Well, we have been here for 16 days (including today) and our family has been blessed to see 4 kids leave into loving homes. We will be witnessing our third official farewell adoption send off today. And one other family was found and came to pick up their child. I was blessed by being able to help with the farewell ceremony on Monday, as Ray was not able to make it to Beautiful Gate that day. So, I filled in for Ray. There is nothing like "trial by fire". I hope that I did a good job filling in for Ray. Today, I will have the same opportunity as Ray is taking a well deserved Christmas break.
We have also not had any new kids dropped off at Beautiful Gate, which is a blessing! But, I am afraid that January will be a crazy month. Most of Lesotho shuts down from mid December to January for Christmas break. So, I think that the department of Social Welfare is probably at a skeleton crew and will all be back after the new year. But, we will be prepared and love any child that comes through our gates.
We also have had the pleasure of meeting other missionaries here in Africa. Jim and Josephine Zylstra have joined us at Beautiful Gate for the week to tour Lesotho. For those of you at Haven CRC, you will recall that Haven sponsors them through CRWRC as well in their work in Uganda. What a small world! It has been great to see some familiar faces and also be able to show them around Maseru yesterday.
Last Friday, Anita and I were able to witness a new family meeting their child for the very first time. There were many tears of joy and it was such a blessing to see! The only way that I could explain it was when each of my children were born. The very first time that you get to hold your child and nothing else in the world even matters or even exists. That was what they were like. The rest of the room ceased to exist. We could only watch in amazement! I don't think they took their eyes off their new son for the rest of the day! Today is the farewell ceremony for that family. Please pray that their new family will adjust well and that the Lord will fill their lives with love and peace!
We have also been able to locate our home schooling supplies. We have to do one or two more steps yet, but hope to have the supplies by January. This has been an answer to prayer, and now that we know the steps, should make future purchases much easier. Please pray that we receive the supplies soon. They kids are doing well, but having a structured school day could be very helpful. Plus, they have had a long enough Christmas vacation (Nov 20 - Dec 31). We have been working on some reading with the kids and Elijah does have a math book along. But, having all the supplies will make Anita's job much easier.
Please pray that our house in Zeeland will rent soon. It is a tough time to rent as Christmas is a time that no one wants to move. But, we know that God will provide. If you know of anyone, please send them to Corey at Cornerstone Real Estate Management.
Also, please pray for our banking situation. We are having issues trying to transfer funds, but hope to have that resolved in the next week.
Thanks again for all your love, prayers and support. We miss you all!
Bryan
Small World indeed. Jim & Josephine are supported by Oakdale. His dad (martin Zylstra) is a long-time member. Pastor Bill & Lyn will be in Uganda later this month at their invitation to do some pastor-to-pastor training. Blessings and encouragement to you!
ReplyDeleteSammy
Hi Brian and Anita,
ReplyDeleteWe were just reading through your blog for the first time and came across the post for Dec 22. We were your first farewell ceremony, your "trial by fire" as you say. You did more than a good job of it, you managed to make it a very special occasion and the memory of that day will remain with us forever.
Thank you for your special words that day.
Christopher, Ann-Marie and Miles Tlotliso.