December 29, 2004

Dearest Friends,

Hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas with friends and family.  We are all fine and had a wonderful time ourselves.  Every Christmas brings a surprise to us because we never know where money will come from to buy gifts for the children and extra food for our big supper on Christmas Eve.  Each year God has touched the heart of different people to give generously to the Alpha and Omega Children's Home.  This year we want to thank Riverside Church, from Ft. Meyers, for the Christmas money.  We had lots to eat.  The kids always enjoy the different foods.  Some of the new kids that have not been here for a Christmas are always amazed at all the food. 

It seems like we have been back for months; things have been so busy.  The city council that takes care of the juvenile affairs is giving us a hard time.  They put an article in the newspaper against our Home.  To our surprise, the people in the city became very upset at what the council is doing to us.  It has been great to see people who we don't even know call us and tell us they admire the work we do, and others have sent food to the home. 

Things are hard enough as it is, and finances are especially tight.  We have two light bills to pay:  one is past due and the next one is due this month.  The dollars have gone down and the cost of things gone up.  There are some things that we really need to do to satisfy the council so we can get our state license renewed.  The roofs that are in poor condition need to be completely repaired, bedrooms need to be painted and five bathrooms need to be completely remodeled.  Because of the poor foundation in the bathroom area, there are some big cracks in the wall.  This has also ruined the tile and the pipes that go to the showers and the toilets.  We need to get these things solved as soon as possible. 

Besides the problems with the building and our infrastructure, they also said that it was against the law to teach them our faith and also against the law to have two family members on the board.  Actually, neither one of these is illegal for private institutions.  The councils don't like the fact that the children stay here for a long period of time.  They see us as a halfway house and not a home.  Some kids don't have anywhere else to live; others are smart enough to not want to go home to their biological families.  Please see how God would have you help us.  We need your prayers and support.  Support is important, but we can't live without your prayers.  Kathy and I have a hard time asking for help, but our ministry depends on the help of others.  Thank you!

The short time that we were in the States we were able to raise our monthly support a little.  We are still far from the amount we need.  We still need twice as much as what comes in monthly.  Our budget is $12,000 a month.  I don't know if most people are aware that we have the home and also a school.  This coming year we will have five of our kids in college.  State colleges, which are free, are not common in our area.  So they have to go to private colleges.  The kids that are going to college work here at the home in some of the specific work-projects we have.  One such work project is the sewing room.  We make and sell T-shirts and, hopefully, someday soon we will have some money coming in to help with the college bills.

Your servants,

Odali and Kathy

Part of the over one hundred children fed daily at Alpha and Omega.