CHILDREN'S DAY...PART THREE?!?

Today, the judge invited the entire CLM family, as well as all the kids currently placed in children's services in Guarapuava, to a movie at the theater in the city. Our kids were already excited about the movie, so you should have seen them when we told them we were going to the Children's Park afterwards...and then to the pizzaria for dinner! The sponsors of our students at Imperatriz blessed us with a donation and asked us to do something special for all the children at Entre Rios. In the past, they have bought things just for our 10 students who go to the private school but this time wanted to do something special for everyone for Children's Day. It was a perfect opportunity to take them out for dinner since we were already in the city. Again, God blessed us with a warm and sunny day and the smiles, hugs, and "thank yous" from our kids blessed each of us. Our desire is for each of them to feel treasured and we are so grateful for everyone who helps to cultivate the true worth and precious value that God has placed on their lives. Please pray that the Holy Spirit continues to delve deep within each one, taking away any seed of doubt that it is their fault they aren't with their families.

Children's Day...Part Two!

After yesterday's sunshine and the weather report calling for rain all day, we planned activities for the kids today just in case we were stuck indoors all day. But again, God blessed us with another perfect day. After lunch, the kids were doubly blessed to receive a bag full of candy and to discover they had no chores for the day. As soon as all the adults finished the dishes, everyone came together to play hockey for the first time. Viktoria, Jake, Lobinho, and Mike jumped on a team while I strapped on a whistle as the referee/photographer. Everyone loved it and the little ones learned more about time...they must have asked 10 times during the 3 minutes they were in the penalty box if it was time to go back in! The afternoon was filled with more games, soccer, basketball, sand volleyball, and rollerblading. We had brownie and ice cream sundaes with homemade hot fudge sauce and whipped cream for snack. I had fortunately made plenty because 15 of Donei's friends showed up to spend the day with us and teenage boys can eat! Amanda and Jake filled about 200 water balloons and organized a balloon launch and relay which left everyone soaked and ready to swim. We ended the day at the pool with a bonfire and a weenie roast and again thanked God for another special day for our kids.

Children's Day

We praise God for the perfect day He gave us to celebrate Children's Day on Sunday! It is traditionally the first day of swimming but with the cold and rainy weather we've had, we all had doubts if it would be warm enough to swim. God blessed us with a hot and sunny day...and our kids have a healthy glow to prove it! Close to 150 people came from our church and the colony to join us for lunch and a day of fun and fellowship. There was a water slide for the little ones and the soccer field and basketball court were in constant use. Mike added a balance beam to the deep end of the pool and the kids had a blast trying to make it to the other side without falling off. Of course, it turned into more of a challenge when we gave them jousting sticks! Thank you for praying for our kids!

Happy Birthday, Mike and Joanna!

We celebrated Mike and Joanna's birthdays tonight...it's hard to believe that he will be turning 40 next Friday! I met Mike when we were in the fourth grade so I guess that means we've known each other for 30 wonderful years. We were best friends throughout high school and married after our first year of college. Although he graduated with an accounting/business degree, he always shares that God saved him from a boring life of numbers and called him into ministry. After college, he was a youth pastor for 8 years before going to seminary for his master's in Biblical studies. He then felt God leading him into singles' ministry at First Friends. While on the pastoral staff there, he finished a master's degree in pastoral counseling and again felt the Lord's leading into full-time missions here at CLM. Mike loves to bring the Scripture alive through dramas and activities that get the kids involved. He also loves to work with the boys, teaching them what it means to be a Godly man. He recently has started working as our staff coordinator. Please pray for God's continued blessing and direction in his life as he ministers to our children and for his health...he survived swine flu but is now battling a bad ear infection.

Welcome Back, Jake and Amanda!

We praise God for answering our prayer to send more full-time missionaries! Jake and Amanda finished moving into their new CLM home last week and officially start in the schedule on Monday. They are currently spending the weekend with visitors from Ohio and Arizona in Iguassu Falls and will return on Sunday. Please pray for safe travels and a wonderful time of fellowship for the entire group.

