- Wemerson's Story -

- Building Self Esteem -

- Bridging the Gap -

- Carlos' Story -

- Goodbye Anna -

- Eighth Annual Training Course to be held in July -

- The Difference You are Making -

- Further Information -

- Thank you -




Wemerson's Story

Wemerson came to live on the Farm at the age of 10. He was from a rural town, where he'd been living on the streets - his mum lived in a shack and he spent the days roaming around surviving on discarded food that he found at the back of restaurants and stealing from shops. One day he decided to run away and hitched a ride into Belo Horizonte where he lived on the streets on his own, not really fitting into any of the gangs. It was here that the Happy Child street team found him.

Wemerson has lived on the Farm for four years. He loves football and is the Farm's best goalkeeper! He takes his faith very seriously and was baptised last year. During this time he has consistently prayed for his family and always hoped that one day he would find his mother.

Towards the end of last year, our family team Co-ordinator Anna Gaskill discovered that Wemerson's aunt was living in a town called Joao Molevado, about 2 hours drive from Belo Horizonte. She drove up to meet her and his aunt promised that she would telephone as soon as she heard anything from Wemerson's mum. Just two weeks later, Wemerson's mum turned up at her sister's house, heard that Wemerson was looking for her and rang Happy Child.

Anna writes, "I drove Wemerson up to visit her the very next day. He was very excited but also scared. When he first saw his mum he was stiff and cold, but soon loosened up, talking and laughing about the past, even discussing very difficult areas of his life and how he felt. His mum told us that she had stopped drinking three months before and that she now wanted a more settled life. As we got into the car to leave, Wemerson raised his hands towards the sky and said "Thank you Lord for changing my mum. Thank you Lord, you heard all those prayers all these years. Thank you Lord that she doesn't drink" It was very emotional for all of us!"

Two weeks later, his mum came to a family day at the farm. Wemerson was so proud of her. He couldn't stop smiling! Wemerson continues to live on the farm while his mum is looking for work and a place to live. He is full of hope for the future.

Prayer Point
For Wemerson: that his relationship with God will grow stronger and that God will continue to heal him; that his relationship with his mum will flourish; that God will help her to find a more settled life and that she will be successful in stopping her drinking habit.

Bridging the Gap

How our family team works to restore the relationship between street child and family

For Happy Child, working with the families of our children has always been fundamental to our vision of rescuing and restoring street children. Our ultimate goal is to reunite and reintegrate all the children in our care to their original families. Experience has shown us that the ongoing link with parents and family members is crucial for the long term healing of our children.

Family work is difficult, complex and highly demanding. It requires enormous patience and perseverance. Almost all the families we work with have disintegrated due to problems of unemployment, alcoholism, drug abuse, prostitution and violence. Often finding the whereabouts of a child's family can be a huge challenge and in many cases a mother or father may have simply disappeared without trace. The distances we cover to reach different families are huge, often travelling hundreds of kms a week to get from one location to another. Many of the families we find live in the city's poor shanty town areas. They exist on low incomes and are often forced into stealing, drug trafficking and prostitution due to a low level or practically non-existent education, scarce job availability and very few opportunities in life for betterment or self-improvement.

Over the years we have discovered the importance of building bridges between our children and their families. In Matthew's Gospel (25:40) Jesus says "whatever you do for one of the least of my brothers, you do for me". This verse sums up what we try do by meeting the needs of these families in a very practical way. This includes fortnightly family visits to build up friendships; offering advice and counsel if needed and trying to resolve everyday problems, for example, where a child may get a place at school. On other occasions it may be taking a food basket or supplying clothes and shoes or setting up a medical appointment.

It is difficult to measure our success. Some of our children have been able to go home. Others have not. What we do know is that we must keep on serving.

Prayer Point:
For all the families of our children: that God will enter the lives of those that don't know Jesus; that God will bring healing and forgiveness into difficult relationships; that we can trace those families who are missing.

