Monday, May 23, 2011

A Good Night's Sleep


$5,560

Twenty-five bunk beds.

Extra money for sheets and pillowcases - something I had not dared hope for.


Bunk bed #22

Fifty kids who will know that people who haven't even met them care about them, that every one of them is precious.

"Thank you" seems so inadequate. From the 3-year-old who dropped her nickel and penny into the "bed jar" to the people who bought full bunk beds.

From Rand in Toronto to the neighbour across the road.

Thank you. We'll be getting the bank draft this week and sending off the money, and as soon as we get pictures, we'll get them posted.

Someone asked me why I bothered when there are millions of other kids who are in just as bad if not worse situations. 

I've actually thought about this a lot since May 2007, when I met Alex, the South African boy who changed my entire life. Alex is a story all on his own; and what I have concluded through my encounters with Alex is that I might not make a difference to every child in the world, or every child in a country or a village or even a street.

But I can make a difference to that child. And when that child's life is impacted, if he or she in turn can be a help to two people and they in turn do the same, pretty soon entire communities can be blessed.

Bunk bed #25
That's what you all did. You threw the pebble into the pond and as it skipped over the water, wherever it brushed against the surface it sent ripples sparkling in ever-larger circles until the whole pond was ablaze with light and energy.

Very soon, our kids in the tiny Children's Home in the little village off the coast of South India will be lifted one step up from where they have been for the past six years. And - who knows? - maybe, for some of them, that first step will be the launching pad to great things in their futures.


To be continued in the months and years and generation to come ...

5 comments:

  1. How wonderful! Each child who does not feel forgotten will one day remember another. Thanks for making it all possible!

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  2. Twenty-five tired little bodies, buffeted by the waves and billows of life can lie down in a solid, stable, unmoving structure, knowing they are not forgotten. Twenty-five heads can be filled with dreams of our faces smiling across a vast ocean, an ocean like the one that swept their parents away, and know that their parents loved them and they are still loved. Twenty-five hearts can trust that Jesus sees and cares for them and they are safe forever and ever. And all who were privileged to share in this mission enter into the same sense: we are loved, cared for and never forgotten. Thank you for making dreams come true, Karyn! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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  3. amazing! and all praise and glory to the Father! xoxo.

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  4. Amazing! Thanks for inspiring, and bringing together individuals and communities that care!

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  5. That is wonderful! I know that those children will be thrilled with the new arrangement. Feeling loved will make the beds even softer for them.
    Jenny

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