Winter Struggles

Winter is setting in around Lesotho and unfortunately BG's social worker was right. She warned us that our numbers would increase when the weather turned colder. We have had several new babies added each week. Last week Bryan posted about the one day old and the one week old babies who were found. Yesterday we got a 3 month old baby. The mother died and the baby's father is unknown. The grandmother was unable to care for the baby so she gave the child to Beautiful Gate. We were surprised by how small he was for being 3 months and we have some volunteers here this week from Cape Town who have been giving him some extra attention for the past 2 days. Then we got a 5 month old baby this afternoon. His mother was shot last night and the police found him and brought him to the hospital and then to BG. He looks well cared for and it is so sad that he had a mother who was caring for him but then she was abruptly taken away. We are at 55 kids now and there were only 42 when we arrived.

The staff at Beautiful Gate could really use your prayers. There have been so many deaths of their loved ones this week. One house mother's brother died, a house helper had her baby prematurely and the baby died, another house staff's sister had twins who passed away, and one of our staff members became sick months ago and has been gone trying to recover, but last night she passed away. It is a time of sorrow and mourning for many staff here and they could use the extra prayer support. Many times, they just accept these deaths with a look of hardness because they are so used to death. But under that hard look, I wonder how their hearts really feel. To lose siblings, nieces, nephews, friends, and children must be heartbreaking and it must hurt even if it does happen more frequently than I can fathom.

Winter here is hard on the Basotho people. There is less food in their gardens, not enough coal or fuel for the fires and sickness abounds. Many cannot care for their own needs so the needs of their children will go unmet. They will go hungry or be abandoned so the parents won't have to see them suffer. Tough choices...what will they do, how will they make it when there is no money and no jobs. Then they may be weak with lack of food and resources and sickness will invade and bring even more devastation to families. We are only in the first month of winter and I am a bit anxious to see what the next month and a half will be like, but please pray with me for the children who are out in the fields waiting to be found, for the staff who are mourning the losses of family and friends, and for the the Basotho people who are suffering with lack of food and work and also who are struggling with sicknesses.
Thank you for your prayers,
Anita