Jeremias - House 3
Jeremias came to us with one younger brother and one younger sister and an older brother and sister. They came out of the half way house in our city where they had been for the last 1 and a half years. Both parents suffer mental derangement and do not take adequate measures to take care of the children. The home that Jeremias and his siblings came from is a hovel. The social workers commented that not even a rat would stay there. Human dung and food were everywhere (inside the shack). The father got the idea that he was a pastor and after reading the passage that Jesus’ followers would leave everything, including their family, he abandoned them to live on the streets where he walked all day long preaching to no one in particular. At night he would steal bricks from construction sites to “build” his own church.
The mother lost her wits and was institutionalized with mental problems. From time to time she was back with the kids but was so desperate that she threatened the neighbors with a knife so as to get food from them for her children. At the present she is so deranged that she can no longer take care of the children.
In spite off all this, Jeremias is well behaved and always playing with the others. He suffers though from convulsions and needs to take medicine daily. The medicine that he is taking is Guardanol. He shows no sign of having been traumatized by this past. He seems happy and very relieved that he is with Chain of Love. The house parents, José and Alzira are doing a wonderful job in getting his confidence. The other siblings are with them as well.
He is even natured and is quite talkative. Jeremias is 12 years old althought he appears younger. He is small and immarture for his age. He has difficulties learning and is only in the 2nd grade. He loves to play outside, wrestle and do flips.
Update: Jeremias is now wearing glasses. He will need to go to a specialized school. His epileptic condition has affected his learning capability.
January 2007 Update: Jeremias is 14 and in 3rd grade. He has made a commitment to Christ but is not baptized yet. Some days he says he is going to be a preacher, other days he says that he is going to be a boxer! His doctor is slowly weaning him off his convulsion medication. He always tries his best at everything and can really dedicate himself. This year he has done much better in school. Jeremias has a lot of learning difficulty, but works very hard at his homework. He is responsible and always prays that God would help him learn because he wants to study and be somebody someday. At COL he takes the leather-working course where he is learning how to make belts. In the community he takes gymnastics, and drawing (which he has taken two years already). He shows repentance when he is corrected.
Main Prayer Request: That God would help him understand and learn in school.
2008 Update: Jeremias is fifteen years old and is in grade three at school. His work at home is to hang the clothes on the line. In his spare time he loves to play and do gymnastics. Jeremias is more serious in nature but has his happy times too. He attends the adolescent group at church, prays and reads his Bible a great deal. He is saved but not yet baptized. He always says that he wants to be a pastor. Pray that the Lord would give him wisdom for his life.
2009 Update: Jeremias tries very hard to succeed in school and is progressing slowly. Math is especially difficult for him. Any kind of change is a challenge for Jeremias. Please pray for him as he faces the changes that inevitably come in life because at times he can become quite emotionally unstable.
Birthday: September 11, 1992
Photo: Jul 2010
Sister: Maria Do Carmo
Brothers: Abraao, Arnoldo