Home Thoughts From Abroad

Shortly after their marriage, Greg and Liz purchased the home in which that Greg was born and raised. He lived in that home until his mid-teens when his parents built a house in a newly developing area.It was a lovely, well-built, spacious family home into which Greg and Liz welcomed their own babies. However, it was also aging and badly needed repairs and expensive upgrading. With both of them in demanding jobs and two young kids, the work was overwhelming.

They decided to put it on market to see if they could find a buyer. Not only did one become available quickly but the buyers wanted immediate possession. Liz and Greg had two weeks, at the end of November, to find and purchase a new home, pack up and make the move. They found a lovely, smaller, brand new home that was ready for occupancy. Other than the fact that the landscaping will not be able to be completed until the spring, at the expense of the developer, it is a move right in, maintenance free home.

I was able to take a week off work for a quick visit to Calgary to help with the packing, moving and settling in. Quite uncharacteristically for November, it was a balmy, 11 degrees and a beautiful day for a move. It was a monumental task and the weather meant that Greg’s crew was all working so Greg, Liz, Greg’s Mom and I did the work ourselves. We were exhausted but so happy to see them settled in their new place by the time I returned to Cayman.

Russ and Layla are pretty resilient kids and just rolled with the punches. We even had some time to explore the new neighbourhood and just hangout in the new digs. Calvin and Hobbs even made the move in the form of a large, canvas print for his new bedroom wall.

The Children’s Heart Project arranges life-saving operations for hundreds of children in need of heart surgery, who live in countries where the required medical expertise and equipment are not available. In the Cayman Islands, the Have a Heart organization, in partnership with Health City Cayman Islands, has helped 104 children from all over the world receive free, life-saving heart surgeries.

Holly Thompson, one of our CIS students has established a ministry called Impact 345. She provides each child with a back pack filled with toys and gifts and maintains a “closet” that provides clothing and personal supplies for family members. Young people, organized by Holly, also visit and play with the children while they are hospitalized.

Samaritan’s Purse has partnered with this project by sponsoring children from countries in which they work and can provide on-going support for the children and their families. They have brought children from other Caribbean  countries, Bolivia, Uganda and Mongolia. The children are admitted directly to hospital on arrival, where they stay until they recover from surgery. After discharge they must stay on island until they are cleared to return home. Our church got on board about two years ago by hosting the children, their Mom’s and an interpreter for the 2- 6 weeks need for complete recovery.

Anjee, is a young Canadian scientist working here in Cayman who is a member of our Community Group. She felt the Lord had equipped her to reach out to these kids, so purchased a home with the express purpose of hosting these children. We, as a Community Group, have enjoyed the opportunity to help Anjee when she has visitors. In October, she hosted Enkhujin and Munkhbat, two little sweethearts from Mongolia along with their Moms and interpreter. What a blessing it was to have this little group join us on Thursday evenings in our home.

The Mom’s are both herders from rural Mongolia who have had no previous contacts with Christians. Their children were born with life-limiting heart defects and they had little hope that they would ever see their kids happy and healthy. They traveled halfway around the world with very sick children, experienced the love and care of complete strangers and headed back home with rambunctious, silly, normal kids. And we were all blessed by the opportunity to get to know them. They will have continued relationships with Samaritan’s Purse and we pray for the day their spiritual hearts will be healed.