It was sad tidings that Alvin Moudy, farm manager, had to deliver to the farm crew that day. Shawn the Blind Sheep, a farm pet for over a year, was sick and not expected to live. Alvin broke the news as gently as he could to the group of wide-eyed children. There were exclamations of sadness and a few tears. But Joe Dan had a more constructive reaction to the news. "We should pray for Shawn," he declared.

So under the direction of this six-year-old boy, the group joined hands and encircled Shawn the Sheep. They reverently bowed their heads and prayed along with Joe Dan as he directed the attention of the Almighty to Shawn's distress.

Where had the little boy learned to pray? Well, he told us, when he was living with his grandmother, he used to walk several blocks to the church in his neighborhood. It was a Spanish-speaking church, and he "didn't understand a word they said, but they were good folks!" Joe Dan knew, deep in his innocent child's heart, that only God can truly solve the problems of our lives. And he had learned that God uses His people as the avenues of those solutions.

God has blessed Joe Dan with a family to give him the security that his own family could not. Joe Dan is one of three children who live with David and Toni Hunt, one of our good foster families.

Joe Dan, just like all children, would rather live with his mother and grandmother once again, but for now he is learning to be content with the blessings God has provided for him. He is learning that he can depend on David and Toni to feed him, clothe him, and tuck him into a warm bed each night. He is learning that they will hold him accountable for his behavior, and that they expect him to succeed at school. And he is attending church as a member of their family, at a place that speaks his own language.

Spanish, English, or Sheep-Talk--Joe Dan knows that God answers prayers!

Foster care. Teaching children to trust.