Lisa McColm

The Home of Innocence has 2 new residents. Their names are David & Benjamin. They are brothers who were recently brought out of a holding place for street children (the street children call these places “prison”). These boys are from a family of 7 siblings with a single mom who has AIDS. An older brother from this family was adopted into a family in the US and it was through this young man (Obed) and his mom that David & Benjamin were able to be brought out of their prisons and into the Home of Innocence. We pray that the boys will find their healing there- physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Please pray for Benjamin especially as he has been quite sick. You can read the story of David & Benjamin in our most recent newsletter (in the mail now).

(Obed & David are on the far left in this photo with two of our other Home of Innocence boys- Adrian & Yvie)

Daniel, a college student who spent the month of August in Rwanda, came home safely at the end of last month, although tired of course! We are planning our trips for 2010 right now, and would like to welcome you to join us- no matter what your skill set is! More details on our trips are in the newsletter also.

Please keep this ministry in your prayers. Pray for our upcoming banquet- A Night of Hope. This is not an easy thing to put together and I need God’s help!

Thank you!
Lisa

Child sponsorship is a wonderful thing: with each sponsor’s help we are changing the lives of children, and ultimately the future of Rwanda, one child at a time. Each of these children spending their lives on the streets has a name, a story, they are someone’s child, and not only that but they are loved and cared about by God- their heavenly father. I would like to share with you something that Daniel, our young man in the mission field there this month, wrote about in an email:

“Today I went to the feeding program [for street children] again, which was just as overwhelming as last week’s but maybe even more so today and I’ll explain why. I’ll start by saying that I wasn’t planning to speak in front of everybody but thankfully I was forewarned that I was going to speak about 10 minutes before I got up so I quickly decided I would just speak about what God has been teaching me. I told them that I had been having a hard time accepting God’s love but that he has been constantly reassuring me that he loves me dearly and that he is constantly by my side to help me through all the hard times in my life. I told them that God also loved each one of them so much and that he desires to have a loving relationship with them and that God is always by their side in all their hardships and any troubles they may experience. I then opened the discussion up to questions about me or anything they might ask. The first young man explained that he is a street sweeper and basically is working and not getting anything from what he does and asked for any advice. I was instantly at a loss for words but that’s when God filled in. I told him that what I would do is do my work with all my heart as working for the Lord and not men and that God may bless that by allowing men to see how you work so hard and maybe you will get a better job. By working as working for the Lord you can bring glory to God and if nothing else your heart will be full knowing you are doing the work of the Lord and glorifying him. Soon after that question though another young man said nearly the same thing only that he was wondering if I could help him and then instantly 3 other young men also stood up and said the same thing. My heart was so sad. I then told all of them. As much as I would love to support each one of you 200 or more kids, I alone do not have the ability to do that. So instead I can pray for you, so I prayed for everybody there asking that God would encourage them to do their work for the Lord so that people would recognize that these people do good work and maybe God would bless them with a good job…

Before I didn’t really know what sponsoring a kid would do but now I really see what a difference it makes in the life of a kid. It has the potential to bring an orphan off the streets and into a home where a meal is served daily and then they can go to school and learn so they may have a better chance getting a job, however if they aren’t sponsored they stay on the streets without much hope of going to school and getting a good job.”

Please pray with us for more child sponsors for the children who are waiting. We also would appreciate your prayers for our upcoming banquet on October 24th as we work on putting that all together. Our next newsletter will be out in a few weeks- if you are not currently receiving it please sign up for our mailing list!

We thank God for all that he has enabled us to do thus far- this is His work and His calling. I really believe that the reason God called us to do this work is because there are specific children that he has called out- kids who otherwise would not have had a chance, but God is using us as his instruments of redemption for his children. And there are so many more he wants to bring out of despair! Join with us.

God Bless You,
Lisa

The great news is that only about 10 days into his month long visit to Rwanda & Daniel is just about finished with the cover for the water storage. Praise God! You never know how work is going to progress in Rwanda- when you need materials you can’t just run down to Home Depot & get what you want. It’s a whole lot more complicated than you might ever believe! Here is a picture of the nearly completed work:

