Kassius

Mrs Hepi's nephew, Kassius came to visit us on Tuesday (20th).  Kassius has a syndrome called PKS and is one of only two children with this condition in New Zealand.  Kassius can't sit up, talk, walk, eat or hear very well.  But he can paint!  So, because he is well at the moment, he came to paint for us.  Kassius' paintings often, if you looking carefully, contain very clear images.  So far these images have only happened when he has painted for his family.  We are going to look very closely at the paintings he did for us to see if he did anything for us.

We learned a lot about Kassius from his mum, Julie.  She showed us his wheelchair, which he doesn't really like, which also carries his oxygen bottle - he needs oxygen all the time.  He got quite tired from sitting up to paint and started to fall asleep, something he does a lot of during the day - he is awake all night, just about every night!  Julie put him on the floor and he suddenly woke up and started looking at us and making sounds that are his 'talking'.

We have been learning in RE that we are all temples of the Holy Spirit and that we are all made in God's image.  Meeting Kassius made us understand that everyone is special in God's eye.  It certainly made us feel blessed for all the gifts each of us has been given, but also we know that Kassius is blessed as well with his fantastic and amazing family.  Like his mum said, "We are all better people for having Kassius in our lives."

We are hoping that Kassius can come back again to visit but as he get sick really easily, that may have to be next summer.  We are praying for him and asking God to keep him safe and away from any nasty bugs.