Dear Friends,

I told you the story of Lomene yesterday…I just found these “old pictures” of Lomene, taken the day we found her and brought her away from her life as a “restavek slave.” Just look at this little girl! Imagine her washing clothes for a large family and then “getting a bath” so that she could come home with us. Thanks to you, our partners…together, we have changed her life! This is the “rest of the story,” in case you haven’t read it!

She’s short and sweet and doesn’t look like she’s 20! She’s in 12th grade and she is so, so sweet! The first time I saw her, she was in a village, on the ground, scrubbing pots and plates for two different families. I was told she was a “restavek” child. This is a child whose parent or parents die and they are sent to a relative to become their “slave.” That means that this child will never be “one of the family,” but will do the work that no one else wants to do. This child “will never go to school,” and never amount to anything… But they were all wrong! Lomene will graduate when the next school term finishes. She loves to cook, but I would never have thought that she would have a desire to be a “lawyer!” Where would she get that thought from? Our LAC kids have been taught to “dream big,” and that “with God, all things are possible!!” So, to little Lomene, if that is what the Lord wants you to do, He’ll make a way where there is no way! Dare to “dream big dreams!!” Sherry

And yes, we love her “very, very much!”

And yes, she’s a good cook!!