Faith - "They started out with seven children and then it became 13. The first house looked sort of like a regular house but a little longer. I did not get to go inside. There were 2 rooms in the house. Once they had 13 kids they moved to the second house. It was a 2 story house and it could hold 21 kids."
We also took the kids to the cemetery where their children were buried before they moved to the Thatsane area. It was across from the real cemetery and is known as the paupers cemetery because it is the place where you can bury your loved ones if you have no money for a burial plot. Looking at it when we arrived, I never would have known it was a cemetery as there was a big hill and it had a lot of rocks on it. Had I not been told it was a cemetery, I never would have realized all those little mounds were babies who had passed away. 15-20 of Beautiful Gates babies were buried in this cemetery as there were no ARV's to help reduce the side affects of HIV/AIDS. Many children were so sick when they came to Beautiful Gate that there was no hope for recovery, just an opportunity for them to receive love and tender care before they went to meet God.
Faith - "I went to the cemetery and I was very sad because there were so many dead kids, like a hundred or so (not all the little mounds were Beautiful Gate kids).
The history of Beautiful Gate is painful, but also full of hope. It was heartbreaking to love and lose so many little ones, but they brought hope, love, and peace to those little ones who went on to heaven and there are so many more who have been adopted and are enjoying a second chance with a family who loves them and who will never let them go. I praise God for what Ray and Sue began and ask humbly that the Lord use my family to continue this wonderful ministry so His glory can be known!
Praise God!
ReplyDeleteKaren B.