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STREET CHILDREN LEARNING TO READ AND WRITE

One of the things I love to do most is teaching school. All the more was I very excited to start teaching "my" street children who have been spending the night on our property these past 3+ months. Many of them have been bugging me, pleading with me to allow them to stay with us and go to school, but our current 10 beds are occupied, and construction has barely moved forward. I keep telling them to pray that Father God sends the money to keep building, and then there'll be room for them to stay.

But in the meantime, I can teach them to read and write their language, as I've done with the kids that have been with me for 2+ years. About two thirds of our regular kids - about 30 sleep in our unfinished dining hall every night - were very eager to start class.

Some of them have been to school before, for a year or two, but others have never been to school. You should have seen their joy, when I handed out to them their first sheet of paper, and a pen, and twenty minutes later, they were able to distinguish between two words. However, writing is much harder to learn than reading, but they are making progress. Every morning we take about 45 minutes for class, before they return to the street for the day - until their return in the evening!

I love this season of advent, as we eagerly "await" the birth of our Messiah, and to make it special for the kids, I brought a few advent calendars with me from Austria. Every night - with the help of a flashlight - I draw 6 names from the street kids present. Four of them open the calendar and get the chocolate inside, and two get a much-coveted soda. Then I read a true story of Christians who have suffered or died for their faith (from JESUS FREAKS), before we pray for them and they go to bed. Of course, they get a meal at night, as well as in the morning. There is also a time of worship and Bible study in the morning, before literacy class.

I love these children, and I wished we had the space, money, and workers to take in more of them. Lord, look at these little abandoned kids, and have mercy on them!

LOVING HOME FOR ABANDONED JEREMIE

Our tenth and last bed was filled with 12-year-old Jérémie - a sweet little boy who has now found a loving family on earth, and an awesome heavenly Father. His biological Dad was so angry with him, he wanted to put him into the children's prison, but Jérémie got away. When we got his permission for Jérémie to stay with us, he still wanted to put his little boy into prison, but thankfully he relented. Now Jérémie is safe, knows Jesus, and was baptized.

Would you like to become Jérémie's "parents" (as we say in Bambara), i.e. his sponsors to help us cover costs for food, school, medical care, and whatever else needed? It would mean sending €40 or $60 on a monthly basis.

4-YEAR-OLD STREET KID NOT ALONE ANY MORE

Weeks ago we were asked to take in 4-year-old Bakary who has no parents, and his grandparents can't take care of him. The little guy had to look for food on the streets every day, and learned to survive and copy the foul talk of adults - something he has to unlearn now.

His first day with us, he ran away from kindergarten to return to the street, searched for food in the trash in our house, and ate dog food that was on the ground for our dog. He also played with toys for the first time, and was hugged for the first time, saw a shower for the first time (he's still afraid of it), and had 3 meals a day for the first time, and there were a few more first times.

Bakary is settling in well, and I'm looking forward to seeing him grow and become a man of God.

HELP NEEDED

We now have 9 resident kids, and 9 non-resident kids with sponsors - an they all go to school - and then about 30 street kids that sleep here every night. About 120 different street kids have come through our doors since September, and you can see their names and faces on the STREETKIDS page.

Our expenses have risen a lot over this last year, but the support remains below a third of the money necessary. Doing the math for 2008, we have spent more than €5.000 a month, i.e. over $7,000, and our incoming money is far from that. Please consider helping us out. We would also like to do something special for the kids at Christmas, but that's not possible at this point.

But it's not only money, it is WORKERS we need. It is basically Paul and I who take care of everything, and we really need more faithful and dedicated, trustworthy people of integrity, Malians and Westerners. Right now, several of our activities lie dormant because of lack of workers (e.g. the Bible school).

Maybe you are the one who could come to Mali for two weeks, or two months, or two years, to help?

QUICK NEWS

•        Dr. Dupont - Christian doctor Dupont (originally from Congo) has been helping us out medically, coming on a weekly basis. We thank God for much-needed medical help!

•        Paul - Paul's week off has paid off big time. He was refreshed physically and spiritually, able to refocus and realign himself with God's will. Thank God!

•        Construction - If you look to further up to the money still needed to finish the dining hall, you might notice that the amount has gone up since last email. The Euro amount actually hasn't changed, but the value of the dollar against the euro has, therefore the higher $ amount.

•        Sponsoring Children - I'm thankful that 6 of the 7 new children have found sponsors - thank you! Now Jérémie is the only one who still needs a sponsor for €40 or $60 per month.

•        My Health/Travels - I've just caught a cold, so please pray for my healing. In January I take a few days in an alternative center founded by a Christian doctor. I will be in Kansas City, Wichita, Topeka, and Pasadena Jan 6-Feb 2 and still have openings to preach and share. Also, if there is anyone who could lend me a car in Kansas City Jan 6-28, I'm willing to pay, and would be very thankful. Please look at the CALENDAR page for my detailed itinerary.

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." (Mt 19:14)

Loving HIM,

Claudia