The New Boys
We now have 3 new guys that have ‘joined’ the Seed Ministry family.
Wahidu (4 years) One of the team members that came saw Wahidu in the village and recognized that he really looked malnourished and asked if we would check on him. When Bob went to do that, Wahidu immediately ran to him and did not want him to leave. Wahidu’s family life has not been good (abusive) and he has been allowed to run free with no supervision at all. Basically his family just did not want him.
He is a very happy, well behaved, smart little guy. Now he eats as much as any man and goes around singing most of the time. We have found him to be VERY independent and expresses himself in tantrums once his mind is made up to do what HE wants. Mostly that has come when we tried to put his shirt on that he wore from the village – we are assuming it has some bad memories attached to it.
Of course, going to bed at night is no picnic either. He has decided he wants to sleep in our room and not his. How can I say this? That will NOT happen!
He speaks no English but does well in whatever we ask him to do. He repeats everything you say to him. We have been praising him by saying ‘Good Job’. Toby and Seth were carrying in a container of water and when Wahidu saw them, he said, “Good Job”.
We have him enrolled in Thomas’ Seedling Academy so he will be learning English very soon. Already he is saying a part of his A,B,C’s.
Sule (around 12 years) You might remember hearing Sule’s name a few years ago. When he was around 5 or so another team member that went to a village noticed that he had a HUGE hernia. We were able to help him get to a doctor that would do the surgery. Now he is a healthy guy and as sweet as he can be. Always wanting to help and mimics EVERYTHING Caleb does. They seem to be having a great time hanging out even though Sule also does not understand English.
He has a loving family but he has never been to school so our desire is for him to get his education. Right now I am homeschooling him to teach him some small amount of English and how to read. If we put him right into school, they would put him in the preschool class and we don’t want that. It works out well because when Joy is homeschooling Seth & Caleb, Sule is also doing his studying.
This is the first time both Sule and Wahidu had ever been to Tamale… first car ride – both were enraptured … a lot of firsts.
Peter Abukari (24 years) Of course many of you know Peter and you have certainly heard us talk about him over the years. He was the 1st Rally winner and his father, Paul, is one of our zone leaders. He has been staying in one of our rooms while going to high school. He is now in his senior year and we asked him to come live with the boys to help us with translation, to continue teaching them their culture, and to mentor Sule. Peter is a Godly young man who also was not schooled until around 15 years of age. He has excelled ever since he started school and we are praying he can instill that same desire to better himself into Sule.
Needless to say, this has changed our household a lot. From just the 2 of us living here a year ago – to having Toby, Joy, Seth and Caleb living with us – to now 3 more. God does have a sense of humor!
Actually, I don’t think we would have ever considered this had Toby’s family not been here. They are such a help with everything. God’s timing is always perfect.
Well, expect to hear more of the exploits in the future!
