lunch at La Grace

lunch at La Grace
Orphanage in Kinshasa, Congo

background

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Christmas Update 2009 - Thank You


Merry Christmas from St. Louis. One semester of classes (15 hours) has come to an end. We were able to return home for Thanksgiving and see family and friends. Thankfully, we are still a family. It was a stressful and challenging fall semester. Pray for us how we reflect on this semester and decide how God wants us to balance work and school. Keary and I continue to work part-time.
Keary and the girls were able to host the annual Christmas Tea Party in our home. Sixteen (16) girls enjoyed goodies and tea. Praise God for allowing us to have a special community of friends here in St. Louis.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Remember Dolly - Cusco Milk Cow Gives Birth



Remember Dolly? God has blessed the orphanage with the birth of a calf from Dolly. We praise God and thank the Covenant VBS children and you all for your prayers and support. Dolly giving birth means milk for the children and financial support for the children's home.

Keith and Ruth Powlinson(MTW) sent us the photo yesterday from Cuzco, Peru.

Please continue to pray for the children of Josephine House, Dolly and calf, the people of Cuzco and the missionaries serving there.
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Sunday, November 1, 2009

Fall Update - Kids



We are proud to announce - Stephen had 51 Excellent grades #5or A's, Olivia had 45 A's, Maddie had 62 A's and Sayer got many "as expected". Sayer's teacher wrote he is a "sweet child and natural leader". Imagine that!


They are adjusting nicely to the Freedom School with a couple of sad times here and there. Stephen got a perfect 100 on his Civil War history project on Turner Asby. Olivia got some nice comments from her music teacher. Maddie is a strong reader. Keary and I help with Maddie's class on Mondays. Sayer says the best part of school is playing at the different stations. Sayer has learned a new song "This is how we know" about Jesus.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Thanks from St. Louis

Thanks for all your prayers -- We are now all united in one place. Skip attended the orientation at Cov. Pres. Much to think about -- Calling -- it was a big wake up for him. Check out the school - www.covenantseminary.edu

We live nearby Cov. Pres - Creve Coeur, East and north of the school. We worshiped at New City Fellowship (PCA) -- http://www.newcity.org/ucity/index.asp - it appears they are intentional about orphan care -- Their mission statement says -
Seeking first the kingdom means these types of ministries will mark us as the church. We will care for the widow, the orphan and the immigrant in our midst. It also means we will seek justice in marriage relationships, parenting responsibilities and work issues. God is concerned that his justice fill the earth, and that means justice both personally and socially. In his love and graciousness, these ministries are not the "calling" of a special few of God's people, but it is the privilege of all God's people to live such lives of service.

It has several ministries that we are interested in. Many different backgrounds and nationalities. Our kids are in School at Freedom School. Please check out the school --
http://tfsstl.org/

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Back From Dalton, GA -- Thank you Grace Pres. Church

Our family had a wonderful time of worshipping the Lord by helping a man dying of Liver Cancer fix up his home. Dalton, Ga is the carpet capital of the world. The gentleman had two sons age 10 and 11. The church offered to fix up his home to help his children financially when his home was sold at his death. He was expected to die in 2 months and hospice was called in while we were working on his home. Grace Pres.'s Pastor challenged us to show the love of Christ and not expect anything in return for our construction help. We also did VBS all week and had 20 to 40 Latino children come to our bible club event. We were so blessed to be able to serve as a family. During the week, we invited many people to the church's annual Fiesta event. We heard this week that 300 Latino people came to the church for the event and heard the gospel.

See http://www.gracedalton.org/ for church information and their ministries.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Pleading The Cause of Orphans So They Prosper

Please pray for us as we consider what God says to us in his Word about Orphans/Fatherless. Jeremiah 5: 28-29.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

We are headed to Dalton, GA soon

We have just over 4 weeks before we embark on our next family mission trip. This time we are staying state-side and will be in Dalton, GA from July 25-August 1. We look forward to serving the Latino community there. We are very excited that 1/2 our team is bilingual and the other half is learning Spanish! Our hearts still remain with the orphaned and we hope to serve in another orphanage soon. Please be praying for that next location (possibly Africa) and the remaining $1500 our team needs to raise to get to GA! Thanks for your prayers!

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Orphan Ministry Update 2009 - Ritchie Family


We are praying about our next orphan mission trip. We have been praying about Africa - and the many orphans there - Kenya and Tanzania specifically. We have a friend who is going to Tanzania for a couple of months to help with an 80 child orphanage near Moshe, Tanzania. Our church is sending a team back to an orphanage we have supported for several years in Kenya.

Please pray for us and that God would direct us in our pursuit of caring for orphans. Rice is a big need for the orphanage. Here at Costco 50 lbs. costs $12 to $14 but there it cost $40 or more. A large shipping container is being sent in early March from our area. We are looking to send or take items the Kenya Orphanage. Please call us for more information. If you are lead to send support money - you can give us the check or mail it to MTW with the #16626 on the memo line or on a piece of paper. Thank you.