Family reunited

It is always a blessing to have all the family under the same roof. The laughter, conversations, fellowship and food are memories that will last a lifetime. This month we have the joy of having the entire Etwene family together. It will be a busy month of reconnection and some exciting new developments that I have been excited to share with the boys and with all of you!

These last 2 weeks have been full of joy filled fellowship, doctor appointments and just the basic everyday necessities of life that always take a little more time here than they do in the US. My first Sunday here I had all the boys over for breakfast prior to church and then we had a lovely time of worship. Afterwards the boys made lunch for everyone, played games and watched a football (soccer) match....not much different than a Sunday in the states just a different type of football! The house was filled with laughter, banter and loud music that fills my heart with deep joy.

Last Saturday we had an all day "family meeting" where we had a time of training the boys how to grow deeper in their personal devotional time, talked about healthy living habits, and challenged them to do their studies with excellence. It was a productive day that encouraged all of us to remember what Etwene is about, how we can best honor the Lord as individuals and how we each impact Etwene as a whole. We wrapped things up with an American meal, the boys asked if I could bring something new for them to try, so hotdogs and mac n cheese was the gourmet meal they got to try. As expected most didn't care for the mac n cheese, they don't do too much dairy here so I knew it would be very different for them! We did have a few that liked it but we did end up ordering some pizza for a treat for the rest of them. We wrapped up our meeting with a competitive game of monopoly and other games.

God has also been good to help us navigate some health issues for one of our boys that has been diagnosed with Sickle Cell disease. He has has several "pain crisis" over the last several months that we are learning to manage. We have been able to get him into a specialist and they have the medication that is effective to help reduce the frequency of the pain episodes. We have had several appointments, lab work, and LOTS of waiting long hours to see doctors but the Lord has graciously made it possible for him to get these meds and into the program that are free! The Lord also introduced us to a few of the nurses there that we established a good connection with and have really helped us accelerate the process and also will be helpful in the future if he has any other needs. Our Jehovah Jireh has fully provided all we needed in this area and now we are trusting Him to be Jehovah Rapha and use these medications to strengthen and ease the pain in this exceptional young man.

Please continue to pray as we continue to seek the Lords wisdom in growing Etwene and discovering how to assist these boys to become thriving godly young men.