Six years ago a Canadian Missionary brought a young girl named Joy, who had been abandoned, to Palm Haven Orphanage. They were not sure about her age, but guessed that she was about three years old. It is believed that she had been severely abused before coming to Palm Haven.
Because of the abuse Joy suffered, she is developmentally delayed. She is now supposedly nine years old, possibly a little older, but is very behind intellectually and socially. She is unable to read, write, or recognize numbers. She doesn’t know how to interact with other people and shows little to no emotion.
At the beginning of the summer the Nehemiah Nanny Team arrived at Palm Haven to help the staff and to give some one on one attention to the children. Stephanie was assigned to Joy.
Since Stephanie’s arrival, Joy has learned to recognize letters “A”-“J” as well as put them in order. She now is much more expressive and shows more emotion. At times it is negative emotion, but it is progress that she is showing any at all.
One of Joy’s strengths is her sense of responsibility. She is very maternal towards the other children. Pray that God would continue to use Stephanie as a positive influence in Joy’s life. Even though Joy has been through a lot, our God is big and there is nothing too hard for Him!