March 14, 2001

Our World Vision visitors say farewell to their young hosts.

The World Vision group came to the school assembly that morning, to share words of encouragement and to get a further tour of the school and the new hall (where the old hall once was) now under construction. They headed off that morning for further tours of the area, but it was clear that the trip already had made an impact. Many asked questions about how to be involved in grassroots peace efforts in the States.

The youth meet to plan how to restart the Scouting group.

Following school today, the Scouting group met. They have not had many meetings this year, partly because of the situation and partly because of leadership strategy - the keys to their meeting space were turned over to two of the youth who were told that they would get full support if they would take the first step. They did, so we'll see how it goes from here.

Our neighbor’s hands hold his son close.

Our neighbor’s roof and its cracked plaster.

Our evening was rounded off by a visit to one of our neighboring families. The father has severe psoriasis, to the point that he aches so bad he can't work but a couple of hours a day. Their house is crumbling and they're in legal battles with their landlords. Between medical problems (and costs) and the escalating economic crisis, they are a family in much trouble. They asked us quite frankly if there was anything we could do to help them. Such requests are coming more and more as the economy crumbles and as people are aware that we are a bridge to the west. We're not sure where this will all lead us, but we are having to do some real discernment now about how to engage such a facet of our ministry faithfully and in a way that won't build dependence.