I would like to share with you from an email update Daniel sent out, so you can know what the trip has been like for him:
“Today I went to the feeding program and saw so many kids. The moment I stepped out of the car I was engulfed by kids. Many of these kids were orphans and many of these kids had a family, however their family couldn’t support them so they spend all day on the streets hopping to find food and then go home to sleep. Anyways, all of them wanted to touch me at the same time. At least 4 would be hanging onto each arm and then many would be touching my legs and ankles while I found myself holding sometimes 3 hands in each hand. Don’t ask me how that worked but it did. Many of the kids were completely naked but thankfully the majority had clothing on. All of them loved having their picture taken. We all eventually went into a building and when all those bodies were in a concentrated area it not only got warmer but the smell was almost unbelievably wretched but by the grace of God he allowed me to be desensitized my nose over time. They had a time of worship and then an adult started preaching to them. When he was done he brought me up and I gave my testimony and told them a little about me and where I was from and just general information about me and then shared with them a little of what God had been sharing to me recently in my devotional time. I learned that the person I was sitting by had lost all his family to the genocide. He was probably around 3 years old when the genocide occured. Can you imagine losing everybody and living by yourself at 3 or 4 years old? The even more amazing part is that he was the most enthusiastic kid there and praised God for all the many blessing in his life. Some things God is teaching me include showing me that the only way I’m going to be able to continue staying here in Rwanda and not become completely home sick is by finding all my comfort in God. He is showing me that all I need is Him. Recently I’ve been reading Ecclesiastes and he is teaching me how all the things of this world are pointless, meaningless, and worthless and the only way I’m going to be happy is if I devote my all to the service of God.”

God is good. Because of getting completed with the water cover project Daniel will be able to help with some other projects there. We pray for Daniel, for his health and for God to bless him and all he puts his hands to do there in Rwanda.

God Bless You,
Lisa

Today we sent off a young man to spend a month in Rwanda for TTI. With him we sent gifts for sponsored children, as well as parts for water purifiers, and our prayers for God to bless his trip. During this month Daniel’s main task is going to be building a cover for the water holding tank at the TTI office/Home of Innocence property. You see, it is not uncommon in Rwanda for rain gutters to lead to a containment tank. This water can be used in the garden, or when the water is not running. Usually these are cisterns underground; however, for an unexplainable reason, the builder on this compound decided to build the tank above ground. To some people it resembles a swimming pool- except you would not want to set a foot in the stagnant water. Daniel is going to build a cover for this tank. This will increase the safety of the children and all who visit our office, as well as eliminating the possibility of mosquitos using it for a breeding ground. Below is a picture of the tank (one young man thought it would be amusing to do acrobatics on the railing- don’t fall in- ew!)

I’m sure Daniel and his family would appreciate your prayers for his trip. Daniel was supposed to be a part of a bigger team, but through circumstances, and we trust by God’s design, it has turned out to be just him making the across-the-world trek by himself. Please pray for his travels- for all his connections to come together, every piece of luggage to arrive safely & on time, for God to give him strength to adjust to different time as well as a different culture, and for God to surround him & bless this time & make it productive. I am sure it will be a blessing to Daniel & will leave him forever changed. He will also have the opportunity to spend time with the kids at the feeding program every Monday & Thursday during this time there. I believe he will be an encouragement to them.

We appreciate your continued prayers for the ministry of Ten Talents – for God to guide us & provide for what he has called us to do. We still have many children waiting for sponsors- but we praise God that all of our children in the Home of Innocence are now sponsored! (The one remaining unsponsored is Emmanuel.) And you can pray for our family also (if you didn’t know this we have a family blog at www.mccolms.blogspot.com).

God Bless You!
Lisa

Please join with me in praying for the country of Rwanda, specifically for the city of Kigali. This Friday and Saturday, July 17th and 18th, Kigali will be hosting the Hope Festival put on by Andew Palau. This is going to be huge- they have been building up to this for a long time now. Andrew Palau is also bringing with him Nicole C. Mullen, Building 429, and Enric Sifa (from Hindurwa) will be singing also. They are surrounding the festival with service projects as well as sporting activities. This is a wonderful thing to happen in Kigali- this year is the 15th anniversary of the genocide, and this month marks when it ended. Let’s join in our faith and prayers and believe for God to do amazing things- beyond even what we could ask, think, or imagine!!! There are still so many hurting people there, people who have lived through what had to be hell on earth. Let’s pray for them to reach out to hope- to come, to hear, to respond, and to be set free! I pray this will be an awesome wave of God’s grace & power that sweeps across the city & even the nation. What is impossible with man is POSSIBLE with God! You can visit www.andrew.palau.org to read more about the Hope Festival.

