Thursday, August 25, 2011
New pictures of Joel
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Advocating For Joel
God has been drawing my heart to Joel for about a year now. He has now called me to advocate for him. I know God has a family out there for him.
Eight year old Joel is a delightful child, the class clown, full of fun and life. He currently resides in a HIV+ children's home. The Home provides for his daily needs and schooling. The school Joel attends has many children, 88 in his class alone. For Joel this has posed a huge problem. With so much going on in his environment he just isn't learning. He was recently tested (academically) and was not found to be mentally handicapped. Even so the teachers have begun to call him “retarded” and those words are beginning to write themselves on his little heart.
Joel is on the left.
Joel's name means “old man”. I believe like Jacob, God has another name for him. Jacobs name meant liar or deceiver. Jacob saw himself this way. Everyone around him saw him this way and yet God didn't see him that way. He gave Jacob a new name, Israel. I believe that God doesn't see Joel as retarded orphan, with no future. I know he sees him with a name that means restored, beloved, lover of God.
*Families must be followers of Christ.
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