Thanks to so many of you, Casa Ahavá has been serving hurting people for two years. Below is a brief video celebrating that and celebrating all the patients who have come to be a part of Casa Ahavá.

We are trying to make Casa Ahavá a bit more visible. Please help by sharing our new site www.casaahava.org and (if you are a twitter user) following us on twitter @casaahava.

Thanks for all your support for us and for Casa Ahavá.

This has been on our hearts for some time now. We’ve been praying and fasting and seeking the Lord’s heart and we want those who read this, especially those who consider themselves part of our team to know what God is doing and how He’s leading in us the ministry that He’s called us to.

There is a link to a pdf document here that I hope you have time to open and read. It explains more about how God whispered to our hearts and pushed us to arrive where we have but to put it plainly, we want Casa Ahavá to grow. We have room now for 4, we need room for more. As team members we feel it’s important that you know that, that you pray with us, that you are on the same page as we.

Here’s the link to where you can find that pdf document

Casa Ahava – Hoping to Grow

Here is a short video that may help explain visually, what God has laid on our hearts.

Please, please, please, pray with us about this and about how we can be faithful in what God has called us to NOW and how we can be faithful to what God is calling us to in the future.

Thanks!

Obrigado!

Canimambo!

Tinabonga!

Sibongili!

I’m on a couch, thinking about this year, this Christmas, my home and my family. My daughter had been crying in her bed for 15 minutes, hoping that her voice would outlast the time I could resist my compassion getting the better of my parenting technique. It did and I spent the following 15 minutes snuggling with her in my bed, calming her breathing, rubbing her back and kissing her head.

Meh… it’s Christmas. She can have this one.

So I held her and put off writing this because I’d rather she know her daddy loves her than know that she needs to go to bed on time.

She cried, I whispered.

She whimpered, I kissed.

She squirmed, I hugged.

And so we found ourselves lying next to each other. She curled up into my arms and rested her head against my chest. I laid my hand on her back and breathed deep and slow, encouraging her to do the same.

She fell asleep.

My daughter lay there asleep in my arms and I couldn’t think of a better Christmas present.

To those who read this blog and have children, hug and kiss your kids to bed tonight. To those who don’t, remember your daddy loves you.

Sleep well tonight.

My Christmas Presents

I want to apologize for not posting last weekend. We have been experiencing some difficulties with our internet service provider and we were without for much of the weekend. When we did have it, it was incredibly slow. I chose to wait to post.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

I can still see her bow legged waddle.
I can still hear her “o-bi-ga-da”. (Obrigada is ‘thank you’ in Portuguese)
I can still see her grin and hide behind her Mama in shyness as I made funny faces at her.
I can still see her limp 2-year-old little body as her Mama tried to feed her soup.
I can still hear her Mama’s cry as she mourned the loss of her daughter, gone forever from this world.

Last week I had to practice the ministry of just standing there. There were no words. A hug. A back rub. Sitting.

Silénçia will be missed. We won’t forget her.

Pray for her Mama.