Happy Birthday, Maggie!

Our little Maggie turned seven yesterday and had her first birthday party! Annette heard us talking at lunch and mentioned that they had hoped to be a part of a birthday celebration during their visit...could she make a cake for Maggie? Mocha was invited but because of the storm, decided to go upstairs to hide until I coaxed her back down with a piece of cake. Maggie stayed under the table while the kids sang "Happy Birthday" but couldn't resist when I pulled a tennis ball out of a gift bag for her! The cake was delicious and made a fun memory for all of us...thank you, Annette for your thoughtfulness!

Carrie (FINALLY!) Comes to Entre Rios!

We were so excited to finally meet Carrie yesterday! She has been serving at Turvo for the past 6 weeks and will continue there until November. She is the sister of Carl who served with us last year, and of Katie who will soon be arriving with her husband, Andy as full-time missionaries. She has been an incredible help to Luiz, Aninha, and Natalia and a huge blessing to the kids. Just in the short time that she has been with us, it is going to be difficult to say goodbye. Please pray that God continues to minister to her heart as she pours out His love to each of our children. We also ask for you to pray for the final approval of Katie and Andy's visas so they can begin making their travel arrangements.

Hats Off To Our Visitors!

A huge thank you to our visitors from Arizona and Ohio! Besides bringing tons of tools, repainting our family room, buying pizzas for everyone, cooking Sunday lunches, baking cookies, and tuning up our vans (Thanks, Mark for making this a priority before you left!)...they have found time each day to play games with the children or do fun projects like this one. Each child chose a hat and decorated it with puffy paints...I'll post more pictures tomorrow once they dry! Please pray for John, Corinne, Annette, Ivanka, and Melaney during their last few days with us, as well as for Kristen who will be staying to serve with us for the next several months.

Better Late Than Never

I had started this post right after the team from Columbus left...and needless to say, forgot to finish it! Sorry! Anyway...we were blessed to have Sue, Sonya, Teresa, Lauren, and Colleen serve with us for a week and are looking forward to the next time they can stay for a longer visit. They were able to finish painting outside the art room and down the stairwell to the office, continuing the project that the Smith family started in the art room. They spent every spare minute with the kids and brought tons of gifts for the kids and the missionaries. We praise God for their generosity and the amazing love they shared with our children.

Hellen's New Glasses!

I can't believe I forgot to post this picture! Hellen was fitted for new glasses a couple of weeks ago to correct a weak eye...and she is cuter than ever! She has been talking so much and is becoming more and more independent. Please pray for her and her family, Arivaldo, Raquel, and Everton.

Denis and Daniele

We were blessed to have Denis and Daniele join us this past week from Sao Paulo. Daniele will only be with us for a few more days before returning to her husband of 8 months. She has already shared with me that she would like to return with him in January for another visit and is praying about a longer stay in the future. Her brother, Denis will stay with us for an additional week and then make his final preparations for his trip to India. He will be spending several months in language training and then beginning full-time ministry in one of the northern states at an orphanage. He will be sharing the love of Christ with children who have been affected by extreme poverty, prostitution, and AIDS. Denis will also be involved with helping to plant churches in remote villages and giving pastoral training and support to the Indian people. Please join us in praying for Denis as he shares Jesus with those who have never heard God's message of hope. Also, pray for Daniele as she seeks direction for her future role in missions.

Nina's New Family

Enjoy this awesome journey of faith!

