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How did the ducks get out of the water?


From COBNews@aol.com
Date Thu, 29 Sep 2005 12:54:14 EDT

Date: Sept. 29, 2005
Contact: Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
V: 847/742-5100 F: 847/742-6103
E-MAIL: _CoBNews@AOL.Com_ (mailto:CoBNews@AOL.Com)


CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN NEWSLINE
Sept. 29, 2005

`How did the ducks get out of the water?': Stories from Disaster Child Care

Sept. 29, 2005 (Elgin, IL) -- Disaster Child Care volunteer Patty Henry,
who served in Denver, Colo., caring for children evacuated from Hurricane
Katrina, shared the following stories from her daily journal. Disaster Child
Care
is a ministry of the Church of the Brethren.

"I rock a four year old and sing to her. She listens to `Five Green and
Speckled Frogs.' Then I sing `Five Little Ducks.' She interrupts, `How did
the
ducks get out of the water?' I explain that ducks can swim out, or use their

wings to fly out of the water. I begin again to sing `Five Little Ducks.'
Again
she asks, `How did the ducks get out of the water?' and it dawns on me.... I
ask her, `Were you in the water?'

"She tells me her story: `I fell off the roof in the water! Mommy catched
me.' I asked how her baby brother got off the roof. `Mommy catched him too.
Then
we got in a boat and they took us to a basketball game.' I wonder if this is

the Astro Dome? But we only wonder, we don't ask. We're not here to
interrogate.

"We have a new family here today. A nine-year-old boy's pants keep falling
down. I tell him `You're sagging!' He replies, `Well... my belt is
DROWNING!'

"A child from Louisiana is having a difficult time. Age nine, she frequently

sits in a corner with her thumb in her mouth. She fights with her siblings
and has frequent melt downs, crying. We hold and rock her, sit beside her,
and
take walks with her. She is very, very angry, and after three days we are
still concerned about her ability to cope safely with all of this."

The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to
continuing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its
faith in
community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith
traditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrates its
300th
anniversary in 2008. It counts about 130,000 members across the United
States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Brazil, the
Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Nigeria.

# # #

For more information contact:

Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
Director of News Services
Church of the Brethren General Board
1451 Dundee Ave.
Elgin, IL 60120
847-742-5100 ext. 260
_cbrumbaugh-cayford_gb@brethren.org_
(mailto:cbrumbaugh-cayford_gb@brethren.org)

*****************************************************************
The Church of the Brethren Newsline is produced by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford,

director of news services for the Church of the Brethren General Board.
Newsline stories may be reprinted provided that Newsline is cited as the
source.
To receive Newsline by e-mail, write _cobnews@aol.com_
(mailto:cobnews@aol.com) or call 800-323-8039 ext. 260.


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