Bali Update

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.