Another Betikara Christmas
Gifts from Abroad
Christmas is
getting closer, and the Betikara Lambs are getting excited. We are
planning a big day on Saturday, December 23, 2006 out at the Betikara land.
Below is a picture of boxes that have arrived from far and wide for the
Lambs 2006 Christmas festivities.
At 10:00 a.m. we will get started with distributing and opening
the gifts that have arrived from many of you who care so much for the well
being of the Betikara Lambs. We also plan on eating a big meal together
with all of the children, the care givers, the workers and the Betikara
board members.
After lunch
we have a special surprise planned for the Lambs. We have invited
all of their extended families to come out to Betikara for the afternoon.
Many of the Lambs do not get to see their family members very often.
So, this should be a fun afternoon for everyone concerned. I will
try to take some pictures of the day, that we can include in the January
2007 Betikara Newsletter.
American School Christmas Bazaar
This year, at
the American School Christmas Bazaar, there was a special table set up
with a small Christmas tree in the center of the table. On the tree
were name tags with the pictures and ages of each of the 34 Betikara Lambs!
People who passed by the tree were encouraged to pick a picture of a Betikara
Lamb and buy a Christmas present for that Lamb. Looking below you
can see the results of that project, a twin sized bed full of presents.
The Lambs are truly blessed by many this Christmas season.
Andry needs your continued prayers
Andry (pictured
below) has spent six and one half years at Betikara. Andry came to
us without a birth certificate and with no prior time spent in school,
even though Andry was at least 12 years old when he first arrived at Betikara.
During those six and one half years, Andry has had his ups and downs.
In the beginning, Andry was trying to fit in and was often insecure.
He showed his insecurity by breaking a lot of windows with his hands.
Then one day we found a broken window at the Betikara center in town and
thought that this was yet another instance of Andry venting his frustrations.
However, as soon as we saw Andry, he quickly stated, “Not me auntie, I
did not break the window this time”.
It was after
this incident that Andry started to settle down and fit in at Betikara.
We found no more broken windows that were attributed to Andry. He
quickly became the socialite of Betikara, and he was the first to feel
comfortable in greeting visitors from the United States using the English
language.
Andry has always struggled in school because of his late start.
Even now Andry is about 18 years old and he has yet to complete the year
end exam that will allow him to leave elementary school and enter junior
high, even after taking the exam two years running. This coming June
will be Andry’s third and final attempt to pass the exam and move on to
junior high.
Because of Andry’s
frustrations in school and his increasing age, he has taken a swing for
the worse. Andry has started acting like the teenage years that he
possesses. Andry thinks that he no longer needs to follow the Betikara
rules and that he no longer needs to be at Betikara. Andry no longer
wants to go to school and has stated that he wants to go and live with
his older brothers and sisters.
We went to visit
Andry’s aunt and were quickly told that Andry definitely needs to stay
at Betikara and continue in school. Andry’s aunt told us that none
of Andry’s older siblings would be a good influence for Andry. We
were told that all of Andry’s older siblings are involved with drugs on
a normal basis.
So, we definitely
need your prayers for us and for Andry. We need you to pray for Andry’s
success. We need you to pray for Andry to settle in once again at
Betikara. We need you to pray for us as we work with Andry and try
to show him how important it is to get a good education and be able to
get a decent job in the future. Please pray.
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