Te Karaka, New Zealand. Many of the kids here appear to be from broken homes and are a pretty rough group. They are often immature, mean, and use terrible language when speaking to each other. I know that children in America aren’t all that different. Kids like that are tough to love. Just this week some of the kids have made fun of how I talk, laughed at me, and I even had a ball thrown at my head. It didn’t miss. I don’t know that it was intentional, but it was a throw that was pretty far from its intended target!! It’s great though. Our team has an incredible opportunity to be here loving them no matter how difficult it is. We are going to be spending the year loving the people in each culture who are considered unlovable by that culture, and it is nothing less than a joy to be doing that. Christ, through his grace, forgiveness, patience, and work on the cross has loved us as the unlovable. Therefore, it’s easy to choose to love these kids knowing we are deeply loved by the Lord.
Please pray for these children and for the difficult homes and community that they seem to be coming from. There is hope for them. It doesn’t look like there is after hearing them talk about their lives at home and seeing the direction the whole group of kids seem to be headed in, but there is definitely hope. I am looking at Christ as I look at them, and I am loving Christ as I love them. There are some that have been easy to love though too. Mackey, Nessa, Tem, Angel, Dennis, and Donovan are just a few of the kids who have been so encouraging and full of life. Unfortunately, I seem to constantly disappoint them since I don’t know Kobe Bryant, Shaq, or Beyonce. They also don’t seem to be too impressed about me being from Iowa. The response is usually just a blank stare. What can a guy do?!? Also, pray for opportunities for our team to continue to tell them how much they are loved by God because I’m not sure how many of them have heard that before. Finally, this is Gemini. He is 10, and I told him today that there is a God who created him and a God who loves him.
Please pray for these children and for the difficult homes and community that they seem to be coming from. There is hope for them. It doesn’t look like there is after hearing them talk about their lives at home and seeing the direction the whole group of kids seem to be headed in, but there is definitely hope. I am looking at Christ as I look at them, and I am loving Christ as I love them. There are some that have been easy to love though too. Mackey, Nessa, Tem, Angel, Dennis, and Donovan are just a few of the kids who have been so encouraging and full of life. Unfortunately, I seem to constantly disappoint them since I don’t know Kobe Bryant, Shaq, or Beyonce. They also don’t seem to be too impressed about me being from Iowa. The response is usually just a blank stare. What can a guy do?!? Also, pray for opportunities for our team to continue to tell them how much they are loved by God because I’m not sure how many of them have heard that before. Finally, this is Gemini. He is 10, and I told him today that there is a God who created him and a God who loves him. 