Let’s believe for great & awesome things!
God Bless You,
Lisa

Karace lost both his parents in the genocide that occurred in Rwanda in 1994. He was just 7 years old. He found himself living on the streets, no one to take care of him. Somehow, he survived. Eventually he began to find ways to earn some money, carrying purchases for someone at the open market, or other odd jobs. He would use this money to pay his own school fees so he could attend school. It was a few years ago that we met Karace through the feeding program for street children, but it was not until we opened up the Home of Innocence that we could do anything to give him some really meaningful help. Karace approached Mike & Ngoga, explaining how he had been paying for himself to go to school, but he did not have any place (safe) to sleep at night. He asked if he could stay at the Home of Innocence. Karace has made it as far as 7th grade now. This in itself is an accomplishment, not only because of his obstacles of having to pay his own way, but also because children in Rwanda are required to pass an entrance exam just to continue their schooling beyond 6th grade. We brought Karace into the Home of Innocence and he has been a blessing- a help in the home and a big brother to the younger boys. Although he is 22 years old, he is determined to continue in his schooling, and now he can finally focus his energy on school instead of survival. Pray for Karace as he still needs a sponsor.

(Karace is in the back row, 2nd from the right- great smile!)

Our benefit auction happened on the 20th, and although our group was small we are thankful for what God accomplished that night. 2 more children (from the Home of Innocence) are now sponsored. That leaves 2 in the Home who still need to be sponsored (Karace & Emmanuel), and one who is partially sponsored. We also have many children in the At Risk program (those living at home) who are waiting for sponsors- please keep them all in your prayers! The money raised at the auction was for the annual rent for the compound that has the Home of Innocence & our office. We thank God we raised over $1000 that night. Our rent payment is $4000 so we believe God will provide somehow- we know He will!

Hopefully soon I will have good news about the registration of Ten Talents in Rwanda- we have heard that we may be getting the letter we need tomorrow & we can’t wait to rejoice with you about that!

Thank you for your faithfulness!
God Bless You,
Lisa

Shortly after we returned from Rwanda Mike thought of having a sponsorship push called “Vision 20/20”. We made it our goal to come up with 20 new child sponsors by June 20th. We will culminate this goal at a special dessert & silent auction that evening (7pm), being held at Grace Community Church, 1311 Lewis River Rd, Woodland, WA. Mike will also be sharing a Rwanda update that evening. We have lots of great items for our auction as well! Many different Rwandan handicrafts and art, framed photographs from Rwanda, as well as other items such as a photography package, tax preparation, etc! We are excited about this night! The proceeds from the auction will go towards our rent payment for the Home of Innocence (annual rent is due in July). We will also have child profiles available for viewing that evening for anyone interested in finding out more about child sponsorship. Please pray with us for this evening to be a great success!

Blessings,
Lisa

We had a safe trip back to the US from Rwanda, and now are getting back into life here. I was so thankful to hear, right before we left, that Theogene (I talked about him in the last blog) now has a sponsor! We also received a donation for some Bibles for our boys in the home, which is wonderful also! We continue to have dreams and ideas for the work we would like to be doing in Rwanda. We appreciate your continued prayers for the work of Ten Talents International- that God would guide us and that he would provide for the work he has called us to do. We also ask that you continue to pray for sponsors for children. Every time Mike was at the feeding program for street children he would have children holding his hand and saying to him (in Kinyarwanda) “I want to learn” … “I want to go to school”. We have to turn them away as we already have many children registered and waiting for sponsors. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every child who wanted to go to school, could go to school? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if instead of a waiting list of children waiting for sponsors, if we had a waiting list of sponsors waiting for children to be found & registered? We must dream big dreams- our God is big enough!

I believe it’s time for our ministry to move to the next level, for God to “enlarge our territory”. Pray with us for God to enable this to happen. For our sphere of influence to increase. It does not matter what the economic times may be- God has placed adequate resources within the hands of his people, if we will all work together we can accomplish his kingdom work! And as we are faithful with what he gives us, he will continue to give us more. Amen!

God Bless You,
Lisa

Our 3 month stay in Rwanda is drawing to a close. We leave this Saturday, May 16th, to return to the US. It is always heart breaking for us to leave, as we feel our hearts are both here with the kids that we love and the work we want to do, as well as with our friends and family back in the US. We miss you all & look forward to sharing with you the great things God has done & is doing in Rwanda. One thing we would like to do before we leave is to give each child in the Home of Innocence a Bible. Bibles cost approximately $10 US. We would like to also have Bibles ready to give to any new boys who may come into the home. Would you consider donating an amount to help us buy Bibles for these kids- former street children who now are attending school, praying and having devotions together as a family, and worshipping together at church? The boys would be so happy to have a Kinyarwanda Bible so they can learn more about God. You can donate towards Bibles via paypal by clicking on the “Giving” tab above, then selecting “one time donation” under Home of Innocence. Be sure to write a memo that says the donation is for Bibles. Or you can donate directly to our Vancouver office (click on “Contact” above). If you can help us give them Bibles this week that would be wonderful! Here are all of our Home of Innocence boys together-

