Hevie Agricultural Training Center...

Short note tonight (relatively!) ... A group of about 20-some people went out to sand, plaster, paint, and clean at the center! As far as I know, we got all but a few high parts sanded, some of the small cracks plastered, and most of the walls have at least one coat of white wash on them! The men were also able to finish the roof today and started planting the grass in the botanical garden area! We had a lot of fun but were all exhausted and glad to get back to the ship and get our showers! With all of the dust from sanding, we joked that the white people present REALLY were white! I had sand, dust, and white-wash all through my clothes and my hair by the end of the day! It felt soooo good to do manual labor and get really dirty but it also felt great to be clean again! And it was wonderful and relaxing to be in the bush again--so beautiful! Playing around with the white-wash, some of the others marked themselves with "tribal markings" that we've seen on most of our patients' faces in the form of a variety of scratch-mark scars, showing which tribe they're from! Also, two other girls and myself got to climb the water tower nearby (about 15 ft) and take pictures of the surrounding views--sooo beautiful!!! That and I've always wanted to climb a water tower!!! (Come on! You can't say that you've never looked at a water tower and thought: "Hhmm...I wonder...."!)

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST: We have a little 9 month old boy, Hubert, that is enrolled in our feeding program to gain wait for his second surgery. His cleft lip has already been repaired and has healed very nicely--you can hardly tell he ever had it. However, before the doctor can operate on his cleft palate, he needs to gain a lot of weight. He has been growing like crazy over the past few weeks, putting on weight, filling out...he hardly looks like the same little boy! But towards the middle of last week, he started running a high fever that refused to come down and developed a bad rash that covered him head to toe within 2-3 days. His heartrate and respirations are very, very high and he is currently fighting for his life. Because he was born out in his village and not in a hospital, he has not been immunized against anything. His family is voodoo and there is definitely a spiritual war going on around them and, though I do not believe that that is the main cause of his illness, they could definitely use your prayers. They have been very open to us praying with them. His father told us that because he has been so sick they have not yet marked him as being from their tribe--they weren't sure if they wanted to claim him yet. His mother was, for a long while, not very attached to him (I believe that she expected him to die and did not want to get too attached and then lose him). But she has been so good with him and seems to be bonding well with him over the last week or so, and his father is extremely gently and loving with him. They have a 3 yr old daughter staying at the hospital with her mom and baby brother and she is just tooooo cuuuute! And such a cuddle-bug! VERY adorable! Hubert has been moved into isolation in ICU where we can readily intubate if we need to and can keep others from possibly getting what he has, if it's contagious. Though his oxygen level dropped a few times last night and they had to do bag breathing for him, his fever finally came down and his rash seems to be disappearing. But he still has a long way to go! Please be in prayer for the healing of little Hubert and that the hearts of his parents will be turned to the Lord through this!

ANOTHER PRAYER REQUEST: Our other feeding program baby, Anicette (4 months), is also awaiting surgery to repair her cleft lip and palate but we cannot do so until she grows some. However, she has not grown in the month that she and her mom have been with him. Mom is a young, new mom and still needs lots of prompting and teaching with much of her care and feeding, but is starting to catch on. She acts almost like the young teen moms in the United States. Anicette has developed issues with her liver without apparent cause and, as I said, has not grown at all. We are referring her to a local pediatrician Monday for evaluation of her liver and what might be going on with her there. Then she and her mom will return to the Mercy Ships Hospitality Center after that to continue the feeding program. Her mom has come a long way in her learning of Anicette's care and in her knowledge of the Lord. Please pray for her as this is very frightening and frustrating for her, and please pray that whatever is going on with Anicette will be found and be able to be corrected!

Thank you! I appreciate so much knowing that I have such tremendous prayer support at home to cover these precious children and their families with prayer! May God have the glory for everything that happens with them! And may He bless you for participating in the care of His littlest ones!