The Children's Home, Dormitories, and Jessi Laiya

As I mentioned in a previous post, a children's home was established at the request of the church leaders on Nias after the earthquake of 2005. These children are the poorest-of-the-poor from among our church members on Nias. Here they receive good nutrition, a comfortable place to sleep, medical care when needed, an education and lots of tender, loving care. In the villages they probably would not go to school and would rarely receive any medical care and perhaps not even adequate nutrition. When we visited the home last week, there were 38 children in the home.

Jessi Laiya is the acting director at the present following the early death of the previous administrator who died in his sleep. He is the son of T. Laiya who first invited me to visit the island and had so much to do with the growth of the church on the island before his death in 2007 (?). Jessi met Bailey and me at the airport and drove us around the island Thursday and took us to the airport the next day. Thank you, Jessi, for being such a big help to us. We really appreciate your hospitality as well as the fact that you are carrying on the work of your father. We pray for God to continue to bless you and your family.

In addition to the children's home, three dormitories have been purchased for use by those from the villages who wish to further their education in the schools of Gunung Sitoli. There are students attending Middle schools, High Schools, as well as University. They are allowed to live in these dormitories rent free but must do their own laundry and cook their own meals. There are two dorms for girls and one for boys. The unidentified young man is Sechi Zebua, a graduate of the local university with a Bachelor's degree in English and teaches English to the children in the home. The older unidentified man with his wife administrates one of the dorms. The blond is, of course, our Bailey.