Tuesday, November 20, 2007

The Bartels & Their Gift From the Heart


The rain made for extremely muddy roads today and we had a hard time maneuvering the van into the village to make our visit to two of the sponsor child’s homes. It is a school holiday so many of the children were outside playing in the rain and running after the van yelling “muzungu muzungu”. The smiles on their faces were never ending.

Once we arrived at Ismail’s home – Nicole gathered up the small gift that she had brought for him. Immediately his little sisters took hold of Nicole’s hand and lead us to their home. The mud was so slick and I had such a hard time walking – after a few steps I had an inch of thick clay-like mud on my shoes making it difficult to move forward.

When we arrived we were so surprised at the appearance of their hut – it looked as if it was newly constructed. The smiles on their faces were so wide.

During our trip to Rwanda in September with Dan and Bunny we visited Ismail’s family. The condition of their home was in great need of repair – the roof had large holes in it, thus was in no condition to keep the rain out. Since the rainy season was on its way and the need for a new roof was so apparent, our wonderful friends, Dan and Bunny generously gave funds to Pastor Emma to provide this family home with a new roof.

When Africa New Life delivered the sheets of metal to them they were surprised and overwhelmed with joy and appreciation. They also had enough funds to repaint and make the needed repairs.

To see their home now was so incredible – to know that our two very special friends - Dan & Bunny had gifted this to them was even more overwhelming.

This was truly a gift from the heart!

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