January 2024 Update Abba, King’s Kids & Restoration House

Happy 2024 Everyone, isn’t it crazy that we are already here, everyone says time flies faster and faster as you get older and it is so true! I have now been in Indonesia for 19 years!!! 19 years of seeing God providing, protecting and blessing not just me but so many people that I have the privilege of working with. I have been with King’s Kids now for 16.5 years and have seen so many of our kids grow up, fly the nest and start their own families and lives, there are quite a few grandkids all over Indonesia now. Some of our kids have gone on to university, some have joined us in ministry and are now blessing the kids we currently have, it is such a joy to work alongside some of our former kids as staff and see how God is working in their lives and growing them and using the to bless our youth.

Our ministry has seen some growth and new developments, we currently run 2 houses but are again outgrowing both of them. There are 28 kids and 7 staff in our main Abba house (and a baby on the way from our married staff couple) In the House of Restoration we have 7 kids, (1 pre-schooler, 1 in kindergarten, 3 in primary, 1 in junior high and 1 who has just graduated and is starting to work) 5 students and 8 staff. Enrolment is open for our 3rd DTS school starting in March and we are hoping for up to 10 students to join and see their lives transformed, their faith strengthened and their passion for the Lord ignited.

Please join us in praying for the right staff and students to join us and for God to work in and through us all powerfully. Pray also for the financial provision for the school and all the student fees to be covered. Just 4 doors down from the Restoration house there is a house available for let that we are interested in, we have entered into negotiations with the owner and are praying for favour regarding the terms of lease please pray with us that they will agree to our budget and terms and for provision.

In our Abba house we currently have 2 pre-schoolers, 10 in primary, 9 in junior high, 6 in senior high and one in university. Of the six ladies who attended out 1st DTS that was mainly single mums, 2 have stayed with us as staff at Abba house and 2 have joined as Base staff at the house of Restoration and are being such a blessing helping with discipleship and the management of the 2nd house. God is continuing to grow each of them and they are committed to their journey with Him and loving their kids better. Their stories are still ongoing and it is a joy to see their progress.

In the summer we welcomed a new boy into our Abba home, Daniel, he is 12 and came from a background of violence and rejection so please pray with us for this boy as he tries to learn how to let his barriers down to love and be loved, pray he adjusts well and that we can help him to thrive.

Novi and I have been regularly counselling a young couple who have experienced a lot of hurt and trauma in their lives, God has been showing us clearly that He has an amazing future for this couple and we are excited to see them overcome all the obstacles and move into their healing and God given destiny. God seems to be using us more and more on a counselling/mentoring capacity which we are enjoying.

As the borders have opened back up fully, teams and volunteers have now started to come back and we have been busy with DTS outreach teams coming from Norway on a regular basis, we have had a team from Scotland and individual volunteers from Scotland, England, America, India and Holland, God really blesses the kids through these visitors and they are always excited to welcome more to come. At present we have 2 girls staying with us for up to a year with the possibility of another one coming at Easter time. As they learn the language and the culture, they are able to also pour into our kids and help them with their English, which has seen a marked improvement. With our teams we have been doing some mercy ministries to the poorer areas in our town, bringing supplies to the needy and running children’s programs which were a huge success. There was even some time off to visit some beautiful waterfalls and volcanoes for the teams.

Since coming back from the UK in the summer we completely replaced our roof at the children’s home it was a mammoth project, each of the 5,500 tiles had to be painted first! So, we had some paint parties and even the youngest of kids got involved, while we had some scaffolding up, we took advantage and painted the walls which greatly improved the look of the whole house below are some photos of the process. One of the workmen fell off the roof but praise be to God he survived with only a broken foot and some cuts and bruises, could have been so much worse.

After too long a gap mum and dad were able to come and visit us all this time bringing my niece Eilidh who is Kayla’s best friend, it was such a special time with them, it was a surprise for all our kids and staff and it was a great reaction from them all. Memories to cherish forever, and of course it was great to have dad and Alex from the Haven to do some of the wee maintenance jobs about the place! They took the kids to hawaii waterpark and they all had a blast, sorry the time flew by so quickly but it was so amazing to have them come out. Abba kids love having granny n grampa here!

Want to know more or be involved? Consider becoming a prayer partner, or you could sponsor one of our staff or kids, if you want to have a life changing experience consider coming out to volunteer or visit us for a few weeks, meet the children, experience a different culture and see what God is doing here first hand, we would love to have you or bring a team with you.

Thank you for taking the time to read our update I hope you enjoyed it, should you want any further detail on anything please email me on Sheryl_novi@yahoo.co.uk or whatsapp 0062 82142 552728.

God Bless you and protect you, and may His Grace be upon you always.

Love Sheryl, Novi and all our staff and kids.