Bible study with the boys

I know I already wrote a post this morning, but I want to write another. I attended a Bible study with the Shelter boys, and it was a lot of fun. Ate Gemima led it, though this one was her last Bible study. She's been leading them for many years, but she is stepping down so a young man, who wants to be a pastor, can take over. Ate Gemima is going to her home in Korea tomorrow, so I may not see her again. Well, the Bible study was really good because I got to know all 12 of the boys. They youngest is eleven and the oldest is twenty-one. They have all been in the Shelter for some time now, so the ages are higher than they use to be. Many of them entered the Shelter at age five. They each stood up, introduced their names, told me how old they are, what grade they are in, what are their hobbies, and ended by saying they were very happy to have me in the Philippines. They were all so very nervous! Ate Gemima explained a little bit of their backgrounds after they introduced themselves. Four of them don't know their birthdays. One boy's mother died after giving birth on the street, and her child died after it fell down the stairs. His father was drunk and ran away after that. One boy witnessed his step-father molesting his step-sister. One boy only ate one meal a day before he left for the streets. They are such sad stories, but the boys are very blessed to be where they are now. All 12 of them are Christians, praise God. They all go to school, though now they are on summer vacation until next week. After the introductions, we had a Bible reading in which the oldest read the verses for the day. I was able to close the meeting with prayer before our snack. I brought some Butterfingers from America and shared with them. We watched some TV while we ate. One boy who is seventeen, brought me his Bible and shared his favorite verses with him. We looked them up and I read them in English. I shared some verses with him as well. Then he taught me Tagalog, which I am so bad at. I need to buy a dictionary, so the words will stick in my head. He really wants to know English, and he said he was grateful to practice what he knows with me. We took a group picture, but since I can't use my laptop at the moment, I will have to upload that picture later.