Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord!
Brother John was released from the hospital on January 28th! He will still have to go through many more therapies, but we are thanking God that He was able to come home from the hospital.

We thank you for your continued prayers and support durring this time.

Peace to you,

Paula Rollo

Prayer for Bishop

Dear Family & Friends

This is the kind of letter that no one wants to write, and yet it must be written.

Many of you have heard me talk about Brother John Durrah (Bishop) the man that started the ministry I work with in the Philippines. Bishop and I got very close in the 3 years that I have been working with him in the Philippines and here in the States. We got to know one another’s hearts and he has taught me so much. He is truly a gift from God to me and to countless others.

This past Sunday Bishop suffered a stroke, was taken to the ER, and then was admitted into the hospital. He found difficulty speaking and couldn’t form sentences, but only single words. Those of you who know Bishop, though, will be blessed to know that his sense of humor was not lost, as he still found the strength to silently tease the nurses as they gave him his shots.
Thursday of this last week he was allowed to go home but by Thursday night he was back in the hospital because he was having seizures. He is still in the hospital at this time.

So first of all, I am asking for prayer for Bishop John.

The next thing that I would like to share with you is about the ministry in the Philippines.

For the past 11 years Bishop has been raising money for the Philippines keeping the budget updated so that the ministering done by the Filipino staff there can continue without any monetary worry. The budget that he raises each month goes toward feeding 100 students 1 meal 5 days a week, feeding the 22 people who live on our property (including 5 orphans) 3 meals a day all week, providing for all the needs of the orphans (clothing, toiletries etc.), and to pay the ministry staff their ‘love gift’ salaries. We have a dedicated staff of 22 people that I have had the priviledge to get to know personally. These people work so hard for the Lord, helping the Filipino children each day. Their life is in service to the Lord, and their love gifts from the ministry are what they use to feed their own families. For all of these things Bishop has faithfully raised the money, every month, for the past 11 years.

At this time, Bishop is obviously not able to travel or raise support as he normally would. There are several people stepping up to help pick up where he was ministering and continue in the work of fundraising for this ministry by which he has poured out his life to the Lord.

We ask that you consider joining us in the Lord as we work to support Bishop and this ministry, be it through prayers or through financial support; any way that the Lord would lead you to help. Both are essential to this ministry, and a great help to Bishop Durrah.

With love, prayers, and much thanks,

Paula Rollo
Miracle Ministries
Secretary

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to email me at
flowerinro@yahoo.com
or call
832-282-9181

Please send financial support to
Miracle Ministries
Po Box 16173
Greenville, SC 29606
(Make checks payable to “Miracle Ministries”)

Any letters or cards of encouragement to Bishop Durrah and or his family would be gratefully received at the same address.

the story of two girls

I want to tell you the story of two filippino girls. These children grew up in a less than stable environment. Her mother had what her young mind innocently refers to as a “night job”. . . “she
goes to work at night and sometime in the morning she returns”. She can tell you stories that
would make any one weep, but she doesn’t even see that there is anything strange. She will tell
you about nights when her parents were still married, how her father threatened to kill her mother
with a knife until her older brother jumped between them and ended up getting cut with the knife, then
the police came. She could tell you these things as an American child would tell about going
grocery shopping as a family or having a picnic. This is just normal life as she knows it. After
her parents seperate, her mother ends up in prison. She and her younger sister live with their
father, until he remarries and their step mother refuses to have anything to do with her or her
siblings. She and her younger sister move into a small home with their 16 year old brother. None
of them has a steady job as she and her sister are both below the age of 10. The two girls go daily
to the city to beg and collect trash to sell. This is how they make a little bit of money every
day to but a little bit of food with. Some nights when they go home their brother will beat them,
take the money and buy drugs. While he and his friends sit in the front room of the house smoking
their drugs, the two girls are locked in the back room. . .  “the drugs smell bad” she’ll tell you.

This is life as these two precious girls know it. They know no rules, no one teaches them right
from wrong. some nights they stay out late, no one calls them home. some days they don’t even
wash their clothing or bathe. No one teaches them to clean house and they soon have rats and snakes
also living with them.  when they get hurt
they know to wrap the wound, but no one tells them to use a clean bandage instead of an old dirty
rag.

