December 2006

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Merry Christmas to my eternal friends and family,

It is such a joy to be able to share our blessings with all of you. This has been a glorious year for Robin’s Nest. So many great things are going on here that I would need 5 pages to tell them all to you. I will try to highlight the most significant ones. We will turn an enormous corner at the end of this year as we begin our tenth year in Jamaica. It hardly seems possible that we have come so far. All in all it has been a adventure of ups and downs with the Lord always fulfilling Romans 8:28; “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” It seems like every year gets better as we try new ways of serving our children and the community we live in.

We have taken advice from a child specialist who helped us put a “pod” program in place where the children are parented by staff members from each shift. They are being fed, bathed and cared for by the same ones all the time (with just different caregivers on their days off). The children and staff are bonding to each other in an amazing way. I see a healing taking place in the children and great love springing up between the staff and them. The result has been that I have seen staff even taking children from their “pod” home on their days off. The new staff members from the area are a wonderful blend with our veteran staff.

The community has embraced us also and we them. The school is probably our greatest outreach program. We have 15 children from the area, ages 3-6. Each day we give every child a vitamin, fresh fruit in the morning, and lunch at the house. After an hour of lunch and play time, they return to school until dismissal at 2 o’clock. It is amazing to watch them grow in all areas of their lives.

I can never express my gratitude to God for the blessing of having the privilege to be part of this ministry for the past 10 years. I look forward with great expectation to all He will do in the coming years. We are listening closely to God’s voice and guidance for all the new adventures we will be offered by His grace. The opportunities ahead seem endless. Please continue to pray for the “Nest” as God leads us by His endless love and mercy on a daily basis. . I pray that 2007 will be a year filled with hope and joy in the Lord. -- Michelle

P.S. If you have been blessed during this Christmas season and are able to include Robin’s Nest in your year-end giving, we would so appreciate it. As you can see in the rest of the newsletter, the capital campaign is still going on and our daily needs never stop. Thank you for any size gift you can send. Be sure to mark your check as to where you would like it to go. We cherish your prayers and your gifts. Be sure to check our newsletter page for the entire Christmas newsletter. Check out the children here and see how you can help on the opportunities page. If you would like to receive updates by email, please contact Paula Merkouris at salem@alliancecom.net. We try to update the website monthly but only send hard-copy newsletters quarterly. If you can receive these by email, it saves us time and money. Thanks!

(Robin's Nest is a 501(c)(3) organization, and all gifts are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law)

This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 2Corinthians 9:12

If you would like more information on Robin's Nest or would like to send a donation (all money is wired directly to Jamaica) please contact Kris Killian at the Robin's Nest U.S. office: Robin’s Nest, U.S. office, P.O. #122, Lake Elmo, MN 55042-0122 Phone: 651-779-4648 or k.killian@att.net

Update on the children:

Shana Kay and Evion are at Salter’s Hill school up the road from us and doing well. Shana Kay is playing net ball and loves it. She is studying to take some special exams at the end of this year. Evion is really growing up and busy as can be and loves life. They as well as the other children miss Sheila but know she is in our hearts and we in hers. I had the privilege while home in November to visit her and her new family. I can not put into words what it was like except it is like they have always been a family.

Peter is going to school in Johns Hall not far from here. His teacher is up the street and she picks him up each morning and takes him and then we pick him up after school. He loves it there.

Timar, Shaq and Ian are all at our school as well as Avalea. Staci-Ann, Ion’s twin sister, is there on Tuesday and Thursday and Martika is going on Fridays. It seems to be working out well. Sometimes Staci-Ann does not want to go but the rest always do. She then stays home with her “pod” mom, Dawn, and that is fine with us.

Akiem, Dean and Ion in the wheelchair do a lot of things outside with Sefton. They also swim each day while the others are in school. The school children swim when they get home.

Little Shana Kay and her sister, Senika, are coming along very nicely. Their worker was here yesterday and she was amazed to see Shana Kay clapping, singing, talking and walking.

Shantara is gaining weight and getting stronger each day. We are also delighted in how Noah has blended right in. Shevene has progressed enough to be accepted at the school for the blind near Kingston. She will start in January. We will miss her energy, smiles and joy as she sings and dances. Aaron is in Spicer, Minnesota and doing great. His parents are very devoted to his progress.

