Decorating for Valentine’s Day

As most of readers of our blog know, our children’s home is founded on the Biblical model of a family. Mark is Dad to these 17 children and I am their mother. We feel that with all our hearts and so do they. It is a different type of family than the Benz family is with our bio/adopted children…but it is a family nevertheless.

Still, the situation dictates that we live in seperate facilities. But one of the drawbacks to living with SEVENTEEN other children and staff in a dorm is that there is very little “personal space.”

That is another great blessing of using the ACE model of school with the Bykota Kids. Mark had the typical ACE school desks built. (or as we refer to them…their ACE offices)

We allow them a whole lot of creative license to decorate there own personal offices. We do ask that it be clean enough to be free of germs LOL…and that it be an area that allows for them to do school. They aren’t allowed to put something in there that gets in the way of studying. We have to sometimes speak to Bee because he will put his educational toys in there or coloring supplies and leave no room for his school books.

Today the Bykota Kids decorated their offices for Valentine’s Day. They had lots of fun and it really pleases me to see them enjoy their personal space and to do things in their own individual way.

We are certainly not busy over here trying to put out cookie cutter kids. They are all unique, special, WONDERFUL individuals. Each and every one of them are necessary to the body of Christ. They have a role that no one else can fulfill as well as they can.

Of course, because it is Mark and Rhonda Benz who are parenting these children, we are so often reflected in them. One of the funniest ways is the fact that these Cambodian children are learning to speak English and try as we might, we still sometimes see a little Southwest Missouri come out in their diction. Ät Bykota House you can hear Cambodian children saying “ya’ll dun with those scissors?” or “Mom, I fixin’ to go to my house now.” LOL

Breathing in, breathing out,
Rhonda

 

February Update

“The cries of children were everywhere…”

In the early morning hours of January 24th the families fitfully dozed in desperate attempt to get some final moments of rest before a new day in the Dey Krahom community began. Just the day before, all the families had been asked to show the ownership documents for their homes because a large corporate developer desired the land they were living on. They left these meetings with a promise that no eviction action would be taken until all was considered and reviewed.

The still quiet of the morning was soon broken with cries of children and the calls of frantic mothers when at 6 15 AM hundreds of Cambodian security forces and hired demolition workers stormed the sleeping community with tear gas, riot shields, bull dozers, and diggers. Tear gas and riot shields…against what was mainly women and sleeping children?

Most of the families were unable to retrieve their belongings as they were lucky to escape unharmed. The Phnom Penh municipality has provided less than 30 of the 152 families with shelter at a designated resettlement site some 16 kilometers from the city centre. Most of the structures at the site are incomplete, and there is no clean water, no electricity, sewage or basic services. Earlier, most of the affected community rejected being resettled there because it was too far from Phnom Penh, where they work, mostly as street vendors.

This is a sad example of the injustices that happen daily in Cambodia. It is in this atmosphere that High Tower Ministries is, by the grace of God, raising the 17 children we are blessed to have in Bykota House.

Additions to High Tower Ministries

We are blessed to have the addition of a new little girl, Linda. Linda, age 3, suffers from hydrocephalus which in basic terms is water on the brain. She was abandoned as an infant in Krochet Province. The village chief asked a family without children to care for her and that was adequate until the family did have children of their own. They then couldn’t continue to care for Linda because of the expense of transporting her back and forth to Phnom Penh where she is patient at a local children’s hospital. She presently has a shunt to aid in the draining of excess fluid. The village chief knows of our ministry and sent the child into us where we have received custody and established her as a Bykota Kid.

Also…our prayers have been answered! We have been earnestly seeking the Father for additional workers for the ministry field. He has blessed us with Elaine and Nick Hayden, a retired couple from the UK. They are coming on recommendation of Moved With Compassion Ministries of Singapore which High Tower has relationship with. Nick and Elaine are coming as self-supported workers with a heart for the Bykota Kids. Please rejoice with us and welcome them as they join in the work here.

Thank You for Feedback!!!

We received much positive responses to the plan to update monthly for the year 2009. Many of our home team expressed that they were printing out the Prayer points to mount in a central location to prompt daily prayers. This is very encouraging to us to hear! Thank you so muc

February Prayer/Praise Points

~~Bykota House rent-February 1st came and with it came the rent due date. We were very blessed that we had $325 given specifically towards the rent prayer request of $3600 and we sold five little dachshund puppies. However, we were still short on the rent, and a balance of $600 is remaining. We give praise for that which is paid and lift up the remaining balance.

