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| Puzzles are a favorite here |
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| Exercises with our other pregnant friend |
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| New houses that were put up last week next door to us |
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| Sunrise from the balcony at THC |
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| Sarah, Peggy & Mike at work in THC office |
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| Our friend's house next door |
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| At the clinic with our friends getting immunizations for school |
Life starts and is formed through time spent waiting, developing, and watching. That is where we are; watching and waiting for life to come to life. We have about 6 weeks to go as our first girl at The Hope Center (THC) gets ready to give birth.
This month has been one of many challenges as we are adjusting to living as house parents in THC maternity home, which is located in the midst of a very interesting Gypsy neighborhood. Our neighbors always keep us on guard, as we can never predict what they might do next or what to expect upon leaving and returning to THC.
We get free music played in the house everyday. We have it even if we do not want it, and they like it loud. Sometimes they even have more than two or three different songs going on at once. The first night was the best, as the loud music played until about 3 or 4 in the morning and then started up again at 6 am. We realized that lack of sleep does not make for competent, contented inhabitants of THC!
There are too many stories to tell; the smells, the fights, the aggression, the constant begging, the invasion of our personal space (an unknown in this community) and bodies, sex, drugs and so much more but needless to say we are not in Wheaton anymore, or even in Greece it seems.
Additionally we are trying to offer help to a pregnant girl who has needs beyond our comprehension. Our desire to protect her confidentiality prevents us from mentioning too much about her particular situation, but you can imagine her need for love and security for her, her baby, the father of the baby and their future. Their concerns about work, proper paperwork, housing, paying for the hospital are just the start of the list.
Another interesting twist to this story is that our girl speaks only Greek and none of us are fluent in it. This has created lots of stress and weariness in trying to communicate about sensitive subjects in another language but we also have had lots of laughs too.
Above all the challenges listed above, and the many many more that I don’t have the space to mention, we have found that NOTHING is a challenge for God. He has met us at our every point of need and we have found Him FAITHFUL ABOVE ALL ELSE. There is no challenge that we cannot handle together with Him. He is SOVEREIGN and TRUSTWORTHY! We feel privileged (and often overwhelmed) that He has chosen to use us, with all of our incompetency, to show HIS GLORY to those all around us. We often fail, but He never does! He promises to never leave us or forsake us and we know this is true. In the midst of all the chaos, we are certain that HE IS NEAR and that He is the controlling everything, we merely need to stay close to Him in utter dependency upon Him.
Please pray for us…
We are so thankful to have our team mate, Sarah Wheway, living with us at THC as a house assistant and a big sister to our girl.
To be Christlike to all we encounter each day, in THC and in the neighborhood.
For wisdom to know how to help others and not create dependencies.
For the physical, mental, and emotional health for all of us living at THC.
For God to open our girl's heart to know Him as Lord and Savior.
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