May 28, 2007

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Hope that as you are reading this letter you are enjoying the peace and blessings of the Lord and Savior. We are all doing great here. So many things have happened in the last few months. Stolen computers to school olympics. Things have been so busy it is hard it believe that is already June.

Back a few days ago, while at church, someone stole Kathy's computer. There have been two boys that had run away from the home and we found out that they had stolen the computer. Our son, Joshua, took his Dad's computer to put together a video of the Alpha Omega Home for us. Well, it also got stolen.

We had two college groups here for spring break. That is always a fun time for the kids. We have had many of the older kids to leave and have received many new ones. When we get new kids that is always a challenge and an interesting time also. It is curious to watch the kids' reactions to being loved and cared for.

The kids are doing well in school. Many of the kids have needs that need to be met. They are so far behind in their studies. To many of them, studying is a waste of time. We have to remind the teachers constantly that to the kids, if life is not worth living, why study. For us that have a good life and know that God loves us, it is hard to understand that way of thinking. We have several that are between ages ten to sixteen that can barely read. Pray for the teachers and for the kids not to get discouraged.

This year, for the first time, the city had school Olympics. We participated in many of the games. The night we received the medals was really neat. We won several medals. We also won several trophies. There was a special trophy given to the school with the most participation. To our surprise, we were the ones that got it. To me, that was special because we are the smallest school in town. The kids really enjoyed the experience.

The church is doing well. We have done several mission trips. We have been doing different projects each month. The month of April pamphlets were handed out in all of Garca and for the month of May we encouraged family devotions. Each month we are having special emphasis to encourage each other.

I was able to visit the home in Manaus this month. There was a very cheap rate which allowed me to go. The home in Manaus is doing well. We have a couple from here that went to help. They were married here at the home. There are twelve kids there. The home in Manaus has two houses. We have lots of things that still need to be done there. Four of the workers in that home are people that lived here in the home in Garca.

This week one of our preachers from the city of Vera Cruz lost his son. Things happened very fast. The little boy had a high fever and had a convulsion. His parents took him to the hospital and they didn't find anything. Well, he had more fever and another convulsion and went into a coma. After five days, the doctor took him off the machine. The little three-year-old went to be with the Lord Sunday morning. Please pray for the parents and the brothers and sister. The parents asked to have two services because there were lots of lost friends that would be there.

We want to thank all of you who pray for us and give to the ministries that God has given us to do. Don't forget to check the website for continual updates (www.aohome.org). May God's richest blessing be on each of you.

In Christ,

Odali and Kathy