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Seasons Greetings from the great U.S.A.:
Andy and I have been home for a couple weeks and will be returning
right after Thanksgiving to the Nest. We were grateful to see so
many at the banquet and wanted to update those of you who couldn’t
make it on what is going on at the Nest these days.
Everything is going alright it is of course always busy, and
there is never enough time to get everything finished. We had more
teams over September and October which have been a huge blessing.
We are getting more donations of diapers and Pediasure, saving us
lots of money, and have been getting more projects finished. It is
also getting cooler, another blessing.
PRAISE
REPORTS:
Dana
– For this school year, we are very pleased to have a Special
Education teacher from the United States on-site. She is such a
blessing and the change in the kids is already evident. She is also
a great support to Andy and me.
Jakes House
– The second set of rooms have been completed. The boys are now in
two rooms, Andy and I are in a room, and Dana has the final room.
The Special Ed room is looking like a classroom; we even have desks
and chairs that were donated. Praise God! Dana has five special
needs children. One of them is a new girl of 13 that only weighed 35
pounds when she came, very handicapped but likes to be around
others. All of the boys are doing wonderful and the changes in them
are outstanding. The other children are doing well also in school
and we praise God for our dedicated staff.
Garden
– We are expanding the size of our garden. It will be about four
times the original size when finished. We have been slowly buying
quality fencing to replace the chicken wire which goats, and even a
cow were going through to eat our foods! Our grounds man, Graham,
is working hard to make sure that it is done correctly. We will
grow vegetables and plant some banana trees as we eat so many every
week.
Kids
– The kids are doing well overall. We had to have one boy moved as
he was too out of control. Please pray for him as CDA returned him
to his father who was incredibly abusive which is why he was
initially removed. Since he has left we have seen changes for the
better in the rest of our boys, they are less anxious and Sun is
much happier, not being constantly picked on. We have three new
children; a 10 month old baby, a private placement; the father
desperately needed assistance and signed over the boy to us. We
also have a sister and brother, 8 and 4, who were living at the
garbage dump. They are doing well and adjusting; they will fit in
well and are simply learning life at the Nest.
PRAYER
REQUESTS:
Jake’s House
- We have put in a request to Food for the Poor for a donation of
the building supplies for the final section of Jake’s House. This
would be incredible.
Vehicles
– We continue to have endless vehicle problems. We have been buying
two tires per week for the last couple weeks for the vehicles, with
one more set we will have all new tires on both vehicles. Our tires
were smooth, it makes them much more tolerable to ride in now, (also
much safer.) Two tires are $300 so we have had to buy them slowly
due to our lack of funds. We continue to have leakage in the van as
well, often when driving the clutch goes out and it cannot get into
gear. We have had it “fixed” several times but continue to have the
problem. We desperately need new vehicles, and it is a shame that
so much money is being wasted on these vehicles.
Tax Exemption
– We continue to work to get the tax exemption to be reimbursed for
the taxes we pay. We wait “patiently?” for a letter from CDA in
Kingston stating that we are in fact a private children’s home.
They keep saying it will be sent, but we haven’t seen anything yet.
Keep praying for this so we can get a much needed refund.
Networking
– I continue to let people know about our home. I have found that
Doctor’s Cave seems to be the best place to meet Jamaicans who are
interested in what we do. I have heard several times, “we support
Blossom Gardens and SOS, but I have never heard of Robin’s Nest.”
These contacts may even assist us in getting our roads fixed?! We
will also include outreach to hotels as I have been told that others
receive a great deal of funding and support this way.
Kids
- CDA called us recently to tell us that they had 7 boys under the
age of ten that they wanted to give us. They figured that since we
are building another boys home, we should be able to fill it with
older boys….but we do not have the resources or staff to take in any
more. We can only take babies right now, and we are at 32 kids, so
we can only take children in case of an emergency.
Successors
– We continue to ask for prayer that God will find the right
long-term directors for Robin’s Nest, now that Michelle has stepped
down. They have big shoes to fill as we have found out. Please
continue to pray for increased donations and for Michelle as she
travels fundraising and for us at the “Nest.”
Blessings, Laura and Andy Chapeau
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