“We are Dale and Dana Stuber, son & daughter-in-law of Ken & Pauline Stuber. We live in Tremont, Illinois and have three sons. Sam is 15, Max is 12 and Calvin is 10. Three years ago, after coming home from Midwest Camp, Dale & I were talking one night and sharing with each other that God had individually told us it was time to pursue adoption. We had discussed if for a couple of years, but had never both felt the green light at the same time. Now God was saying "it's time" to both of us. We asked each other why? And felt the answer was because we have a family to share with a child, a house and yard and resources to provide and Dale wanted to bless me with a daughter. We were kind of scared and excited. Over the next few months we discussed it often and searched the internet for direction. We know many couples from our church and others that have adopted, so we had a great team of resources. We felt led to choose one or two daughters, ages 3-7. I talked to Mo Thompson (mother of 10 children adopted from CLM) and told her of our desire. She had just read the CLM Prayer Warrior e-mail which told of a girl, age 4, that would be a good candidate for adoption and that the court could free up at any time. Mo said God had put us in her mind when reading of this girl. We e-mailed Mary Gibson and asked about Elaininha and she told us all she knew. Then we prayed, and asked God if this was from Him. We were convicted that we were to follow Elaininha (whom we had named Nina) to the end of her story, no matter what the outcome.
We prepared our papers and waited for her to be free for adoption. We celebrated her 5th birthday at our home, without her, with cupcakes, and singing. We kept waiting, and Mary thought she could be released soon, so a year later, as she turned 6 we sent our dossier papers down to Brazil. We celebrated her birthday again, without her, with singing, missing her and wishing she was already in our family. We knew Brazilian families had first priority over International couples pursuing adoption of Brazilian children. We loved Nina and felt committed to seeing this through until the end. We did commit to enjoying our already great life with our three boys, keeping busy with their lives, and ours. Summer 2008 came and went; Nina was freed for adoption in September. We were so excited! We read different e-mails Mary would send, as different Brazilian families came to CLM to visit her. In October, Nina's guardianship was given to a Brazilian family, with the intention of adoption. She went home to live with them. Oh, how our hearts ached. We cried, and grieved. But we had always asked God to shut the door if this wasn't for us, so we did trust in His sovereignty, fully.
In January, 2009, we received an e-mail from Mary telling us the family came to visit CLM with Nina. Things weren't going so well, the mother and oldest son were rejecting her as their daughter/sister. The father was heartbroken. Mary encouraged the mother to just decide that this was her daughter, a decision, not a feeling. We slightly got our hopes up, but mostly were just sad for Nina. We felt so terrible for her. Our youngest son, Calvin says he knew for sure at that point that Nina would be ours. Dale and I would not let our minds go there, mostly to protect our hearts.
In March, Dale was ready to start pursuing another adoption, and started asking me to pray about it. I was not ready, but said I would pray about it. It had been a 2 1/2year journey and I didn't know if I could start over, plus I was getting old!!!!! We started planning to remodel our kitchen and life just went on. Then seemingly out of the CLEAR blue, I received an e-mail on April 8th from Mary Gibson, saying she wanted to call me, but didn't have my phone number. Could I e-mail it to her? Oh my! I thought either something terrible had happened to Nina, or something amazing was going on. Mary had never phoned me before. She called some minutes later, with Calvin and I being the only two at home. She told me Nina (still Elaininha at this time, of course) was being returned to CLM soon, the family had made their decision and it just wasn't going to work out. Mary had asked the judge about supporting us to adopt her, he was aware of our desire for her. Mary had just heard from the judge that YES, he would recommend that she be ours!!!!! That is why she had called. Her words were, "Your daughter is coming home!" I couldn’t really believe this. Calvin was amazed too! Some of my first words were, "We have a wild God!" I phoned Dale at work sobbing, and we were just shocked that whole evening. What a turn of events. Just as we were letting her go and moving on!
Well, we began more paperwork, and celebrated her birthday in April for a third time, without her at home, with cupcakes, candle and singing. Adoption is equal to patience! So we tried to be patient, waiting for Brazil to invite us to come and spend the 30 days cohabitation. With paperwork and travel, the trip would be 47 days total. It was hard for Dale to keep juggling work responsibilities, wondering exactly when he would be leaving for such a long time! In July, we received the invitation, applied for our visas, packed and left for Brazil on Aug 7th. How wonderful it would be to finally meet our daughter!!! We had sent her pictures of us and our home. We were wondering how she would receive the news of her adoption and have praised the Lord that she received it with excitement! On Aug 8th, we met Nina at the Curitiba airport. How fun!
At this writing, we are now in Brazil doing our cohabitation period, staying at CLM with our 3 boys and new daughter. It is going really well. She is really loving and warm toward us, as she figures out this new way of living and new language! We can see now why God has chosen Nina to be in our family. Nina's speech and learning disabilities will receive much one on one attention and some excellent therapy in Illinois. While still in Brazil, we have taken advantage of traveling with her in between court appointments and have seen this wonderful country! We are now 2 1/2 weeks into our 6 1/2 week trip. We have already made memories to last forever! We look forward to bringing her home to meet our families and helping her transition to her new life. Nina Ann Stuber - we are amazed and glorify God for how He has worked to let us be your parents!”

