Prayer Requests 9/9

Lets try something new. Every other week or so I'll try to put up a list of what's happening RIGHT NOW and what could use prayer. Everything, naturally, could use prayer, but I want to give people some specifics. People ask me time to time, usually about one email a week,  how things and going and ask for some specific prayer requests.

Hopefully this will give you something a little more focused way to pray for those of you that like focus. And if you want to pray for us, really do pray for us. Don't just read this and then send a note like, "Sending good thoughts your way." Good thoughts are not really what we're going for here. Good thoughts make you feel as a better person. Good thoughts do nothing. Jesus does everything. Pray to Jesus for us and with us. Don't just think.

I will try to keep them breif and fairly comment free. But as always, there's no promises. That is unless, of course, I do promise. Then you can count on me breaking it. On to the bullet points!

• School is about 5 weeks from ending before final exams. We're currently fighting end-of-the-year burnout. Not from students, but from the teachers. Please pray that the kid's don't get disinterested either and finish strong.

• This deserves a post of its own, but many of the kids we sent to trade school from the orphanage in January are now off doing internships/job training  in various cities. We're happy for the training they received and are praying as they enter the next two rounds of their fight for life: employment, and job security.

• Just today I had a really great conversation with Marinho. He asked me a hypothetical question today about his "friend" who has two parents that are both rich and don't help and want nothing to do with his "friend". Marinho has two parents that both have jobs and drive cars (they're rich) and want nothing to do with him and left him to fend for himself. It was a really challenging conversation, the gist of which was learning to trust God's plan and know that people suck and are not perfect but God's love for us is perfect and that while his "friend" may be really angry, that is all the more reason he needs Jesus to help him love his parents. This was a horrible summary but it was a really hard, tough, spirit-filled, and edifying conversation.

• Fruit. I like eating it, and now more things are in season (orange, tangerines, bananas, papayas, lemons, and at least 3 other thinks that at first glance look poisonous but are really tasty) and so that means tons of tasty fruit to eat, all for like pennies apiece. It's tasty and good for our health. And generally, these days the kids are all eating fairly well, too. Protip: a papaya a day will not keep the doctor away as it will lead to  cramping and diarrhea. I did not try, but a kid here stole a papaya and got what was coming to her.