Its official, I am the worst blogger in all of history. I have been here two weeks and have only put in one blog and a couple of pictures. There are so many pictures to share, as well as so many stories. Matt and I are doing well here, however, at times we can get a little overwhelmed. Currently we are working with 15 children ranging in ages 2 to 10. All of them have either been raped, beaten, malnourished, or neglected. Somehow, through the last two weeks, each of them has created a special place in my heart. I would like to tell you a little about each of these kids so that you can spend some time in prayer for each of them. They each have a story that will break your heart.

Pamela - a beautiful 10 year old child who came here about a month ago. Her mother sent her out on the streets as a prostitute. Until recently she has never experienced pure, sincere, non sexual love. Pamela taught me about forgiveness. I get so frustrated at mothers like hers who do such horrible things such as prostituting their children, but the other night as I was putting the girls in bed, Pamela prayed that God would care for her mother. Yesterday was Pamela's birthday. On Monday, we had a big birthday bash for her and three others that have birthdays this month. On Sunday night I told Pamela what was going to happen. She got so excited, for she had never had anyone giver her a birthday party. Pamela is always ready to help us out by cleaning around the house. She is a big help with her younger sister Daniela.

Fitto- an 8 year old boy that smiles a lot. He is Pamela's little brother. I think he has had some sort of sexual abuse, but I am not sure. He can throw big fits when he is in a little bit of trouble. He will get mad and not talk to anyone for the rest of the day. He is a sweet kid that loves to give big hugs. Sometimes he can be honary, which caused him to hurt his head the other night when he did not want to go to bed. He was ok, he did not need medical attention, just some liquid bandaid and tylenol.

Daneila - a 4 or 5 year old girl who is a bundle of energy. She is Fitto and Pamela's little sister. She really looks up to her big sister. She wants to be by Pamela's side day and night. She was raped by an older brother (we think that is who raped her) and occasionally suffers from severe flashbacks. She is a beautiful child, but sometimes does not trust new people.

Brayan - an 8 year old boy who lived some on the streets and some with his mom, depending what he was in the mood fore. i think he sniffed some glue, but not as much as his older brother rudy did. Brayan loves to ride his bike and play games with the other boys. He smiles a lot and likes to give big hugs. Right now he is learning from Matt how to respect women.

Rudy- a 10 year old boy that is probably 5 inches shorter than his younger brother. Rudy desperately desires some positive attention. He hits the younger kids every time the bother him. I think he is getting in the habbit of hitting less, though. I saw him smile for a long period of time for the first time since I have been here yesterday when Matt was playing soccer with only him for about an hour. Matt is really making a big influence on Rudy, and this is so encouraging to see. We think that Rudy has been sexually abused too. He pees in his bed every single night. That is a huge sign of sexual abuse.

Cindy - she is 6 and a fire little pistol. The clearing house that had her before she got to come to a home of love thought that she was satan. True she is hard to handle sometimes. I have bite marks on my arm to prove that, but she surely is not satan. She has been through so much sexual abuse in her life, that I don't know if she knows how to show pure love sometimes. Usually about 30 minutes after she gets mad at me, she can be one of the sweetest children around. She is a genius, but I think sometimes that works against her and not for her.

Maryuri - (pronounced Marjury) will be 3 next week. When she came to live here she could not walk at all and could not say much of anything. She was very underdevloped for a child that is 2 1/2. She can now walk and talk quite a bit, although it is often hard to understand. She likes to tickle and play games. She is Cindy's little sister. She has a big pooch of a belly and is so stinking cute.

Monica - is a 6 year old girl. She does not understand most things that even most six year olds understand. She is the oldest of three. All of which have been severely malnourished in their lifetime. Their mother did not ever name them, nor does anyone know their real birthdays. They were named when they got to the clearing center and we chose days to celebrate their birthdays.

Fernando - is a 4 year old boy. He smiles all the time and his favorite thing in the world is to be hugged tightly. He laughs a lot and is always trying to fix the broken chain on one of the bikes. He is Monica's little brother and Katty's older brother.

Katty- she turned 3 in April. Most of the time she has the biggest grin on her face. She is a little princess. She thinks she has to wear little skirts or sundresses every day. I usually put her in one of them because I love when they little girls are dressed like little girls.

Yovani - is 9, and for the longest time was the oldest one here. He clashes with Rudy for many reasons. He is kind of the leaderl around the house and usually encourages the younger kids to listen to the adults. He has been here a year now, and has changed drastically since I first met him last year.

Marvin- is a boy that just celebrated his 8th birthday. He loves spiderman, and learning English. Normally he refuses to speak in English, but he understands almost everything that you say to him in English. He is funny and likes to make jokes. He is Yovani, Mario, Francisco, and Antonio's brother.

Mario - will turn 6 this summer. He is probably the most imaginative child here. He is always coming up with crazy things to say. He jokes around a lot, and is always trying to make everyone around him laugh. He loves to play with his cars.

Francisco - is 3 and cute as can be. He understands English as well as his brothers do. He usually has a hug for me whenever I see them, but sometimes he tells me that the hug is hidden or he lost it, so we go looking for the hug. He loves to play with the puppys that are here and says that the smaller one is his and no one elses.

Antonio - just had his 2nd birthday last week. We are all thankful that he doesn't cry as much as he did a year ago. He is a little stinker, so much of one that he even answers to the name stinky.l

Please pray for each of these children. They have all been through more trauma in their short lifetimes than most of us will ever experience. Thank the LORD when you pray that they each have a place with food, shelter, and most importantly love. Also, pray for me and Matt.

Again, I will try to add pictures when I can. My computer is broken, so I am at the mercy of other's computers. When I have time to get on, someone is usually using all of the computers here.