 |
 Jesus’ kids! August 2002 Volume 5, Number 8 “Religion that God the Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:
to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself
from being polluted by the world.”
|
|
What do you do with 19 children in city center and three long months of summer vacation from school stretching before you, with only 572 square feet of floor space and no yard? Answer #1: You think real quick! (And you had just better be creative.) The orphanage owns 7 acres of land on a gently sloping hill. We want to say a special thank you to the Adrian Church of Christ for caring enough to make the donation for that beautiful piece of country not too far from town, given with love, so that the Betikara lambs can roam and play, live outside of the confining and filthy city limits, and have a place to call all their own. We don’t have a gate yet but when I stepped out of the car that afternoon, I was standing on the top terrace of five that lead down to the lake. The top terrace has been cleared and marked off, the foundation for the children’s home and the future school and dispensary is finished, a small guard house stands near the entrance to the land and all is ready to continue building as soon as the banks begin operating in this country again. There is a steep-sided grassed drop with dirt stairs cut right into the hillside to the second level, which will become the play area for the children when they move out of town into this new home of theirs. We have dreams for an outdoor basketball court, a grass soccer field and a small area for building camp fires with outdoor facilities on that second terrace of land. The third level is not a terrace yet and probably never will be. It is a gently sloping grass hill where we have already planted a few fruit trees and envision a future orchard, grazing land for a cow or two, and chicken houses in which to keep our growing flock of various poultry. We presently have ten ducks and three chickens, and we plan on adding geese and a few turkeys soon. Too one side of the third level, rock workers are still digging rock out of the ground and breaking it into usable gray natural building stones which will become the walls of the children’s home. The hole that the rock workers are leaving behind is already filling up with water and will be the Betikara fish pond. The fourth level or terrace is what Barry brought me to look at. I was so impressed. It is sectioned off and already heavily laden with countless rows of vegetables. The Betikara children have already reaped the abundance off of this garden in the form of fresh beans, dried beans, various greens and sweet potatoes. Just now, the sweet peas are chest high on Barry and loaded with pods. There are 400 heads of cabbage planted, standing proud in beautiful rows of green. Carrots, potatoes, cassava (you know it as tapioca, but Malagasy eat the leaves as well as the roots) are just the beginning of this garden. The fourth level is divided from the fifth by a row of 24 banana trees. The fifth level is under about a foot of water and will be perfect for planting rice. The fifth level leads right down to the lake and in the proper season is naturally flooded for a perfect rice crop. Every bit of work that has been accomplished on these five levels of the Betikara land has been completed by hand. I am so impressed with what I see and I am so thankful that God has used his willing servants in the Adrian congregation to make this dream for the children come true. That’s not the end of the story though. We just must go back to the riddle because it has another answer. Riddle:
Adrian Church of Christ has come through again. God uses a willing heart even when they don’t realize it. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, Adrian Women’s Bible Class! You sent an unexpected donation that will cover the cost of busing the lambs out of the city and onto the Betikara land twice a week during this vacation from school. We have already found a willing bus owner who also has a caring heart and who has given us a reasonable price for this venture. The caregivers will prepare the noon meal at the center in town in the morning, and carry it out to the land. The lambs will help expand and upkeep the garden that has already so abundantly fed them. Afternoons are set aside for soccer, kickball, wiffle ball, biking, running, playing, breathing fresh air and having lots of fun. |
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
If you would like to help with a monetary donation, write your check out to BETIKARA and send it to: Indiana Church of Christ
“He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him
for what he has done.”
|