One day they hear about Miracle Ministries and begin attending Kids Klubs. When Miracle Ministries
Education Center starts they both begin attending school for free, but other than that, nothing
much changes for these two girls. They are fed at school and kids klub, but they go home and have
no promise of dinner unless they beg food off of their poor relatives. Some days they skip school
to beg or play, no one stops them and they are too young to know better. Other times they
are absent for days or even a week because they get sick from their poor living conditions.
One day they came to VBS, not knowing that their whole lives would soon be changed. Bishop John
calls them to the side to talk to them. They are very nervous because they don’t know very much
English, but he is speaking kindly and their teacher translates for them. He is offering them
a chance to live in the Home for the Children at Miracle Ministries. They can’t understand quite
what that means, but it sounds like a happy place. The girls agree, so does their father.
They move into the Home for the Children in Aug. 2006. They have a hard time adjusting at first.
There are so many rules, and they aren’t supposed to fight. These two very young girls don’t even
understand that concept. Several times a day their house mother is breaking up fights and trying
to help them get along. They are learning about God and they hear a Biblestory, pray and also
sing a worship song every night before bed. Every morning they wake up and fight again. they
can’t understand what is wrong with hitting each other or shouting. Slowly they begin to understand
but still there are days when their hard headedness and old ways get the best of the situation.

These girls go from barely passing grades to doing very well and getting great grades. they go from
knowing no english, to being semi-fluent. They go from knowing OF God, to knowing God.

I took care of these two girls for 8 months. Their first 8 months here in the Home. They were
to special children that immediately would steal you heart…and then they would break it. to merely
say that they fought daily, this is a severe understatement. I remember when I first met them, their
“games” were wrestling and hitting one another. When I told them not to do that and to find a better
game to play, they sat on the bed and stared at the wall, and eventually started cleaning the
house, because they didn’t know of another game! They grew up raising themselves on the streets,
and it was very obvious. The younger girl would cry if any one teased her ever so slightly. She also
wet the bed every night. Neither of them have any manners or markings of civilzed children.

And tonight, almost two years since these two girls have been in the Home for the Children, I
just watched the oldest girl, at the age of 12 lead praise and worship for a group of about 20
other youth. She did this in a professional girl manner. She has blossomed into a young lady
that knows right from wrong and wants to do right. She has many friends in the church and
loves to sing a praise God. The younger of the two is in love with her Jesus. She also enjoys
singing but has a real talent for dance! This very evening I watched her humbly help a group of
youth girl much older than herself teaching them the steps to the tamborine dance. She befriends
all the children. If you ask her who her best friend is she will give you a list of the little
girls that attend school and church. They love life and are very happy.

I want to personally thank you for your support for these two girls and many other like them.

Watching these two girls change so much over the past two years has truly been a priveledge.
I don’t think I can give justice to the change that has taken place in them. but most people
wouldn’t recognize them as the same children. They aren’t the same, they have been changed by
the awesome power of the Spirit of God. They both know that the answer to everything is through
prayer and wisdom is in the Word of God. If you are sick they will pray for you, you don’t even
have to ask. If they are scared the first thing they do is pray and rebuke evil spirits in Jesus’
name. They know that is the source of Power and strength. Two years ago it would have taken a special
kind of person to love these two girls and accept them, now they are two amazing children
being used by God to show His love to others.

I can’t thank you enough for your support to these kids and to the others like them. Their story is
not yet complete. They are yet to even be 13 years old and yet God has done so much in their lives, and
they give Him the glory for it.
 We don’t know what is the rest of the story
for these two girls. I know it is going to be something great. I know they are going to be
mightily used by God and affect a huge portion of the world. I know they can, they are ready, they
are strong and they are learning about God and studying school.
The world told them they were nothing but street rats, but God had a different plan, He reached into
the depths of Amsic dump and sewer to pull out these two sweet girls…I can’t wait to see
what He has in store for them as they grow older here and continue to learn about Him.

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