20 YEARS?!?

It's hard to believe that Mike and I have been married for 20 years! In some ways, it seems longer because I have very few memories without him. We met in fourth grade when his family moved one town over to Williamsburg, Ohio...and the rest, shall we say, is history! We "went together" (what exactly does that mean?!) and dated since eighth grade and were engaged during our first year at Malone College. On our first anniversary, as poor college students, Mike gave me one single long-stem red rose. I remember he said, "It may not seem like much now but imagine when we've been married for 50 years!" Well, each year, he has added one more rose and somehow still manages to surprise me during the week of our anniversary. We have been in many different places to celebrate over the years, but I have to say that this year at CLM will be the most memorable for me.

We had called all the kids to dinner and were ready to pray when Mike announced that everyone needed to go back upstairs to clean up the family room. A few of the kids grumbled but everyone got up and marched back upstairs. About 2 minutes later, Luana came out of the girls' hallway door and started walking towards me with a red rose and a big smile. About the time she reached me at the end of the dining room, the door opened again and out came Geovane with another red rose and an even bigger smile. The lightbulb FINALLY went off in my head when Donei appeared, followed by 16 more of our beautiful children in a slow procession, each with a rose and a huge grin. Of course, the last to appear was Mike with the 20th rose, a hug and a kiss, while everyone clapped and cheered. Not too many dads have enough kids to pull that off! :)

I was overcome with emotion not only because of the love I have for this man that God has blessed me with but also that we were able to share this special moment with the 31 precious children that He has placed in our care. I praise God for Mike and the 20 wonderful years He has given us together.

"I pray our love can be worthy of, the One who gave His life so our love could be." Geoff Moore

Dia dos Pais

Today is Father's Day in Brazil. After our Sunday morning children's service, Janete and Patricia led the younger girls in singing a song to the CLM dads. After lunch, we continued celebrating with cake, gifts, and handmade cards from the kids. The children were given an opportunity to share before we prayed and Geovane thanked Mike, Lobinho, and Jake for being "the dad that I never had." We are thankful for the privilege of being sent out to share the Father's love with each of these precious children.

Bus Stop Face Lift

Life and Death

Last night, Mike found a young man who had been killed by a drunk driver just a few hundred feet from the end of our driveway. He had been taking Meghan and Joacir home when he saw someone laying in the middle of the opposite lane. Several cars in front of them had passed by and hadn't even slowed down. Mike turned around to go back but could tell before he got out of the van that it was too late. This morning, we discovered that it was the 20-year-old son of a couple who has attended our church from time to time. He was a security guard and had been going to work on his bike when he was hit. We found out this morning that he was married and his wife was pregnant. Another disconcerting aspect of this senseless death was that he was robbed of his shoes, cell phone, and bike after he was killed.

When tragedy strikes, we are quickly reminded of how fragile life is; how easy it is to take friends and family for granted. This young man was given no warning that today would be his last; he had no time to say goodbye to loved ones or make amends with those he had offended. Did he have a relationship with Jesus? Was he immediately ushered into the gates of heaven? Although we don't have the answers, these questions can prod us to live each day without regret, each moment knowing that God has a perfect plan for our future. I praise Jesus for the assurance that I am His and my life is in His hands.

Chris and Cindy are here!