~~Peter-additional tests and additional opinions have been sought. We are now being told that Peter is suffering from Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. He spent three days this last month in the hospital. While he is home now, Peter is still in such pain that he cannot walk most days. Please continue to lift Peter up in prayer. We also are seeking a sponsor for Peter. Thus far, his clinic bills have totaled to more than $600 in the month of January alone.

~~Kati’s college interview went just fine! Thank you for your prayers. She did lose the phone connection but the college was very understanding and pressed through. We are now trusting that her acceptance will be forthcoming and in addition, we are praying for a room/board scholarship for Kati.

Need: As most of you know, when we moved over to Cambodia, we sold all we owned and invested that into the ministry. Kati is now returning to the States and she has need for transportation. We are seeking the donation of a vehicle for Kati’s use. If you would like to donate towards this need, please contact Rhonda by email or Judi at the church.

~~This last week, the children of Bykota House went on a field trip to the National Museum. These young Christians had their eyes opened even more to the reality of the idol worship that permeates Cambodian culture and is entwined through Cambodia’s entire history. Many of them have made comment on that fact and have expressed remorse and regret over this sin. This is a major Praise the Lord! This was not something taught by Mom or Dad…this was not preached by a Christian preacher…this was revelation from the Holy Spirit Himself. We rejoice with them as they begin to mature in Christ to become mighty warriors in His kingdom.

~~Dachshunds-we have sold six puppies and they have gone on to their new homes. One more is sold with a cash deposit given and he will be taken home around Valentine’s Day. We are still seeking homes for 2 female and 1 male short hair dachshund. Prayers appreciated!

February Birthdays

February 3rd-Chatreah, 17 years

February 15th-Peroom, 16 years

February 21st-Christopher Benz, 8 ye

Happy Valentine’s Day,

The Benz Family Serving in Cambodia

PS Another easy way to support Bykota House is by using Good Search and Good Shop. More than 900 of the top Internet retailers and travel sites including Amazon, eBay, Target, Apple, Expedia and more have joined forces with GoodShop.com to donate part of every purchase to Bykota House (more than 72,000 nonprofits are now on-board)!

It takes just a few seconds to go to http://www.goodshop.com/?charityid=897810 , select your charity, and then click through to your favorite store and shop as usual.

Also, Yahoo has teamed up with GoodShop’s sister site, GoodSearch.com, to donate a penny to your cause every time you search the web. This is totally free as the money comes from advertisers.

Searching with http://www.goodsearch.com/?charityid=897810 is so easy, and each web search benefits Bykota House! Getting started couldn’t be easier!

Just go to http://www.goodsearch.com/?charityid=897810 and be sure to enter Bykota House as the charity you want to support. And, be sure to spread the word!

To give you a sense of how the money can add up, the ASPCA has already earned more than $23,000!

GoodSearch: http://www.goodsearch.com/?charityid=897810

GoodShop: http://www.goodshop.com/?charityid=897810

 

National Museum

It was time for a field trip.  Sigh…it is so hard to find places that we can take the children for field trips.  It just isn’t the same here as it is in other countries.  Where is a good ole dairy when you need one?  Or an apple orchard?  A newspaper?

We have taken the children on a river boat ride to a silk weaving village, the Royal Palace, and we have done the zoo (or at least the closest thing we can call a zoo) TWICE.  We have enjoyed Apsara Arts for traditional Apsara dancing, gone  swimming, and enjoyed elephant rides at Wat Phnom.  But that just about exhausts our choices.  However,  I realized that we hadn’t done the National Museum yet.

I did the museum when I was here back in 2002 to adopt Seth and Chantal. My memories weren’t pleasant but maybe it would be better??? So we announced our plans and began the preparations.  We needed to arrange care for Bykota Littles and the Benz Littles.  We need additional transportation.  Who is it that gets car sick?  Anyone in danger of throwing up must go in the tuk tuk.  All those important details!

Once we get there, we find the usual disparity of fees.  Foreigners are $3 each…so that cost the four Benz family members $12…the other 16 visitors…all Khmer…were $2 total.  Good grief!  To get the most out of the museum, we paid for a guide in the Khmer language.  We are more concerned that the children understand the museum even if we do not.

