I spoke to a man yesterday who told me a scary story about his little son. They live close by to the forest and his little son went for a walk looking for his father in the forest late in the evening the day before yesterday. When the parents realized that he was gone they searched for him for over an hour. Every possible and horrible thought came to mind - kidnapping, accident, their small son crying and lost wandering through the dark forest. Just as they decided to call the police, the phone rang. It was the police department calling to say that they had their son. A man had found him walking in the near-darkness in the forest all alone, put him on his bicycle and drove him to the next telephone booth to call the police. You can imagine how happy they were to have him again and how thankful they were that this stranger had taken the responsibility upon himself to pick up this little boy and take him to the police. Now, many people would have just shook their head and drove away thinking that parents should be more careful - but too afraid to take the responsibility to take the child with them. It made the man and his wife think of all that they have to be thankful for and made him think of our child sponsorship project and how much a "stranger" can help children - and their families... He has decided to sponsor the education of 10 more children at the Virginia M. Buena Memorial Center in Nakuru, Kenya! That makes him the sponsor of 26 children - a "stranger" changing their lives.

I received this e-mail from my sister:

With a special added prayer for our troops . . .

When there is nothing left but God, that is when you find out that God is all you need. Take 60 seconds and give this a shot! All you do is simply say the following small prayer for the person who sent you this.

Father, God bless _______ in whatever it is that You know he/she may be needing this day! And may ____________'s life be full of your peace, prosperity and power as he/she seeks to have a closer relationship with you.
Amen.



Then send it on to five other people, including the one who sent it to you.
Within hours five people have prayed for you, and you caused a multitude of people to pray for other people. Then sit back and watch the power of God work in your life.


.....and I'm adding to this a prayer for all of everybody's troops - every mother's sons and daughters - every wife's husband - every husband's wife - every child's parents - every brother's sister - every sister's brother - every neighbor and friend. I truly believe that every form of war - no matter whether you're on the "good" side or not - is a war against the will of God and and all that His Son taught us and all that His Spirit fills us with each day that we live. No matter what name we've given God, depending on all of the religions on the face of this earth. There is no good or righteous war. There is only a struggle of power amongst the powerful. Don't let them blind us into believing that we're all part of their struggle. Let them bite each other's heads off if that's what they need to do - and let us all live in peace and without the sin of our brother's and sister's blood on our hands.
Love & Peace
Brique

The event "24 Advent Stars" in which we presented 24 desolate orphans or partial orphans needing education sponsors was a success. The event began on December 1st and went on until Christmas day. From the 24 children 16 found sponsors - and thus hopes for a bright future!!! Thank you to all who helped.

The Harambee Music and Dance Festival that was schedualed for August 23rd has been changed to August 24th. It will be a full day of music, dance, art, (games and handicrafts for children)and African/Oriental specialties in Selb, Germany (Bavaria). The guest stars for this benefit festival are travelling from Mali to perform and give workshops in dance and music during the festival. The name of the group is Kady Salamanta et l'ensemble instrumental peulh du Mali. All proceeds will be used to build a shelter for very needy children from the slums of Nakuru, Kenya at the Virginia M. Buena Memorial Center for the Needy. This is a benefit festival organized by Leben und Lernen in Kenia e.V. (Live and Learn in Kenya) We are looking for even more performers.