Last Saturday we had all of the children who are registered with Ten Talents International gather at our office. Last month when the kids came many of them had brought their report cards to show (they had finished their first term at school). Several of our children placed very well in their classes: one was 1st, a few were second, some third, and so on. Now that we have our container out we have available to us items that were donated for the children here. This includes many pairs of shoes, both sport shoes and shoes for soccer (which all the kids love), as well as clothing. The children who placed in the top 10 of their class all got to choose a pair of brand new shoes. It was such a pleasure to be able to reward their hard work in this way. After those children had first pick, we then gave a pair of shoes to each boy in the Home of Innocence. We also gave each of the children who are sponsored, and those who are in the Home of Innocence, an article of clothing. The kids were so proud of their new shoes and clothes.

Pictured below is one of the Home of Innocence boys, Theogene. We have known Theogene for several years as he attended the feeding program for street children. Theogene used to be a very wild kid, but as he’s grown older he has changed and matured amazingly (praise to God!). He now has a sweet and humble heart, loves to pray and sing, and is a hard worker. Here in Rwanda there is no age limit for school, so children who have missed years of school, or never attended before, simply enroll where they left off. So, Theogene, at 18 years old, is in 2nd grade. He is progressing well and came out #3 in his grade. But Theogene needs a sponsor. We actually have many boys in the home who need sponsors. Please pray with us for God to provide sponsors for all the children registered with Ten Talents, and especially for those who are in the Home.

Thank you for your faithful support of our ministry here in Rwanda. The work continues as we leave, through our staff- Simon Peter Ngoga and Maureen- as well as by God’s grace! You can pray for our long plane flight this weekend to go well also!

God Bless You,
Lisa

In the last week we have 3 boys who have come into the Home Of Innocence. The first is an orphan who was staying with an older brother and was brought to us by a local pastor. His name is Emmanuel and he is 12 years old.

The next boy is well known to us through the feeding program, his name is Theonest. Last week he had been grabbed by the police & taken to a holding place the government has for street children (the kids here call it prison). Theonest managed to get out, but when he returned he found out his family had moved while he was away. He came to the place where we have the feeding program- same place where Mike happened to be using our tractor to move some dirt. Mike & Simon Peter started talking to Theonest & ended up finding out his story & bringing him to the home that night. The only thing Theonest had was the Ten Talents shirt he was wearing and the pants he had on. The next day was Sunday, and thankfully there were some brand new boy clothes in our shipping container. We were able to give Theonest a pair of clean, new clothes to wear to church the next day, and that made him happy. A few days later a family friend, who has been a part of the feeding program in the past, brought Theonest’s mom to our office to find him. She said that the step-father does not treat him well & that it would probably be a relief for Theonest to stay in the home for a while. The most amazing part of this story is that when we registered this little guy (he is not even as big as our 5 year old son Nate) we would have guessed him to be about 8 years old- at the most. His mom told us he is 12 years old! She even produced a hospital document to support this. How this could be, we do not know, perhaps because of extreme malnutrition. Theonest is a funny guy and we look foward to working with him and his family.

The third boy is named Adrian. He came to us through another local missionary. Adrian has HIV and his mother abandoned him- refusing to care for him. The missionary has been nursing Adrian back to health and he has gone from being unable to even hold himself upright to being able to run around & play now. Adrian we guess to be about 6 years old. Now that Adrian is in our home he can walk to a primary school that is only about a block away, and there will be those to watch him & make sure he is taking the medication he needs and stays healthy.

So, thank you to all who attended & supported our “house warming” at Heritage church – because now we need more beds & mattresses! For now, some of the boys are sharing beds, and hopfully in a couple of days we will have beds for everyone. We now have 8 children in the home: Yvie (older boy in our techinical training program who is staying there to help out), Theogene & Karace (also older but in primary school because of being on the streets for many years), Celestin, Yvie (2), Emmanuel, Theonest, and Adrian.

Please be praying for God’s blessing on all these boys & young men. Pray for unity in the home- with so many brothers it could be easy for there to be divisions. Pray also for the boys to love & respect their new “auntie” that moved in this week (the house “uncle” we had has left). We believe for God’s best for each of these children- he loves them with an unmeasurable love & we believe God has called them out for a purpose & a reason. We pray for God’s good will to be accomplished in each of their lives.

Please also pray with us for sponsors for each of the children who are in our program. God is going to do great things!

Thank you for your prayers & for joining with us in this ministry!
God Bless You,
Lisa