-
stretching over several days- but to cut to its final hours.. David and
I woke in the night to a thud and some scrabbling around in my hair.
Our resident rat had fallen off our headboard onto my head!!! I was
surprised at how calmly I reacted- but we did spend the rest of the
night with the lights on. The next morning when I was in the kitchen I
heard it in the drawers. David later took out each drawer one by one-
with our 2 cats standing by. He eventually found it in the top drawer
nestling in with all our cutlery! One cat took one look and ran and the
other showed no sign of doing anything brave... you can ask David what
HE then had to do next time you see him....
Trip to Mexico
In November we were able to go as a family to Mexico to attend
“Fiesta”- a yearly Newfrontiers conference. It was a lot of fun for all
the family and we were so well looked after and made to feel so
welcome. Jasmine and Gaby made friends and were very happy to go off to
their own meetings. Even Lily went to the nursery class and left us
free to be able to concentrate in the meetings which felt like such a
luxury!!!
 After the conference we went to
the beach for 5 days for a family holiday and then back to Guadalajara
to spend a little more time with people from church there and to visit
the zoo!! (The journey to Mexico was 4 flights so we wanted to make the
most of it!!!) We had such a great time and Jasmine and Gaby are fairly
determined to be going back every year (which they have not yet
accepted will not be possible!) The time away was for so many reasons a
highlight in our family life and I hope we will be able to do it ALL
again one day.
Church
Last time we wrote we talked about the need for a new building. This
continues to be a need- especially over the last few weeks when our
numbers have been greater. We still do not really know what to do. The
building that David wrote about last time is still for sale- but we
have neither been able to know if this might be the right one for us or
if so how to go about getting it. Our other options are to try and rent
a bigger place just for Sundays or aim for a bigger property to rent
full time. Our idea would still be to try and stay central in the city
so that it will just be one bus journey for everyone.
As far as the people of the church are concerned we have had many ups
and downs- as always!!! There has been quite a lot of sickness around
Santa Cruz with the dengue epidemic (dengue is a disease passed on by
mosquitoes. It is fairly common each summer in Santa Cruz but even the
BB
C have described what we have here just
now an epidemic - 31,000 cases). We have had several people from church
ill with dengue, one of whom almost  died
as it was complicated by other illnesses. Two ladies from church have
needed gall stone operations and another
lady (Suzanna) has suffered a stroke. What is so hard is that she is
only 40 years old and has a 7 year old daughter. Her stroke happened 2
months ago and after the initial very difficult days she has been making a good recovery. She first started to talk again
and then a few weeks ago started walking. Some of her family have been
telling of how faithful God has been. Their faith is strong and we want
to ask that you pray for them that they will continue to see Susanna
healed.
We were so happy 2 weeks ago when Heidi was baptised. Heidi is one of
the girls who was once in El Alfarero. She left the home a couple of
years ago because of some problems. Through her coming to church we’ve
kept in contact with her and recently she started to feel that she
wanted to take the step of being baptised. It’s very encouraging and
exciting for us to see an important part of the vision for the church
being fulfilled as another ex street kid is baptised surrounded by
people who accept, love and understand her.
El Alfarero
In November there were some problems in the girls’ home, resulting in
several of the girls leaving which was a sad and stressful time for
everyone involved. In fact our Gaby found this incredibly hard, one of
the girls who left was one of her friends who she played with each week
when we visit. Poor Gaby was inconsolable for a while. Some of the
girls that had been there for a long time, one for more than 2 years,
left. Since then it seems that things quickly stabilised again and
several of the girls have been able to start school again this year.
Rhian
We have a friend from our home church in Uckfield staying with us for 3
months. Rhian (18) came last year for a few weeks along with a friend.
Since coming back this time she has become more involved in several
areas of work with the YWAM street kid ministry and with our church.
She is great with music and is teaching keyboards to a boy in church
and helping David establish a worship group. She is also playing the
keyboard at every opportunity in meetings. As a family we are really
appreciating the fact that she just doesn’t tire of our girls. In fact
I think she might be Lily’s new best friend!
Our Family and New House
 Jasmine and Gaby have just 2 months left of
school now and then we will be flying off to England - first to
celebrate both my parent’s 70th birthdays this year. And when I say
celebrate, I mean in style! Mum and Dad are taking us all (my sister
and my brother and his family) on a 5 day cruise. (You know there is
actually an ice-rink on the ship?!) Then we will be a couple of months
in England before we return here to our new house. Yes, we have finally
got round to it. We have bought land and, as I type this, foundations
are being laid (literally). So please consider yourselves all invited
to come and stay at “Casa Adjei”.
Bye for now and thank you once again for your support
With our love, Sarah, David,
Jasmine, Gaby and Lily
xxxxx
A translation of this page does not yet exist, please create one before continuing
|
