A Long Day

As you can imagine in a house full of children without their parents, the sudden death of Arivaldo, Raquel, Everton, and Hellen's mother caused a surge of emotion and fear. Throughout the day, there were lots of questions about death, that were compounded when we discovered that Francielle's hamster had passed away before lunch. Several broke down in tears and asked for prayer for their moms and dads while others tried to isolate themselves by being aloof or angry.

Our director returned with the children around 6pm and shared that she was thankful to be home. Upon arrival at the funeral service, she was greeted with a slew of profanities as the family tried to grab the children, telling her that they were going to keep them. She still had Hellen in her arms, and when she saw one of the sister's coming at her with a broom, she decided the best course of action was to take Hellen and get the police. When she returned with an officer and a social worker, a neighbor had helped to calm the situation down and the family assured her that there would not be any other problems. Unfortunately, the reaction of their relatives scared the kids who stuck like glue to Mary during the rest of the visit.

Although Everton and Hellen are too young to remember, Arivaldo and Raquel both seem to be in shock. We continue to covet your prayers for each of them, as well as our entire CLM family.