Transition

October has been the pivotal month for us. First, I would like to update you on Olsson since many of you have been fervently praying for him.  After the thrombosis, he ended up losing the tips of a couple of fingers. He continued to be critical and eventually had surgery. There was an abscess on his intestines and a stoma. They had to take a section of the intestines out to reconstruct. Since then he has gained by leaps and bounds in his health. He is no longer on a ventilator, he is in a regular room, out of the incubator and sleeping in a baby crib. He should be strong enough to move to the Yarmouth Hospital, which will bring him closer to home and the rest of his family. He may be thriving enough to be home by his due date, the first week in December! Ira and I both believe God has been the Great Physician for Olsson and has a wonderful plan for his life.

 After our daughter's wedding, we had a vacation with my family. Once we got back from that, we entered the transition phase of this new journey God has us on. The place between here and there. The place between where we left and where we are going. Ira ended up filling this place with a trip back to Nova Scotia to do a work project at our home Church that they had been planning for a while. I stayed in TN to order items we felt important to take with us to Colombia, organize our belongings and other personal effects.

 When the day came for Ira to fly back to TN to do the final packing, his flight got cancelled due to Storm Sandy. Then it got cancelled the next day and again the next. We had already booked our flight to Colombia and the time frame was getting uncomfortably small. While I was trying to be patient and understanding, anxiety started slipping in. I was feeling sadness and compassion for the people on the east coast directly effected by the storm and at the same time feeling that my problems of trying to leave my 'in between' place were small in comparison to theirs. However, that unwelcome thing called anxiety kept creeping in on me and growing. It was much broader than the delays that could happen due to the storm. It was about facing a reality that I am leaving the place of transition to enter a new place of transition.

 What happens when we are in this place? It has me in the place that makes me overwhelmed, frustrated, searching, anticipating, insecure, lonely, doubting, complacent, hoping, longing and seeking understanding. It is bittersweet. I am planting a seed of appreciation and getting excited about entering a new way of living and getting to be a part of something much bigger than me. 

 The doubt has led me to lean on Jesus and be reminded of His faithfulness. The loneliness has me striving to seek satisfaction that can only come from Him. The unknowing frees me from wanting to be the one in control and the complacency convicts me to want to live more fully. The anticipation has me excited and all of this makes me long for deeper and more meaningful relationships. None of which I have achieved to the point that leave me feeling completely focused.

 This is not going to be easy. Transitions never are but they are places where I grow the most and need grace, lots of grace. I am a broken person and will face some sort of transition daily as I step onto this new path. It also makes me realize that the real journey of transition is the one we all have on this earth, the in-between place until we enter eternity. Thank you God for meeting us here and walking with us through it and being that environment of grace as we live our broken realities. 

 Tomorrow, November 4, we leave Tennessee and enter Colombia. I pray that I will have the same grace to give to those I will be sojourning with as we travel this sod. Your continued support, prayers and encouragement lift us and Bless us daily! Let the transition continue!

La Aljaba Trivia


I want to start this month’s update with some trivia for you that will help you to understand the ministry. La Aljaba is the name of the Children’s Home that Ira and I are serving at. ‘La Aljaba’ is Spanish for ‘the quiver.’  It comes from the scripture Psalms 127:3-5 Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are the sons born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.

Leticia is a port town in the jungle directly on the Amazon River.  It is part of the ‘Three Frontiers’ because it is the point of Colombia that borders Peru and Brazil. We actually had breakfast in Colombia, lunch in Peru and supper in Brazil in the same day, for the fun of it.  Peru was a 10 minute boat ride across the Amazon River and Brazil was a 5 minute walk.  There is also a time change so we lost an hour.

La Aljaba has been in ministry for 9 years serving children at risk and Lucy Palma is the Director.  While some of the children are permanent residents of La Aljaba and receive 24/7 care, some are not.  Due to the lack of work in the area, some parents would leave and find jobs in other towns for the week and the children would be left to fend for themselves, as young as 2-3 yrs old.  Or some parents work in the area but are not able to provide for their children.   Both of these cases left the children without proper daycare or meals. Seeing this as an opportunity to extend the Gospel of Christ, Lucy opened the home to serve these families.  Some of the children come on Monday and leave Friday and others come each morning and leave that afternoon.  Lucy works very closely with the local governmental child welfare system and all children that come are registered to receive the care through La Aljaba.  She has earned a lot of respect and built much credibility with them from the fruit she bears through her dedication.
All of the children attend public schools for their academic education and social development.  According to their age, some go in the morning, while the others go to afternoon classes.  While the ‘morning students’ are in public school, the ‘afternoon students’ are at La Aljaba being taught by the staff of Christian Tutors and then vice versa after lunch.  The children are ministered to emotionally, spiritually, intellectually in structured classes and lesson planning.  They also receive physical care by meals and snacks that are prepared by another Christian Staff member.
In the summer of 2012, La Aljaba was given eviction notice after having lived at the current property for 7 yrs.   The owners have decided they would like to do something different with the property.   Of course this stirred up great concern for the future of the children.   It is very difficult to find a place to live in Leticia.  Immediately Orphanos and La Aljaba Board members came together in prayer and communication for a solution.  It was decided to purchase a piece of property and construct a Children’s Home that would be their own.    Knowing that the construction will take a while to get it to the point that the children can move in, La ALjaba has found a temporary rental property.

The temporary home was built by the Swedish government to serve the indigenous tribes of the jungle.  Their vision was that the people would be ministered to when they come to eat, shower and sleep.  Throughout the house are hammock hinges to accommodate their ‘beds.’  However, the tribes didn’t respond to it well and the ministry folded in less than a year.  The house was sold and remained empty the last few years.  The Board of La Aljaba approached the owners about the possibility to rent the home and a lease was signed.  While it is not ideal for classes and doesn’t provide much of an area for the children to play outdoors, it is a huge house and will work and provide them a safe place for their daily care.

The second floor of the house has 2 apartments.  Ira and I are renting one and will be looking for a place of our own when the time comes for the children to move in.  In the meantime, projects are being done to get the house ready for the children.  None of the changes are permanent renovations.  They will be things that can then be moved to the new property once construction starts.
I think that wraps up the trivia and will help you understand what our purpose is in being here.  Once the construction is started, we are hoping to have many teams come to partner with the development and sponsorship of La Aljaba!

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