This post is for Osnaburg Local School teachers...Chris and Cindy have arrived safely without any (major) international incidents! :) They have already experienced rice and beans, Brazilian showers, one of our Thursday evening children's services...and unfortunately, the coldest and rainiest three days that we've had in the past two years! However, they are still smiling and have already fallen in love with our kids. We are visiting Turvo today and will hit our favorite pizzaria tonight...who knows, maybe Cindy will be up for visiting the chickens tomorrow!

Willian

On Saturday, Willian left CLM to live with his father and stepmother. Since Willian's mother told his father at the hospital that Willian wasn't his, he didn't meet his son until he came to CLM at 9 years of age. They have had many weekend visits over the past year, but this will be the first time they have lived together. We feel that all three have doubts about this plan, but we are trusting God for a miracle in this family. Please join with us in prayer that Willian will feel loved and treasured by his dad and stepmother and that Willian will reciprocate and share the love of Christ with his parents.

Alex

We were blessed this past week with the arrival of Aline and Alisson´s younger brother, Alex. He and his younger brother, Mateus had been separated from Aline and Alisson several months ago and our hope has been to reunite the four siblings. He had been at the government orphanage and was attending a daycare when some family members took him. His grandmother was caring for him and agreed to let him come to CLM if she could have visitation rights with all of them. Aline cried when she saw him and realized they were together again. Pray for Alex´s adjustment to our family, as well as for Aline, Alisson, and Mateus.

David

After serving with us for six months, David returned to Hungary yesterday. From helping with baths to maintenance to transporting kids, he has been available from early morning to late night since he arrived in January. He has been a true example of a servant's heart and will be dearly missed. We pray that God will lead him back to Brazil soon.

Patrick

Patrick stayed with Maggie and Mocha while we were in the states and was a tremendous blessing to the kids and other missionaries during our absence. It's hard to believe that he is already coming up on his three month mark and will need to renew his tourist visa for the last few weeks of his stay with us. He has been a great asset to CLM and has been such an encouragement to us. Tomorrow he is leaving for a quick visit to Iguacu Falls with Viktoria, Jenny and Greg...please pray for a safe trip and a wonderful experience for all of them.

Marcelo

The day after we arrived back in Brazil, Marcelo left with his new mom! She had actually come only a few days before to meet him for the first time but since he was already released for adoption, the process moved extremely fast. The quick farewell was difficult on the family, especially the boys who had become good friends with Marcelo in the short time he was with us. Please pray for him as he adjusts to his new home.

One More Week

It is hard to believe that we only have one more week in the states before returning to Brazil. We have had a wonderful visit with friends and family and are now needing to focus on some "business" type things of filing our tax return, getting an FBI background check for our permanent visa, renewing my teaching license, and of course, last-minute shopping and packing.

Lots of things have been happening at CLM in our absence and we have been struggling to live between our two worlds. Altair ran away again but this time, no one has been able to find him. Aline, Francielle, Lucas, Rita, and Gisieli have begun having visits with their mother after not seeing her for more than five years. Mariane's mother and father have come forward after a year and would like her to return to live with them. Maria has been invited to work on a nearby horse farm, helping to groom and bathe the horses, and Elaine, our oldest in the home, left CLM this week to live with a friend.

If that isn't enough to make your head spin, after we return, here are a few changes that will happen with our staff: Bethany and Juan will be leaving on furlough, David, Edit, and Fabio will be returning to Hungary, Meghan and Joacir will be returning to Canada, and Lobinho and Joanna will be going to Turvo to stay while Aninha and Luis take a much-needed vacation. This will leave Mary Gibson, Viktoria and us with the direct care of our 32 children! We need your prayers! Fortunately, Patrick will stay with us until the end of July and two other short-termers, Jenny and Greg from Illinois, will be at Turvo during this time.

Thank you so much for continuing to pray for us during our time in the states, as well as for our CLM family in Brazil.

Back in Ohio

We arrived at El Campesino on Thursday after 26 hours of traveling...a long way to go for fajitas and chimichangas but well worth it! After visiting friends in Canton this week, we will be spending time with our family in Mansfield and Cincinnati, then returning to speak at First Friends on June 14th. We look forward to seeing you there! Blessings!

A Missionary's Work is Never Done!