We begin making our way through the museum and while it wasn’t dreadful, it was certainly not an experience that I will want to repeat.  Around almost every corner there was another idol of Buddha with offerings requested.  Money can be given, flowers or incense can be bought, prayers can be lifted… I wondered before we entered if this was going to be uncomfortable.  But with a single glance at our group, the idol attendants turned away.  It became apparent that the presence of the Lord was with us.

We kept looking for something, ANYTHING that wasn’t saturated in the idol worship of Hinduism or Buddhism.  Nothing was to be found.  Mark and I began to wonder the wisdom of coming here.  The tour actually got a little long for the kids also.  They did however, perk up when they came upon the swords.  The Bykota boys actively acted out mock decapitations and well, we didn’t stop them.  It was the most entertainment of the entire tour!

The highlight of the event was picture taking in the courtyard garden.  It was very, very pretty.  And Dad handed out money to buy fish food and they loved feeding the fish in the four ponds.

Today the children spent their morning (in total agony) as they worked on short reports of “My Field Trip to the National Museum.” The children would have enjoyed a vaccination clinic more than this painful process.

But HOT DOG…this is when we hit the jackpot!  Child after child commented either by mouth or in their essay how disturbing, how sad, how wrong it is that everything in their country is so against the ways of the Lord.  This wasn’t mentioned by us at all!  This was revelation from the Holy Spirit to the children themselves.  My heart is simply too small and inadequate to hold the JOY that floods me when I reflect on this.

These 17 children are gonna rock this world  These 17 children are going to be history makers in this land and where ever else the Lord sees fit to lead them!

What God has done here in Cambodia with High Tower Ministries is so beyond our wildest dreams or imaginations.  It is so totally by His hand and through His grace.  What an awesome God!  He reigns!

Breathing in, breathing out,

Rhonda

 

Crockpot Granola

This blog is not only about our ministry and work in the Lord’s work with orphans in Cambodia, but it is also just simply about our family and our life in Cambodia.

For this reason, I am going to share a recipe that has elevated me to the status of a “super hero” with my Littles.

Some background…breakfast here is a struggle for Mark and I because there is just so much to do in the first two hours of every day and so we hit the floor running each morning. This is proving harder and harder with each passing year as Mark (not myself, of course) gets older.

We usually have to cook something for breakfast because convenient breakfast foods are just not possible here. There are now several stores that import cereal or granola bars or toaster pastries but golly bob, we just can’t afford them. There are 9 of us here and so we are really getting small bowls if we use only one box of cereal but most of the boxes of cereal are in the $5 to 10 range.

One of the greatest things about America (in my Littles’ opinion) was the abundance of big affordable boxes of breakfast cereal! We kept the pantry stocked and breakfast was a no brainer. Easy…and affordable…

But I have found a recipe for crockpot granola. And praise be to the Lord for a crockpot that my husband purchased for me from a family returning to their home country.

Okay, enough background…now the recipe…

Bag of oatmeal from Australia…okay, this was about 6 cups and even though the recipe called for rolled oats, I had to use instant because that was all that was available to me.

a half of cup of canola oil

a half cup of brown cane sugar

1 tsp of maple flavoring

1/2 box of raisins…regular Sun Maid raisins imported from America…

then being the rebel that I am…I added a great big dollop of honey from the fridge….I think that must have been about 1/4 cup….

Put everything in your crockpot and stir with a spoon. I used my wooden spoon. Put the crockpot on low and cook for 5 hours stirring at least once every hour. BUT…prop the lid open. That is why I used the wooden spoon. I simply left the spoon in and that propped the lid open.

When done, pour into a dish or something to cool. Then store in an airtight container.

I presently have my 3rd batch in the crock pot right now. We have eaten it with milk….it takes less milk than normal cereal. And we have eaten it over yogurt as well.

Either way it has proven to be a winner here.

And for those of you that are curious, the cost to me is about $2.50. I am confident that using store brand or Aldi ingredients in the States, it would be even less expensive.

Breathing in…the yummy smell of maple and brown sugar granola,
Rhonda

 

Puppy Update

We have just listed the puppies in as many places that we can think of so far. A friend gave us a few more ideas that we need to utilize also but haven’t yet because Sunday I feel ill with dysentery. So Mark and Danielle have had to take over my workload and hasn’t left any extra time.

Yesterday however, we started getting calls on the ads we have out. Two families called to come look at the puppies. So we were excited! They are such good puppies, healthy and full of fun! We love them but knew before they arrived that they were intended for other people.

