Selina's Moon

Our precious Selina’s name simply means moon. I remember praying for God to give me a grand revelation of her name when she was a small child. I truly wanted her to see her significance as a child of God and I believed that her name had something to do with that. It took some prayer and fasting for me as a baby Christian back then to really hear what Father God wanted to reveal to her through her name.
The moon was bright one dark night as little Selina slept. As I gazed at the moon’s light, a gentle voice spoke, “Selina will bring light to this dark world. As the moon draws it’s light from the sun, she will draw her light from my Son to shine upon the darkened hearts around her.” I was filled with joy as God finally revealed His purpose for her to me.
Ruben and I both spoke this truth over our little light throughout her life. After years of hearing who she is, she truly walks in it. Her relationship with God is so special and sweet that it is difficult to be in her presence and not leave uplifted. We’ve seen the light in her dispel the darkness around her. God even sends the moon in full view outside of her window on the evenings when she needs confirmation of His presence.
As I ponder on Selina’s gifts, how could I not think of the children around me who don’t have parents speaking truth into their lives. Lots of times, we think that the children living in extreme poverty or in the villages around us suffer the most. Now that I’ve lived in this city for over 2 months and in this decent neighborhood for over a month, I see that hurting children are everywhere.
Our hearts ache each morning and each night as a toddler cries in the house behind us while in the care of an older sibling who has no patience for him. Apparently, both parents work and leave this tender child in the hands of another child who would rather be outside playing than babysitting. We hear him yell and scream at the baby each morning and night. We’ve decided to go to their house this week to offer our assistance in the care of this child. Please pray for wisdom on our parts and that their hearts would be open.
The young girls in our neighborhood seem to not know who they are. They search for significance in the arms of boys who could care less about them. The women, even professing Christian women, have no standards on modesty. They wear clothes to tempt men and are not ashamed of it.
Many of the young men have no goals, nor future aspirations. They don’t want to work, they’d rather find a woman who will work for them. They don’t want to stay in school, they’d rather roam the streets. Once they finally get married, they complain because they can’t find work that will pay them lots of money. So they give up and put pressure on the woman in their life to do what they should do.
We at H.O.P.E believe the solution is simple. Perhaps the process may be long and weary, but the end goal would be worth it. We’d like to begin a program for the youth of this city. In this program we will separate the boys and the girls.
Both groups will participate in physical training, grooming, W.A.I.T Training (a sexual abstinence program), computer and English classes, intensive Bible studies, and other gender appropriate activities. We will also use this as an opportunity to reach into each life and visit the homes of those whose parents would allow. Then ending the year with a celebration graduation ceremony where family members would be invited to see the treasure in their children and also have an opportunity to accept Christ as their Savior.
As the school year begins this week, we’d like to introduce our program to the local schools. We can openly speak about Jesus Christ here in the schools. They actually seek out pastors, priests and missionaries to come to teach Biblical classes in the schools. This present administration has included Biblical studies as a required subject in the schools here. We would love to take advantage of this opportunity to bring God’s light to the darkness around us.
We will be meeting with the superintendent of the public schools in our city this coming week, please pray for favor as we share our hearts with her.
OUR NEEDS:
In order for this yearlong program to be a success, we need those who would commit to financially support each youth. The city asks pastors, priests and missionaries to teach because they know that we will teach for free. We see this as a wonderful opportunity to reach into these lives, yet in order to provide a quality program, we would need financial help. A special gift of $200 per child would provide a year of all of the above training, tournaments, awards and our closing graduation ceremony. 100% of this special gift will go towards these youth initiatives. Please consider pouring this way into the life of a young person who desperately needs the love of our Heavenly Father.
THE LAND/ORPHANS:
We are still considering other properties. None compare to the price of the land in the mountains. We will keep you posted as we move forward. Please continue to pray. We would love to live in a village, yet we are convinced that God has placed us here in the city for a time such as this. We know that the land will come through at His right time.
We will be able to take in children as soon as we have the permits in our hands from the government. Many don’t go through this process in starting an orphanage here, but we believe that it is best to do it the legal way. Please keep praying as we await word from the government officials.
OUR FAMILY
We are all doing well. Jonathan and Selina will take classes online for now. The twins, Jr., Jojo and Starr will continue to home school with mom (dad helps too now). Please pray that we will continue to work well together as a team and withstand the attacks of the enemy.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND FOR YOUR PRAYERS. THIS WOULD BE AN IMPOSSIBLE JOURNEY WITHOUT YOUR FAITHFUL COMMITMENT TO US. SELINA SAYS THAT SHE SEES THIS PHASE OF HER LIFE AS AN ADVENTURE FROM HEAVEN! HOW EXCITING!