Freeport, Bahamas :: Crewmembers visit an orphanage to encourage the children living there.
Crewmembers from Logos Hope have visited the Grand Bahama Children’s Home (GBCH) several times during their stay in Freeport. The children living there have been removed from their families after issues such as abandonment, abuse or neglect.
The volunteers were excited to spend time with the children, whose ages range from 18 months to 13 years old. Since COVID-19 restrictions have meant the children haven’t attended school for the past month, they have been learning virtually in the computer room. The ship’s volunteers join in and assisted with the online classes. With the younger children, time was spent in the garden playing ball and reading books together.
Jan Streitenberger (Germany) prepared a short Bible story about the feeding of the 5,000 when Jesus used five loaves and two fish given by a young boy to feed a multitude. Jan’s aim was to help the children understand that it is not important how much someone has, as Jesus can do a lot with it if we trust in Him fully, and that no situation is too tough for Him to take care of.
Jan says, “It was amazing to see how happy the children were just because we came and gave them attention. I hope I could encourage the children to believe that God cares for them.”
Executive Director of GBCH, June Hutcheson and her team are very aware that the children will leave the home and build a life beyond – so she wants to prepare them well. “We want them to leave being the best self that they can be, being model citizens and taking care of themselves. That is what we want to try and promote for each of the children, so we’re really, really thankful for Logos Hope providing all these extra hands during this time of virtual learning, and to work with our children and give them that close interactive play and learning opportunity. We’re very, very grateful.”
All the children and staff were invited to visit the ship’s bookfair. June says, “Each child was able to get one book, and that will encourage them to read and learn about the world and things that they are interested in. It was an awesome opportunity for the children to have.”