So-lovely Selina!

My goodness ... I have soooooooo much to blog about this week! So many things are happening around me that I can hardly keep track. For my own information, as well as yours, I intend to blog about the following in the next week or so:

Josiah
Selina's arm
Feeding Programme
Ray Calusay (Phil. AoG General Superintendent)
Faithfulness of God
Cornerstone Singapore
Cornerstone Testimonies
Sefton Prayer Requests
Jail Ministry

Let's start with the first two items! Josiah has been through the mill in the last week and has lost quite a bit of weight. He has had LBM for over a week and a bad cough since Friday. He has had absolutely no appetite since last Friday and even his favorite foods have been given the heave-ho. But ... praise God the high fevers have more or less gone. He has shown improvements since yesterday and we are just believing that he has turned the corner now. He ate a little today. Auntie Vivien from Aberdeen sent him some Maltesers .. and he soon began to scoff them! He has eaten some other things since then. Thanks Viv ... but where were my sweeties?

Thanks for your prayers. Pray that he resumes a good healthy(ish!) diet. Let's believe that he makes a complete recovery in the next few days. His mum certainly hopes so as he has been more clingy than sticky cellophane!

We have our AoG Director Mike Dixon with us at the moment. He is here in a flying visit and he has brought along Dave Fabby, who is the worship leader at their church in Chester. It has been great to show them around the various ministries here at Sefton.

We went to see Selina and her family today. I tell you, my heart was broken. We arrived to find that this little family lived in a 'home' of corrugated iron and some wooden structures. They had no electricity, as they had no money to pay the bill. Their floor was just the dirt and gravel underneath us.

In this miserable existence lived a truly lovely family and a beautiful little 6 year old girl. He face was radiant an she was so happy that 'Sefton' had come to her place. To see her arm was quite shocking. She was badly burned but had never even seen a doctor, as her family had no money. Her mum earns a few Pesos washing clothes and her dad can only find farm labouring jobs at harvest time. Some of Selina's arm had healed, but as you can see the top part is badly infected. Also, she cannot fully extend her arm because the skin has fused together and is very painful when she stretches.

Praise God ... tomorrow we are taking her to the local hospital to see a Doctor and a surgeon who are friends of mine. We will see what they say and recommend and take it from there. I prayed today for a complete healing and that she will grow up to have full use of her arm. Can you believe with me?

Want to hear something even sadder? I asked the mum if she had a picture of Sylvester - their son who died. They said that the typhoon came in November and their whole house was swept away. They lost everything .. including all the pictures of their family that they possessed. Even at the funeral they had no pictures of their son to put on the coffin. All they had was a tiny photo that someone had given them last week (see below). This was a photo that had been cut and was in itself poor quality. But it is all they have. Imagine. To them, it was priceless.

So we will help this family all we can. They are the poorest family in the area that they live. All the families around them have cement houses, but theirs is very small and in bad shape. But it is their home. I am committed to help them and lift them up. If only we could refer them to 'Extreme Homes' ... the amazing USA TV programme that transforms the home of unfortunate people!!! But maybe God is challenging us to do something ourselves.

Many people have texted me and emailed me because they want to help this family. If you do, just send your gift to our agents (Norman & Gillian Reid, 'Hazelbank', Marjoribanks Street, Bathgate, Eh48 1QH) and make sure you write a wee note saying 'for Selina'. Cheques made out to 'Assemblies of God'. I promise that every penny will go to helping this family in their hour of need and will make a little girl very happy.

And tonight, if you have your own kids, get out your photo album and have another look through the memories of years. Cherish these pictures more than gold and remember precious but forgotten moments. And again ... be very thankful.

Finally, in the words of Jesus ...

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all."

He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me...I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward." (Mark 9)