Orphans in their distress

I am lying on my bed and it is after 11:30pm, but sleep is nowhere near me. My beautiful 5 year old daughter is asleep next to me (her brother and sister were having a sleepover so she decided she needed one too) and as I gaze at her peaceful sleeping form, my heart squeezes inside my chest. There are days I do not know how to process the things I see and feel here at Beautiful Gate. There are days I want to cry out in relief and thankfulness to God that my children are not orphans, but then there is so much guilt in my heart because there are so many orphans in Lesotho that deserve the peaceful sleep that my daughter enjoys every night, the sleep that comes from knowing she is loved, treasured, and wanted. Sleep that comes after a day of play and good nutrition. Sleep that comes through the peace of knowing she belongs to God and He will never let go.

Today in Lesotho, 2 care centers were shut down after it was determined that they were unfit to give the proper nutrition and care to their children. Many children were shipped all over the country today in hopes of finding better care at a different facility. 12 were shipped here which brings us up to 71 children.

We met as a management team and also with the House Mothers to discuss the idea of adding 12 more, and not once did the women say no, instead from the start, they discussed how we could make it work. I admire their strength and willingness to love the least of these abandoned and orphaned children. Many of these women are orphans and their willingness to take on extra and show unconditional love is not of this world.

The children arrived around 10pm tonight and we brought them into the houses to get washed and changed and then to give them some food before bed. There is nothing like bathing a severely malnourished child to open your eyes to the reality of the lack of care and resources that the child must have been suffering from. His eyes were so wide with fear, but as I dried him off, covered him with Vaseline and got him dressed, he actually managed a small smile for me. How scary this experience must be for the 12 of them.

I do not know how we will manage having so many extra kids, but I do know that God had called us to look after orphans in their distress. I look forward to them adjusting to BG so they can enjoy the peaceful sleep that comes in knowing they are wanted, loved and treasured by our staff. The sleep that comes after a day of fun in the playgroup and from a full belly. So in closing I ask that you pray with me that in taking care of these orphans in their distress, that we do not cause distress to our widows (many of our house mothers are widows). Please pray that we seek God in all our decisions, that we are open to His leading.