Childrens Ministry Christian Pirate Theme

'Illegal' toddlers pack Tel Aviv's pirate nurseries

TEL AVIV — Blessing Okpara normally looks after 11 children in her cramped two-bedroom Tel Aviv apartment, but even with just five toddlers charging around the place looks fit to burst.

In this small, worn home Okpara runs a "pirate" nursery, one of dozens in Tel Aviv offering cut-price daycare to illegal immigrants.

Okpara herself entered Israel illegally, crossing the Egyptian border two years ago while pregnant, hoping for a better future for her child.

Now the 36-year-old charges fellow illegal migrants $115 (400 shekels) a month to leave their children with her daily in a dirt-poor southern Tel Aviv neighbourhood.

Okpara pays no taxes, is not supervised by the municipality, and she and her charges are at constant risk of deportation.

Some 100,000 of Israel's 220,000 foreign workers are in the country without permits. They and their children are considered illegal immigrants.

Last year, Israel's Interior Ministry said it would offer permanent residence permits to the children of illegal immigrants -- if the children had lived in Israel for more than five years and spoke Hebrew.

The decision meant 800 children would be allowed to remain in Israel, while the remainder who did not meet the criteria faced deportation in a process which began earlier this year.

Among those earmarked for expulsion are 120 children at Bialik-Rogozin school, a free public school for children of foreign workers, which was the subject of a film that won this year's Oscar for short documentary.

For Okpara, the daycare is a welcome source of income, even though it raises barely enough to pay her bills, let alone repaint the scuffed, mouldy walls.

Wearing trousers and a yellow T-shirt, she lowers the toddlers into two high chairs with split seats at lunchtime. The children taking turns to sit and eat pasta while watching Israeli cartoons on television.

Precious, a 15-month-old dressed in an oversized Spiderman jacket stares at another toddler whose nose drips as he rides a tricycle around the small apartment.

"This is a small place, and what I can provide is what I can afford," Okpara says while pulling one of her charges away from an open window.

The local municipality and non-governmental organisations say pirate creches like Okpara's can be improved.

Mesila, a group that seeks to help foreign workers in Israel, offers them training and money to renovate and equip their businesses.

The Athanasian Truth: It takes a Church to Raise a Child

When a child is baptized, he or she become washed with the blood of Christ from the cross which He shed for all so we can be new in Christ mercy.  At this time we as members of the church take an to oath to help the family raise the children up in the true faith.  While raising children is primarily the responsibility of the parents, it is not exclusively so.  After all, God charged the entire nation of Israel to teach the children. (Deut. 6). Second, speak to the children, not just to their parents. Ask them about their schools, sports, or hobbies. All of these things that we consider "small talk" are ways to enter their world and express love and concern. Through this small talk, relation-ships of trust develop that can be vital as that child grows older and need other people to talk to besides just mom and dad. Third, older adults can have a profound impact on the children in the church family by befriending parents of young children. Many of our young parents did not grow up in christian homes. They have no models for what it means to disciple their children's or to parent in a godly way. Other young parents are often far away from family  Many of these long for mentors who will come alongside them, not merely as dispensers of wisdom, but as encouragers and friends. These parents need someone to remind them that, even when they fail, God is still at work caring for their children. This is particularly important for single parents or for those who have a spouse who is not a Christian. Parenting is not something a person can do alone, Yet in our fallen world, many are forced to do so. the church can mitigate the effects of broken families by befriending both the parents and children in single-parent homes. By taking a single mom to lunch, watching her kids while she gets a night out,  or even going to the childrens's soccer game to cheer them on, church members can have a profound impact on the children from single-parent homes. Finally, church members can pray for the children. Our children are part of a great spiritual battle, in that constant battler to remind our we are in a constant state of needing forgiveness for their sin. Just like all of us we constantly need to reminded to look toward Christ and what he did on the Cross. We will not win this battle through better programs or batter parenting techniques.

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