Before The Story Gets Lost - An Extreme Makeover and New Beginning

(With the traumatic events of last week, I was afraid this awesome story would get lost, so I grabbed a moment to share.)

We (our Lamb team) have a slogan that is a reality for us.  "As we go, stop for the one in front of you."  We have learned that it is totally impossible for us to meet every need we see.  We also have learned that God will bring certain ones right in front of us and say to us..."stop here."  That is exactly what happened with "Jessica's family."

Last March, a team of social workers from Cleveland was on the ground here for two weeks.  One afternoon, we were in the park, playing with children, passing out ice cream and getting ready to serve dinner to children from a local orphanage.  We all went in the classroom on the park grounds with the children.  I stepped out a moment and saw Lynn Johnston motioning to three children. They were not with the orphanage, but were very obviously hungry. He escorted them into the room and sat them down.

These are the precious children that first caught our eyes and captured our hearts last spring.

Being the social worker Jessica is, she noticed the children and insisted on going home with them to see where they lived.  She packed up the leftover food, loaded the kids into the van and headed for their home. She was devastated when she came back. A small, dirty three room apartment...no running water, no heat and only a two burner hot plate to cook on.  She has never forgotten those children, nor have we. That is why we call them "Jessica's family."

Over the months we have always visited this family and the exciting thing is that we have seen improvement in the care of the children. Their mom is really trying hard....now enter the team from Canada.

AN EXTREME MAKEOVER - WHAT TWO DAYS CAN DO

In a matter of two days, the hard working team from Canada did an extreme makeover in their little apartment. Totally remodeling the kitchen, bedroom and living area...let the pictures tell the story.

Beginning the day...

The desparation of extreme poverty...basically what they had..

Corrie and Kristine...cleaning and painting

Everybody wanted to help

Carrying in the new furniture

Lynn - "I thought you said this would fit?  ( It did!)

The family watching and I am sure wondering who in the world are these people. We have been in and out of their home with food and other humanitarian needs over the last year, so they do know us. It wasn't until this day that mom asked our names.

A lot to smile about...a new rug, brand new beds and a restoring of hope and dignity.

New beds...before, well I just cannot describe.

At the end of a long day, a very tired crew and a job well done.

This says it all....

A post script, if you noticed in the very first picture, Madina's has had an eye injury. She has suffered with this disfigurement for a number of years.  We are interested in getting surgery for her to replace her eye with an artifical eye so she will look normal.  If you are interested in sharing in this opportunity, you can do so through the button on the right side of the blog or email us... jayeschool@aol.com