Hola from California! It’s good to be back in the valley for
a while. I arrived in Lodi two weeks ago. It has been good to catch up with
family and friends and supporters from church. I’m excited to see many of you and bring you up to date
about everything that has been happening at the Ranch this past school year.
I’m going to be in Lodi until August 1st. After that most of the
month of August is going to be taken up by weddings and reunions in Missouri
before heading to back to the Ranch on August 22.
This coming school year is bringing many changes to the
girl’s dorm at RSM. I am currently without an assistant dorm mother. The
current dorm mom is switching to a teaching position. I am also looking forward
to having up to seven new girls in the dorm. For the first time since I’ve been at the Ranch I may have a
full dorm of eighteen girls. This
is what I have been praying to happen for over seven years! I’m excited and a
bit nervous. I may have a hearing girl and a mute girl in the dorm. The hearing
girl has three older siblings who are deaf. The children come from a single mom
home and are part of a small native tribe in southern Mexico. It was decided
that it would be in the best interest of the family for the youngest to come to
school as well even though she is hearing. The little mute girl’s name is
Sofia. She is four years old and lives in orphanage in a near by town. She can say a few words but that is
all. This past year we had a young boy named Mario came to live with us. He,
like Sofia has a very limited vocabulary, consisting of about five words. In
his year with us he was able to pick up on sign language very quickly. Mario
can now express all the thoughts that he has had for nine years. It is amazing
to see how alive he has become. I would like the same thing to be possible for
Sofia. Even if at some point Mario and Sofia’s vocabularies expand and no
longer need to be at our home and school it will have been such a blessing for
that period of time that they were with us. A time for them to communicate, learn about Christ, be loved
and introduced to the great need the Deaf have.
I’ll be sure to keep you updated about what is happening
this fall. In the next few weeks I’ll be sending out a newsletter with some
pictures of the year. I would love
to have the opportunity to see more of you. If you would like to hear more
about the school year and watch a video of our Christmas Drama please let me
know. I will be sharing with the Encourager’s Class that meet at Faith
Community (Lodi) and the Word and Deed Sunday School (First Baptist Lodi).
Thank you all as always for your prayers, notes and support.
You are all such a blessing and encouragement to my girls and I.
Prayers for the summer:
·
A new dorm mom for the fall, that we will be
likeminded in raising the girls
·
All the students to return and for the prospective
new students
·
For our students to stay safe over the summer
·
That I will be energized and full of passion for
the new year
·
To raise the support I need for the year