The first family that came by was anxious to pick one out and leave a deposit but won’t be able to pick “Timothy” up until Valentine’s Day.

Then last night the second family came by and vote after vote of the children, parents, and grandmother kept coming to a tie so they just bought two. LOL

Actually, two puppies are not really more work. Two puppies play together and occupy themselves and comfort each other while sleeping. So it is much nicer for the pups, but yet, they still cost twice the money. We are thankful that the Lord has blessed this family to be able to afford two and we just are so pleased that the Father blessed the pups with such an outstanding home.

Please continue to pray for 7 more wonderful puppy homes.

Breathing in, Breathing out,
Rhonda
PS prayers for my recovery would be appreciated too.

 

Of course, what’s next? A fire…

Today we had some excitement! All was nice and calm…School of the Nations was puttering along fine. The Benz kids had just had bathroom break and we on our way back up to the third floor to continue our school.

Some of the kids got to the third floor before me and you could hear there was some sort of big happening, but you couldn’t tell what. The dogs were all barking loudly too. So I am coming up the stairs but I could hear “DAD! DAD!” being called quite loudly. So Mark tore up the stairs running right past me and I had just arrived on the 3rd floor when I finally was told it was a fire and the fire extinguisher was needed.

So I run back down the three flights of stairs again and grab the extinguisher but I am moving so slowly that I call for Volet who runs to me and dashes up the three flights of stairs carrying it. (Thank you, Volet!)

Apparently, an essential oil burner had exploded while Dani was adding oil. The hot oil flew all over the room and burned in flames everywhere it landed but unfortunately, that included Danielle’s hand and arm.

Danielle threw a throw rug over the worst of the fire and smothered it and then dashed to the sink to rinse off her arm and hand. Christopher ran and got some ice to ice her down and the two things together have saved her from being burned. Actually, you can barely see it now.

We have always joked that with living in a concrete house at least we didn’t have to worry about it catching on fire. But that hasn’t proven to be the case. Fire can happen any place at any time.

We are thankful that no one was hurt.

Breathing in, Breathing out,
Rhonda

 

Cost of Food

If you are a regular friend of mine, you will have picked up on how frustrated I am with dealing constantly with the runaway inflation that is on Cambodia.  I understand that things are getting tighter and tighter in the US as well.  We do have not only our own family to feed, but we have the children’s home as well.  But for the purpose of this blog post, I will deal with just our personal family needs and not the ministry budget because that might make some friends faint.  At present in the home are Mark and I, two teenage daughters, and 5 “Littles” as we call them.  The Littles range in ages 2 years to 9.  So that is a total of 9 of us.

I believe that no matter what the worldwide economy may be doing, My God WILL supply all our needs…  So what provision has come in, HAS to be enough to supply our needs.  I have been trying to find frugal cost cutting ideas on missionary forums, websites, and other blogs on the internet.  Hopefully, someone else would have thought of something that will ease our strain here.

Today I stumbled upon a website that spoke of the cost of food in the US.  It had the most recent  numbers for the month of November 2008 and it was broken down by thrifty plan/low cost/moderate cost/and finally the Liberal plan.

Since I wasn’t being too successful in finding cost cutting ideas, and my self-imposed  internet time limit of 45 minutes was almost gone, I thought that I’d finish up by figuring the cost of our family eating in America. Of course, I figured the THRIFTY plan numbers.

OMIGOSH!!!!  I had to do it two times!  On the thrifty plan, our 9 family members would be estimated to spend around $1670 for the month of November.  But then I saw that for a family of 7 or more you subtract 10%.  Still OMIGOSH!  That is a whopping $1500!

Even if my 45 minutes didn’t yield me any good ideas of cutting our expenses, it did finish up by showing me that even with our large budget each month, we should give thanks because it could be much higher.

Breathing in, Breathing out,

Rhonda

PS  if you would like to have a “shock” yourself, the website is

http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/FoodPlans/2008/CostofFoodNov08.pdf

 

Dachshund Project…the proof is in the…puppies!

We are about to find out if our idea was a good one or not!

While in the States this summer, we invested in some dachshunds to bring over to Cambodia with us when we returned.  Our thinking was this:

1.  Dogs are very poor in health in Cambodia (just like the humans) and so ex pats, business families, missionaries, or even Cambodian families are not able to find healthy dogs to buy except there are pure bred German Shepherd’s, Labs, and Golden Retrievers.  The people breeding those dogs are able to sell them and add to their income with each litter.

