December Activities... and Peace All Through the Year

Clowning around:

I wasn't able to attend the larger Christmas party for all the kids in the general Cusco Hospital, but I did get to go to the mini-party we put on for the children on the surgical unit.  We made animal balloons, read the story of Jesus' birth, and brought gift bags for each one with a simple toy, coloring sheets, crayons, stickers, card-making supplies, and other things to keep them busy while staying on the ward. 

Our wrap-up end-of-year-party for our Sunday School class in Wimpillay:

Walter and I showed an animated movie of Jesus' birth, complete with popcorn, hot chocolate and Christmas buns.  We also made up goody bags with stickers, Nativity coloring pages, candies, cookies, and these cool bouncy balls that light up when you bounce them.  The class has 23 children listed, but attendance varies greatly from week to week.  On this Sunday, we had 14.

Staff Christmas Party:

This year I had fun helping get ready for our staff Christmas party: decorating, a little baking and putting together their baskets (this year we used large reusable bags).   There are 10 full-time staff, many of whom have been working there since the beginning- four years ago.  There are 5 part-time staff, whom range from childcare staff to laundry and cleaning staff.  They all seemed to really enjoy the baked turkey, mashed potatoes and salad dinner.

It is tradition here to give your staff a Christmas basket which usually contains staples such as sugar, oil and noodles, and other goodies like Paneton, yogurt, chocolate and cookies.  Every year, Ruth adds something special- this year it was a framed photo of all of the children, which the staff loved!

Some of the wonderful staff that contribute to the home environment of the Casa J.

The staff with their Christmas baskets.

The Casa J's sweet children this December 2012

A typical Christmas basket would not be complete without Paneton (Christmas bread in a box).

The true gift of PEACE, for all through the year...

It was funny, writing some of my Christmas cards, thinking of the significance of my words: peace, joy, and love.
Being filled with Peace at Christmas.
It's funny, because we talk of it, but really, there's not much Peace to be found at Christmas-time.  Crazy line-ups, waiting in turn to point out that perfect turkey (or chicken... or lamb), waiting some more, to buy it in line at the till; weaving in and out amongst crowds, looking for that specific toy or gift, more line-ups, busy, busy, busy... a higher presence of pick-picketer's, everyone looking to make a dime; flashing lights, and constant advertisements; baking up a frenzy, higher food and electricity bills, swollen belly's from eating    Way.    Too.    Much.
And then, the let down, the emptiness, the feelings of blah, after it's all over.

These aren't the things that Jesus brought.  Because Jesus isn't in traditions.

In Isaiah, the arrival of Jesus was foretold and prophesied that he would be called a "Prince of Peace"  (Isaiah 9:6).  And, upon his arrival, Jesus was welcomed with a loud union of heavenly voices:" Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests."  (Luke 2:14)
Jesus came "to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins..." and to "guide our feet into the paths of peace."  (Luke 1:77 & 79b)
One of my favourite verses is John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."  After living a few years searching for soul peace in many wrong places, I can say that asking Jesus into my heart has been the only true source of inner peace. 

It's something different: Despite the craziness of line-ups, of impatience, of propaganda, of business, it's a knowledge that though the world rages around - though there is sickness, though there is pain, sadness in things inhuman and things unexplainable, dreams yet unanswered, things that are mundane, or the things that are just plain difficult-  there is a promise of something better to come... and for now: a stillness in the heart, a place without worry, a place of comfort.  This is the peace that Jesus offers, not at a one-occasion, man-appointed time of the year, but      
          All
                 ThRouGH
                                   the YEaR.

 May your new year be filled, truly, with PEACE, all through the year!             

Orphanage Needs

These days I am spending a lot of time in the therapy room at the Casa J with Zoe, Carlos, Yomira and Brisayda.   The concern is how delayed they all are developmentally.  The four have weekly physiotherapy appointments at the missionary clinic in Cusco, so I help out as often as I can with their exercises.

Zoe is 2 years and 7 months old.  We are working on her leg muscles and coordination to learn to crawl and walk.  The latest celebration is crawling, which she has just started doing in the past month.  She can stand with support and on her own quite well, but has a ways to go before she'll be walking on her own.




Zoe

Carlos is a year and a half, and has only just started sitting on his own.  Right now the focus is on crawling.  Last week was so exciting to see him start wiggling his way toward a toy, and he can move his body around (on his tummy) in a circle- not quite crawling, but it's a good start!

Carlos

Yomira is 2 years and 5 months old.  She came with fears of her feet touching the floor, shoes being put on her feet, or anything to do with stairs.  We think this may have been due to a bad fall when she was a baby.  We are working on these fears, and gaining her confidence to take that step from standing to walking. 

Yomira

 

Brisayda is 8 months old.  She has had very little advancement compared to that of a normal baby's growth, and we have just discovered that she has Hydrocephalus.  Her head growth is in the 90 percentile, while her body is in the 10%.   She has muscle spasiticity, where her muscles are held tight into her body, or her legs straight out and the joins unbendable, and she doesn't follow movement with her eyes.  She will need a very expensive operation soon.  Her physiotherapy appointments up until now have been with a focus of strengthening her neck muscles so that she can hold her head up, and to gain more flexibility in her muscles through gentle massage and other techniques.

 

Brisayda

 Three afternoons a week, I've been helping our three school children with homework.  You would be surprised at the amount of homework Fabricio and Guadalupe bring home every day from their Pre-4 class!  In grade 1, Angela has been learning to read, to hand write, and to do addition and subtraction of large numbers.  Right now they are studying for year-end evaluations and exams. They have about two weeks of classes left, and will start their two-month summer holidays through to February.

 

Fabricio

 

 



Guadalupe

  


Angelina

When our team was here a few weeks ago, at first I wasn't sure how it would go with four men (well, five, with Walter) and our children.  But, it was soon apparent how powerful the male presence is amongst those without fathers.  The older kids were so unusually attentive with Walter's help with homework!  And all of the kids just lapped up the attention playing outside with the men, and with my friend Julie who also came.  Fabi cried and cried when they had to go.

 

Walter helping Angelina with homework

Kyle getting attacked-  not sure who's side Larry was on!?

The girls won!

Julie giving Yomira some walking support

 

Fabi with Daryn- she was not happy that the team was about to leave

 

Please pray for all of these little ones: health, adoptions in progress, and families for each one.

Please contact me if you would like to help financially with Brisayda's operation needs.

 

You can always read more about the kids and the Casa on the website: http://www.josephinehouse.org/  New packets for a "sponsor a child program" have just become available.  Let me know if you are interested and I can have a full package sent to you or your family.

 

 

The small amount of time I spend at the El Arca orphange once a week is always delightful.  These days I mostly help one of the staff with dental hygiene and bathing of their youngest children.  Last week we went on a short paseo (outing) out near the creek.  (Beautiful, but lots of mosquitoes!)

 

Bryan and Joel showing me their animal in play-dough creations

Bryan & Marco

Mariposa (means "Butterfly" in  Spanish)

Brushing teeth at the tap outside.  (Early cavities are often a problem in children homes, though have usually begun long before the children come into their care).

Eating tomatoes on our paseo

 

Their progress of building in the jungle, outside of Puerto Maldonado is coming along.  I don't know how much longer the whole El Arca family will be in their current home, here in Cusco. 

Their biggest need right now, is for one or more large generators that can run lights, etc. for their new living accomodations that they will be moving into soon. 

After spending some time with them, I know that there are also ongoing monthly financial needs for food, new clothing, schooling fees, etc.

 

Check out their beautiful video on youtube here: El Arca video

and their website: http://elarcafam.org/ (where donations can be made online).