One thing our Kid's Club does

      This sweet girl is one reason I'm so glad that I'm married to Dr. Paul.  She had an infection on her face that had gotten larger and smaller for about two weeks before I saw it.  Unfortunately, the infection continued to get worse, swelling more and reaching her eye, so we took her in to the hospital to get it lanced.  After a course of antibiotics it is healing nicely.

      Every time I see her now it looks better and better.  She was scared to have us touch her face.  It must have been very painful.  The infection could have been the beginning of a very dangerous situation for her.  It could have spread to her eye or even her brain.  It only cost a few dollars to take care of, but that was way out of the reach of her family.  They could not have even considered taking her to get it treated.   If she had not been a part of our kid's club her story would have a different ending.

How she looked when I first saw the infection.

After draining and antibiotics she even smiled at me!

Thanks to the kid's club staff it was brought to our attention and this girl is back in the middle of the games and learning at kid's club. 

Harsh Realities

Until today I have been blissfully ignorant of the real situations that our Kid's Club kids face everyday.  I can see that their clothes are dirty, tattered, and the wrong size.  I have heard snippets of their stories.  I look into their eyes and see uncertainty and pain.  But today I saw more and heard more.  The scary part is that I still don't know much about their lives.  There is much more to the story than what I know, but I already feel so much pain for them.

 Today I learned more than their names, ages and grade is school.  I learned about their families and the struggles that makes them need to be at Kid's Club.  I know which ones have sisters who have already been trafficked.  I know who lives with grandparents because their parents have gone to Thailand to look for a job.  I know the girl whose father died because he didn't have the money to pay for what was probably a simple surgery.  She and her mother now live on the side of the road with only what income they can get from selling snacks and drinks to people who pass by. 

These two boys are playing together.  They both love cars and making roads in the dirt.  But one of them belongs to me and has all his needs met.  Most of the children coming to Kid's Club belong to families with an inadequate income if any.  Today I learned of one family of eight who live in a small open shack.  Only one person in this family has a job.  He drives a moto taxi.  On a good day he can earn $5.  Other days he won't earn anything.  How far can you make that stretch?  I don't think I could get it to go far enough to cover the good days, much less the lean days in between. 

Looking at the kids while hearing this hurts.  My eyes are stinging.  My head wants to scream at the injustice.  I can't help them all.  I can't even help all of the ones who come to our club.  We have more than forty children coming regularly, but only about half of those are sponsored.  When we are able to give another child the gift of sponsorship we can make sure their family gets the help they need.  We can give the family 10 kg of rice per month.  We can get them into school, an educated child is much less likely to be trafficked because they are more able to earn a good income after attending school. Most importantly, we have the opportunity to share Christ with these kids and their families.

Pray if this is something your family can help with.  Let me know if you have questions.  If you are ready to help sponsor a child contact Chris Wheeler at cwheeler@raphahouse.org