2.  Crime is on the increase and apartment dwellers don’t have the room for those bigger dogs, so we feel there might be a market for small, healthy alert/security dogs.

3.  If all else failed, we still have dogs that our own family enjoys.

Well, we will be the first one to admit that we didn’t think this thing through as well as we should have.  Both of our females came into season at the same time.  I thought that our male dog was going to die.  He wouldn’t eat…he wouldn’t rest…he had only one thing on his mind!  We didn’t even want our short hair dachshund to be bred in her first season, but we underestimated our male’s determination!

So both came into season at the same time, and both were bred.  That also meant that we had two grumpy, cranky females at the same time.  We even had some rip roaring fights!  Mark solved most fights by CAREFULLY picking up the snarling females and putting them both into the fish pond.  chuckle chuckle

We studied and prepared as much as we could.  We have never had a litter born like this and so it was all new territory.  We read in our Dachshund handbook that the average litter was 4 and then on the internet it suggested that it was quite common for one pup to be stillborn or to lose one.  Mark also had to go to the metal shop and have whelping boxes/kennels specially made.  Nothing like that is available for sale here.

On November 29th, Windy Day, our short hair dachshund gave birth to five healthy, chubby puppies.  All of them were perfect and precious!

Then on December 5th, Dubby Day, the long hair dachshund, was not to be shown up and so produced an identical litter of five perfect pups!

So we found ourselves with 10 puppies…when we were thinking that we might have 5 or 6 total.

Trouble increased when Windy contracted Tick Fever.  Medicine was available for her but it made her milk toxic and the pups had to be weaned immediately.  We found ourselves hand-feeding five little bitty pups.  It was fun for only the first feeding!  Windy wasn’t in the whelping box to keep it clean so we were doing all the duties of momma dog.

Windy then had further trouble when she developed mastitis and an open abscess on one of her milk glands.  We almost lost her.  Are we having fun yet???

Trouble increased again when Dubby Day developed a bladder infection and now her pups had to be weaned.

Today we took our pups for their first shots and for deworming.  Both litters are weaned off their mommas and so we figure that a new owner can take care of them as well as we can.  So we have put up our first flyer at the vet’s office with cute, cute dachshund pups for sale.

Please pray with us for 10 good homes for these pups!  Proceeds from the Dachshund Project will be used to support the ministry.  Coincidentally the annual rent on the Bykota House dorm is due on February 1st.  God is able to bring the needed rent to us in any way He chooses, but 10 happy homes with a new puppy is one of those ways.

Breathing in, Breathing out,

Rhonda

 

Happy New Year

Happy 2009 to everyone!!! 

The New Year is in full swing now and most people are still getting  their New Year resolutions off the ground and here in Cambodia, it is no different.

One resolution of High Tower/Bykota House is that we are going to try to make contact via an update the first week of EACH month rather than our quarterly newsletters.  Hopefully these shorter but more frequent updates will help our friends and family feel more connected to the ministry and happenings on our side of the globe.

True J-O-Y
For the last two years our theme at Bykota House has been learning “What is the name of our house?”  BYKOTA—  Be Ye Kind One To Another.  It has been an important foundation for the Bykota Kids to learn.  Having gone through very hard times before arriving in our home, most of the children behaved in many ways that were certainly not kind to one another.  We have been learning how to walk in love and live in harmony with one another….how to deal with conflicts in love…how to go through good times and hard times in a more Christ-like manner.  We certainly haven’t always been perfect but we have pressed on and the Lord has blessed us to see great improvement.

We have announced a new theme for the  year 2009…”Finding True Joy.”
We will find true J-O-Y by putting
J-esus first,
O-thers second, and
Y-ourself last. 
Please pray that the Lord will bless our home as we learn new lessons and allow the Holy Spirit to change us.

New Additions/Subtractions to Bykota House
We have recently added two siblings, Gina age 2 1/2 and Gene age 5 to Bykota House.   Gina and Gene are the grandchildren of the night guards for High Tower Ministries Center.  The father of the children has abandoned the mother after she was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident.  The mother continues to have residual effects of the accident but the grandparents are not able to support and provide full time care for two healthy and rambunctious children. The family is very grateful to continue to have some contact and relationship with the children and the adjustment has gone very smoothly. 

