Saturday, December 03, 2005

Precious Family



Here's us on American Thanksgiving (before you all get up in arms we celebrated it because of a an American friend we have here, don't worry we're still loyal Canucks:)
Aren't we a handsome family?! And as you can see from the photo of Blaise he's growing up - sitting up in his chair and grabbing the toys! What a kid. He also really likes grabbing the handles of mugs whenever Zaak or I hold him with up a cup of coffee.
I started a new job this week; over-seeing the child sponsorship program the ministry has here. I'm thrilled to be taking on this role as it's something I'd hoped to be involved with while we were still in Canada. So today we went to see two families who have sponsor children in them. At the first one we brought them a box of food, because their father won't provide for the family and is with another woman most of the time. He beats the mother and the oldest boy, maybe 11 years old, tried to protect his mom but then got beaten too. The kids in the home were wearing really dirty clothes (probably because they were the only set they own) but had the sweetest faces. Their house has a bumpy dirt floor that a nearby creek is slowly eroding away. We talked with them and then prayed for their family. The second family had a nicer house and the father is active in his church - it was a much better environment.
Puts life into perspective and makes me proud to call myself a Christian. Not a gay-bashing, anti-abortion, "holier than thou" Christian (which is what the world thinks of Christians for the most part), but a little Christ - giving food to the hungry, praying for healing in that hurting family, visiting and hearing peoples hearts. And it's only because of the grace, love, and peace God has given me that I am able to share these things with others. I am constantly humbled by the trust and confidence God has in me; that I will love the people He puts in my path.

2 comments:

Marta said...

Hi Amber

Happy belated Birthday (I'm in Toronto, so I have not had a chance to get on the pc to often).
Blaise is looking so cute (and so are you guys) :).
It's sad about the family with the mean father. Thanks to the Lord that there are have wonderful people like you who care about them.

Anonymous said...

Hi!
Wow! Blaise is changing sooo much sooo fast. I was printing some photos of him for Grandma Allen for Christmas and in some he was only 3 months old. What a difference. I would sure love another movie of him on your site!
I'm glad you are there to help those families. It must be horrible for them to live in fear of a husband/father that hits them.
love Grandma Deb