Prayer Point:
For our Family Team: that our workers will grow in number

Carlos' Story

Carlos started life in a normal kind of family, but when his dad died in a drug related murder, things started to go wrong. His mother found it very difficult to cope. There were a couple of other relationships with men but they were violent and beat Carlos up. Within a short period of time they had lost their home and Carlos, aged 7, his younger sister and their mum ended up living on the streets. His sister was rescued by an aunt. Carlos was found by Happy Child.

Carlos came to live on the Farm in 2000, aged 8 years old. He is very much "one of the boys" and loves playing pool and football but he suffers from depression and is currently on medication. Carlos has been desperate to find his mum for a long time. He often cries from longing to see her.

"Over the past year we have made several attempts to find Carlos' mum, but have always drawn a blank" says Anna Gaskill. "Last September we found out that she was still living on the streets in Belo Horizonte and so we started looking for her again. But after several nights of walking the streets and searching the different bars in the city, our hopes began to fade. Then, on the last night of our search, just as we turned into the last street we found her! We couldn't believe it."

Carlos was overjoyed at having found his mum. Although she continues to roam the streets, our family team seeks her out on a regular basis so that Carlos can maintain his contact with her. One day he hopes that she will be able to start a new life and leave the streets so that they may be reunited long term.

Prayer Point:
For Carlos: that God will heal him of his depression; that he will know the love of Jesus in his life; that God will strengthen the relationship between Carlos and his mum; that his mum may be healed of her psychiatric problems.

Goodbye Anna

At the end of 2002 we said goodbye to missionary Anna Gaskill, who has worked tirelessly for Happy Child for more than 4 years. Thank you Anna for all your hard work and dedication to the children and their families. You are sorely missed!! Anna has returned home to Australia for a well earned break and to spend time with her family and friends.

Eighth Annual Training Course to be held in July

Our eighth annual training course will take place this year from Tuesday 1st to Thursday 31st July in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The aim of the course is to equip Christians called to work with children at risk, as well as providing an opportunity for people to experience the work of Happy Child and to give them a taster for missions.

As in previous years, the course will focus on the diverse physical, psychological and emotional problems facing children at risk. The curriculum also covers topics such as 'what is my calling?', 'what are my gifts?' and 'what is cross cultural mission?'.

Classes are held in the evening and during the month students will be expected to mount their own supervised projects for working with children at risk. In August there is also the opportunity to do a one month practical placement in one of the Happy Child houses.

Caroline Browne, who was on the course in 2002, writes: -"God spoke to me at the age of 13 about going to Brazil and working with street children. Ten years later God's promise was fulfilled when I took part in Happy Child's seventh annual training course, along with 30 other students. The course aims to equip people for working with children at risk in a very practical and real way.

Meeting the children for the first time was something I will never forget. All the praying, planning and preparation was all for this purpose and suddenly everything I had imagined was now real and actually felt very normal. I was unsure of how much the language barrier would be a problem but thankfully playing and having fun is the same all over the world.

During my practical placement in August I was living and working on the farm. This is where I was really able to make friends with the boys and also attempt to "Bend it like Beckham". I quickly understood why Brazil won the world cup!

All of the boys have been through more than I could ever imagine, yet the love and joy that is evident in their lives is truly amazing. They have so little and yet want to give you everything. It really was a very humbling experience and is something that will challenge me for the rest of my life."

If you would like further details about the training course, please contact Elena Williams on 01822 611368 or elena.w@virgin.net.

Prayer Point:
That God will speak into the hearts of those he wants to do this course; that he will make the path clear for them and provide the necessary finance.

The Difference You are Making

Computer Centre
The new computer centre at Casa Emaus, funded by the Billy Graham Foundation, is now fully operational. The children are thrilled that there are now enough computers for them all to use. We are hoping to bring in an IT specialist for a few hours each week to help them get the most out of the centre.

Christmas Party
The Happy Child Christmas Party, funded by UK donations, was an overwhelming success. Each child was given two beautifully wrapped parcels containing gifts that they had requested. Top of the Christmas list were micro scooters and clothes!

Paul Williams, a former missionary with Happy Child, who was at the party wrote "For all the years I have been involved with Happy Child, today seemed especially joyful - for the children and workers alike. Certainly, a lasting impression of the day was one of great encouragement as we all look to the New Year. God is good!"

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