Orphanage Christmas Party

The children at our orphanage were able to enjoy several Christmas celebrations this year! Holidays for our kids are sometimes anticlimactic since they don't have families to celebrate with. So for Christmas we always do our best to make sure the kids have the best time we are able to afford.

The day before Christmas Eve we I hosted the main party for the kids. We started out be dressing the kids in new outfits. It is a Liberian Christmas tradition to receive and wear a new outfit for Christmas. The children were so happy about the new clothes, and some of them (like little Teddy) seemed so excited they would burst!

We then watched a Christmas show. The kids LOVE watching movies and kid's programs, so this was a very important part of the party to them.

Several missionary volunteers and visitors came for the party. They helped to hold the kids during the DVD and then assisted during the playtime afterwards.

When the show was finished I read the kids the Christmas story from the Ergermeier's children's Bible story book. I have Bible story flash cards to illustrate the story. The kids also love story time and enjoyed the big, easy to see pictures.

We then played several games including a relay race...And Duck Duck Goose.

After the activities the kids ate their lunch and had a big pink cake for dessert! The kids get candy and cookies from time to time, but they rarely get cake, so this was a very special treat.

On Christmas day the kids put their new clothes back on, and opened the gifts I had purchased and wrapped for every child. Later one of the AOH staff members visited bringing more gifts. The Laird family also visited on Christmas.

We really feel the kids had a great time during the various parties and it was a blessing to us to be able to share the love of Jesus with these precious little ones during this holiday season.

-Melodie (AOH Volunteer)

Our Beautiful Children

Here are some recent pictures of our beautiful children. As you can see they are doing well! We continue to pray that some of them will get to go home to their adoptive families soon...

Orphanage Life

Here are some pictures of our kids in their everyday lives.

The babies during playtime on the porch:

The kids during a rousing game of "Red Light Green Light":

Listening so nicely during story time in the morning:

Beating the drum for song and dance time:

Chillin' in the nursery:

Marveling at themselves in the screen of my sister's camera:

Game time in the courtyard:

Drawing a masterpiece on the magnadoodle:

Hanging out with friends:

Sitting at their cute desks:

I will be posting more pictures like these from time to time to give you a little glimpse into the lives of our orphans.

-Melodie (AOH Volunteer)

"Right Over"

The kids at our orphanage LOVE playing outdoor games.

The Laird family has been coming over on Saturdays to play with the kids (which the kids love, of course) and I go over every Wednesday with my 13 year old brother Jared and 14 year old sister Heidi. When we go over on Wednesdays our time with the kids involves game time:

story time (the kids also really enjoy stories and looking at pictures):

and then spending time holding and playing with the babies in the baby room.

Probably the kids' all time favorite game is Red Rover. Now in Liberian English (which is actually quite different, in my opinion, than American English), and with a Liberian accent, Red Rover is very hard to say. So the words that actually come out sound more like "right over" then "red rover". The other day as we were playing this game, the kids were shouting to their friends "Right over, right over, we call Mercy over!" and I realized they think the game is called "Right Over"! After all, what is a "red rover" anyway, and why wouldn't the game be called "right over" since that's what they are doing; calling someone over to their side!?

-Melodie, AOH Volunteer