Hello Dear Fiends,
All of us at A Heart For Children in the USA and in Bali,
Indonesia hope your Easter was uplifting and personally meaningful.
Here in Bali, we have had many memorable moments in the past
few months. We had the opportunity to meet and greet baby Anne, the child who's
rescue A Heart For Children sponsored at the end of last year.
Also spending 4 days at our Training Center were baby
Anne's 4 brothers and 3 sisters from Mothers Heart Orphanage and children from
Singaraja in north Bali Island.
Last month, I visited a children's day care
center located not far from our Training Center here in
Klungkung. Our Bali organizations chairman Bagus and I went there
to pick up his 1 year old daughter, who had been dropped off for the
first time earlier that morning. The day care center was clean and
the owner seemed competent, having been a midwife until retirement… but
they, like most child care facilities, are very poor. Inside, there were
8 children from 1 year to 2 years old in several rooms lying on blankets that
were on the floor. They were all in diapers and had formula bottles in their
mouths or near-by. It was extremely hot and humid in the rooms.
The striking thing was that there were no toys... no stuffed
animals or dolls...no objects of any kind for them to touch or observe
except their bottles. There was nothing on the walls for them to look at to
stimulate their natural inquisitive minds. You guessed it... how could we
not provide a rotating fan, some stuffed animals, simple educational toys like
colored plastic stacking rings of various sizes.... some pull toys, colored
building blocks and a large covered rolling toy chest to store it all in.
The topper is... now when the parents arrive to pick up
their children, they sit with their young kiddos and play with
the toys together. Ibu Agung, the owner, is so grateful she cries and
tries to kiss my hand whenever she sees me. These are the humbling moments of
our ministry ....that I wish you all could witness...I just point to the sky
and say, "It's not me, thank God and the people in America who
support the work we are doing here in Indonesia."
Blessings to you.
