The children are only served lunch when Poppi (Smith) comes to their school. Many of the children came back for seconds and thirds and this is the best meal they will receive all week. Poppi is up at 3 a.m. in the morning cooking food for these children out of her own kitchen. Any remaining food is given to the orphanage supported by the church school.
We recently ministered in a school very close to a Jakarta trash dump and the port. There were about 150 children from kindergarten through third grade. The school is located in the church that supports the school monetarily. All of the children wear school uniforms provided by the church. The school hours are from 7:30 a.m. to noon. We had about 30 minutes of praise and worship. The band consisted of three young men about 12 years old on bass guitar, lead guitar and drums. They were amazing musicians.
We told the story of Daniel when he was in the lion’s den and we requested that several of the children play the parts of the lions. We had purchased some masks so the kids were quite excited to use them. After the story we had a short snack time consisting of a cookie and a boxed drink. We later worked on a craft which consisted of making a picture frame for the pictures that Tommy and Poppi Smith had already taken. Tommy told me that this may be the only picture many of them will ever have taken in their lives. The schools over here do not take yearly school pictures. They are happy to have the basics (books, desks, etc.).
Lastly, we helped Poppi and a couple of her workers serve lunch, which consisted of a bowl of rice with a ladle of vegetables in broth and chicken fingers with bottled water to drink. The only running water was in the restroom but it was not drinkable. The children are only served lunch when Poppi comes to their school. Many of the children came back for seconds and thirds and this is the best meal they will receive all week. Poppi is up at 3 a.m. in the morning cooking food for these children out of her own kitchen. Any remaining food is given to the orphanage supported by the church school. Upon completion of lunch the children were dismissed and we distributed the goody bags we had prepared the night before.
Bill Pratt, Missions Team Leader, Mount Paran Church of God
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