That leaves our babies:

Enoch is 11 months and standing and getting ready to walk.

Evonne, 4 months, is waiting for adoptive mom to receive the go ahead to take her.

Martika, Timar, Dean and Enoch are also in the adoption process. Many of our staff are wanting to take foster parent training to have some of their “pod” children come live with them. We are expecting the arrival of 3 new boys this coming week, ages 1,4 and 5. Remember each of these children in your prayers.

YEAR-END GIVING

Contributions Made Directly from IRAs

"In 2006 and 2007, if you are age 701/2 or older and have an Individual Retirement Account, you can donate up to $100,000 each year from your IRA to charity. The distribution will not be taxed as income as long as: the charity is eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions, the charity is not a section 509(a)(3) supporting organization, and the withdrawal goes directly to the charity. You do not need to itemize your taxes to take advantage of this provision; if you do itemize, however, you cannot also take the contribution as a deduction."

Challenge Grant by Marian Edelen, capital campaign coordinator

     On behalf of the children, staff, director and U.S. board of directors for Robin's Nest Children's Home, thank you for the wonderful response that many of you have made to the Challenge Grant. As of this writing, over 50% of the grant has been met.
    I have been contacted by some of you wondering if the grant could be extended into 2007 because you need a little more time. I am happy to say that the donor is agreeable to extend it. If you have any questions about this, please feel free to contact me; Marian Edelen, 763-862-7252, or email me at cmedelen@earthlink.net.
    Robin's Nest is God's ministry and we can mark it as a real joy to be a participant in this. May God bless each of you with a joyous Christmas and a blessed 2007.
     "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

Trip Report by Alyssa, Stillwater, MN

My name is Alyssa and I am a senior at Stillwater Area High School in Minnesota. My church and I went to Jamaica over Thanksgiving and spent a week working with the children at Robin’s Nest. This is the second trip I’ve been on to Jamaica. This year I was one of three student leaders, a very rewarding experience.

Even though Ms. Michelle was in the states for the holidays, we still had order and projects needed to be done. A few team members completed a banner that outlines the “peas in a pod” program (below). The “peas in a pod” program is pretty new to the Nest, as outlined in Ms. Michelle’s letter. Team members did repair work, painting, and helped with the children.

I spent a lot of time on the baby porch, reading, pushing kids on the swing, and folding mounds of clothes. The children at the Nest love to swing. My arms sure got sore, but it was so great to see the smiles on their faces. Reading was another thing the kids couldn’t get enough of, with 4 or 5 children around each team member.

The thing I am most grateful for about this trip is the love and care the staff gives each and every person who walks through the door at Robin’s Nest. Ms. Marcia is Dean’s “pod mother”, and she does a wonderful job with him. Ms. Joy and Ms. Townsend are in the kitchen preparing meals all the time! These are just a few of the many staff who touched my heart that week in Jamaica. They were such inspiration with their smiling faces and lots of laughter. I am so grateful my church offers this mission trip to the youth. It is a great experience and I hope to go again.

(Photos below - click to enlarge.)

The banner we made

Our group with the school children

(If your church is interested in a mission trip to the Nest, please contact Kris Killian @ k.killian@att.net. Kris will inform Kim, US Trip Director, of your interest, and Kim will contact you to discuss if your dates of interest are open on the team calendar.)

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ROBIN’S NEST A HAVEN OF ROMANCE

I spent two months at Robin's Nest this summer, loving and being loved on by the children. Ten days before the end of my stay my mom was coming to visit, when we picked her up at the airport my boyfriend surprised me too! We started dating after serving together on a past trip to the Nest. The Nest is our favorite place to go together, we love to serve and work together for Christ. It was appropriate that one night he brought me to the balcony by the pool (where we usually do bible studies). He had made hearts out of play dough, with the help of the children, and put candles into them. He then got down on his knee and proposed in the very same place that God brought us together! --- Laura & Andy

Vision statement:

Mission statement:

Robin's Nest U.S. Board of Directors

Members-at-Large:

Robin's Nest US offices: