We are Official

Wow, where has the time gone. The last 4 days have gone by as a blur of activity and I did not find a minute for a blog update. I wanted to start out by saying that it is official now. Ray and Sue are moving on to a new season in their lives and have decided to step away from Beautiful Gate as directors and begin a new ministry in Cape Town, South Africa (about 14 hours from Maseru). They have dedicated the last 10 years to making Beautiful Gate the best and most excellent Care Center in Lesotho and they are now entrusting Bryan and I to take over the leadership and care of Beautiful Gate. On Thursday, we had a beautiful retirement party of Ray and Sue and shared a nice dinner with them along with family, friends, and staff. It was a night to honor them for their hard work and perseverance to make Beautiful Gate what it is today.

Friday, we had an open house where over 300 guests were invited to celebrate Beautiful Gate's 10th anniversary. There was singing, dancing, horses, a bouncy house for the BG kids, speeches, and the handing over of leadership. Ray gave Bryan his staff and Basotho blanket as a symbol of this change in leadership and declared Bryan as the new director of Beautiful Gate. Sue handed me a lovely basket of flowers and encouraged me to care for the kids and staff and teased me to maybe even consider adopting a few BG kids into my immediate family like she had. It was very meaningful and a little emotional. I felt a great sense of pride in Bryan as he stood up on the stage ready to take on the next step in Beautiful Gate's future.

One of the most meaningful moments for me was when our new pastor spoke a word over Bryan and I. He reminded us that Jesus was 30 when He began His public ministry, Solomon was 30 when he became king, and Joseph was 30 when he became Pharaoh's right hand man. It was so encouraging and reassuring to me that just because we may appear to be young to be directors of an orphanage, God has chosen us for this ministry. He called us here as we have been hearing over and over for "such a time as this." Please pray for us that we can be bold, true and faithful like Jesus, compassionate and generous like Joseph and wise like Solomon as we walk in faith as the new directors of Beautiful Gate Lesotho.