The year 2008 saw Dany returning back to province to live again with her abusive mother and Bopha and Chompa leaving to live with an “aunt and uncle.”  After these three girls had lived for so many years without any structure or parameters in their lives they apparently found life in our home too restricted. They made the decision to leave Bykota House and our protection to return to their previous lives of abuse and neglect.  This has been very distressing to us but Bykota House is not now, and we hope never will be, a locked facility.  We cannot keep children from leaving if they are set to do so…so with great sadness, we have watched them leave.   We pray that the seeds that have been planted over these last years will not return void and will one day produce a harvest in their lives.

NEEDED:  Prayer Partners!
One strong motivation for the new monthly updates is the increased level of spiritual pressure we are feeling.  We so earnestly desire your prayers for protection, provision, and blessing upon the ministry.  So we intend to include montly prayer points and in faith we will also be including praise reports in later updates!  We also would like to post the birthdates that we are celebrating in the both Bykota House and Benz family and allow each child to have prayer focused on them individually throughout the year.

January Prayer Points

• February first is the due date for the annual rent of Bykota House…this totals $3600.  Each year at this time in January, we have wondered where will that be coming from??  Each year, the Lord has provided.  Our giving flucuates at such a level and with the increased costs of running Bykota House, we have not been successful in setting aside funds towards the rent this year. 

• Peter…the good news is that finally we have what we believe is an accurate diagnosis for this child who has been so sick.  The bad news is that the diagnosis is Rhuematic Fever.  Peter is suffering a great deal of pain.  Again today he was not able to attend school because he was unable to walk.  He is facing very long term antibiotic treatment.  We pray that our medical guidance is accurate and the care and medications provided for Peter are effective and that he will again walk in health.

 

 

• Visoth (Bykota House) and Seth Benz both have had their viral counts recently.  The drug therapy for their Hepatitis B is showing some effect but the counts are still high.  We are grateful for the improvement in their health but we pray for complete death to the virus that is present in their blood and for total healing.

• We are coming down to the last details of Kathleen’s college admissions process.  This Friday, 8 AM, Central time, Kati has an internet- phone interview.  After this only the online FAFSA remains to be done and Mark is wading through that already.  Please agree with us that the phone connection will be strong and clear and that the final details of her return to the States will be worked through without any glitches.

• The dachshund project has successfully brought alot of fun, excitement, and learning to our home.  We now have TEN dachshund pups that are almost ready for sale.  Ten good homes needed, Lord!!!
 

 

 

January birthdays…

 

 

 

Chatreah and Chantal

January 3rd, Chantal Benz–8 yrs
 

Bykota House Birthdays: None this month

 

With lots of love,
The Benz family
Serving in Cambodia

 

“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas”….even here in Cambodia!

Editor’s Note: Here is the Benz family Christmas newsletter, just a little belated!

Christmas Greetings!

In the midst of the heat, things are shaping up for the holidays here at the High Tower Ministries Center and Bykota House. Trees are up and decorated, secret trips to market are being taken, and the scent of cookies has lingered in the air more than once.

For the children of Bykota House, this is their third Christmas season but they are pros at it already. They have been enjoying Christmas carols and rehearing the Christmas story as well as some new activities. This year is the second Christmas since we began our own private Christian school, School of the Nations. The children have been engaged in a competitive contest of decorating their school study areas. The winner of the most creative “office” will win a prize of One US Dollar! Scissors have been snipping and whispers have been buzzing as groves of trees have been cut out and a surprising number of snowflakes have been designed (comical since none of the children have ever seen snow.)

The time since our return from the States in late August has been very difficult, full of many trials and dark valleys for such a short amount of time. We feel that we have been under major satanic attack against the ministry here of extending a Father’s heart to the orphans of Cambodia, particularly to the children that God has directed into Bykota House. We earnestly seek your prayers for God’s protection and favor to be upon us.

As we turn from the numerous fronts of trial in our lives to focus on the celebration of our Savior’s birth, we see all the blessings that He has brought into our lives including all our friends and family, near and far. It is our prayer that God’s mercy and grace will surround you in this season and follow you throughout the coming new year.

In the grip of His grace,
Mark and Rhonda Benz and family

Click Here to enjoy additional photos taken on the day we gathered everyone for this Christmas photo.

Visit our Web Site http://www.hightowerministries.net/