Faith's son

I know that I do not usually post 2 days in a row, but I feel the need to share our day. For Faith and I, it was a little tough because we found out very last minute that Faith's "son's" parents were in town (from the Netherlands) and wanted to come get him right away. Beautiful Gate was given no warning that they were coming which is bad in that it is very hard when children are removed from their house mothers with no warning so the mothers can say good-bye. Today, it was that kind of shock for Faith. She has adopted this boy as her very own "son" (the house mothers used to call him her son, they are the ones who started it and then they began calling me his grandmother, yep I am feeling a little old). She has spent countless hours feeding him, playing with him and making him laugh and she loves him deeply. She has known that he will be adopted, but finding out 2 hours before he was leaving was tough on her. She and his house mother went for a walk together and then picked out a perfect outfit for him to wear. It was so sweet to see them sharing their moments together before saying good-bye to their little "son."

His house mother came and got Faith to help her get him ready before meeting his new family. They are such a precious couple. They cried when they got him and would not let him go. After some time of bonding, I shared with them the special relationship between their son and Faith and they were so touched by the extra love and care he was shown and then they took a picture of Faith so he could remember her when he gets older. It was so sweet. I think Faith felt much better after meeting his parents, but she was a little quiet afterwards. I decided to take her out for a little mommy-daughter date and we both felt much better after a cup of tea and a muffin. Please do not misunderstand, we are so happy that he has found a good home and we wanted him to be adopted, we were just taken by surprise by the lack of notice/preparation given.

One other area of concern I'd like to share is for one of our Beautiful Gate children (who is not placed for adoption). This child went in for a check up and a spot was seen on one of their lungs. Further testing will be done in the week to come, but please pray with us that this spot is nothing serious.

Update to previous post

Ntate Mpho's daughter is doing much better. She has been going to the doctor often to get her bandages changed and starting on next Monday, she will go for physical therapy. The burns on her arms and stomach were not as severe, but the burn on her chin is. She had a difficult time eating for a day or two, but her parents were able to force feed her enough to get her medicine to stay down. We praise God for the healing she has had so far and we are trusting and asking Him that she will have a full recovery. Ntate Mpho has been so positive and was even saying we needed to rejoice in all situations the day after the accident happened. He admitted that it is not easy, but he amazed me with his positive attitude and thankful heart.

My friend Lindy is not doing well from what I hear. We are all struggling with this news. Mercy and Faith immediately drew cards for me to send her as soon as I explained how sick she has become and that there may not be much time before she meets Jesus. I took pictures of their cards and posted it on her facebook page because I wanted her to see them right away. My kids are asking some tough and honest questions about God and sickness and I am trusting Him for the answers. I know there is nothing we could really do to help the situation, but I think honestly, we'd all like to just be home right now. We are trusting God that He has us here for a reason and so we will stay the course, but our hearts are in Zeeland.

"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." Please keep praying for Lindy (and her family) and Ntate Mpho's daughter.

Yet...I will rejoice

Though my friend who has cancer has been given 4 weeks to live,

Nor can I support her and her family the way my heart desires,

Though our staff's 10 month old daughter has been severely burned and is in a great deal of pain,

Nor do I have the words of comfort to offer her parents,

Though our new nurses' work permit has been denied,

And the budget at Beautiful Gate is tight and only getting tighter,

Yet... I will rejoice in the Lord,

I will joy in the God of my salvation.

The Lord God is my strength.

Today I am going to choose to thank God for the nice memories I have with Lindy, Dusty, Brooklyn, Max and Samantha. When we chose to move here, I was confident that I would see Lindy again when we went on furlough, but God's plans are not ours. It may be in the next life, but I will not stop praying for her until He calls her home and neither will my sweet little Mercy who continues to pray each day. I thank you Lord for holding them through their tears and fears and that you will never let Dusty, Brooklyn, Max or Sam go even if you call their sweet, loving, funny, courageous, caring, brave, and faithful wife/mother home to be with you.
Today I am choosing to thank God for his protection of Mpho's daughter. While she has some pretty bad burns, the boiling water did not land in her eyes (Mpho is one of our staff and his little daughter grabbed the handle of a boiling pot and spilled it down the front of her last night). I thank you Lord for a car that runs well so we can share it with those who are in need. I thank you Lord that when we have no words to say, you are the great comforter.
Today, I am choosing to let go of my fears and desire for control. I am choosing to trust You God for a work permit and finances for our care center. Lord I thank you that you know our needs and you are faithful. You will care for the needs of our staff and we do not carry that weight alone. I rejoice in You Lord because you are my God, the healer, the provider, the comforter and our loving shepherd. It it not easy, but I choose to rejoice in You!

Needing to rejoice more

I just sat down to write and as I listen to the sounds around me, it sounds almost like there are airplanes landing over my roof. There is a massive wind storm happening this evening and I praise God that I am in a nice warm, sturdy home. My children have recently taken to praying  for all the street kids to have good food and a warm bed and I especially think of them this evening because it is a very cold wind that is blowing and with the rain, it would be a very bitter evening to be without a home/shelter. It is so windy that my living room curtains are swaying to the breeze!!!

Have you ever come to the Lord with such a massive list of prayer requests that it felt as though you'd never make it through them all? I feel like lately, I have so much to ask Him for on behalf of friends and family, people I love who are very sick, problems specific to Lesotho and the people/children here, funding for Beautiful Gate, people/countries devastated by damaging weather, for those who are unsaved, and so much more. I can sometimes feel discouraged by the great amount of need.

I just finished reading a book to my kids about a missionary named Joy, who was such a prayer warrior. But the secret to her prayers was that she truly rejoiced in all situations. She trusted God before He even answered her prayer and thanked Him and rejoiced. She was in some pretty bad situations and rather than feel overwhelmed and discouraged, she always reminded those who were with her to be thankful and rejoice. God did some INCREDIBLE things in her life and I was just inspired to be a little more thankful. To try to rejoice in all situations because God is worthy of praise even in the tough situations.

Injustice

I am still working through some feelings, which I know can be very dangerous when I am writing a blog post, so bear with me. I do not know how I feel tonight. I think I am suppose to be happy but I have not gotten there yet. I am still struggling with worry which I know is a sin so I am trying to push it aside and rejoice.
2 months ago, we received a new child from DSW and this child was a little over a year old. Our social worker handed me the police report and told me to read it as she walked away (I think she was uncomfortable with how she was feeling and thought I should read the report for myself). I was horrified by the police report. This young child was found buried alive! It was wrapped in a blanket from head to toe, laid on a rock and was buried underneath a bunch of smaller rocks. If someone had not been walking by and heard its crying...
When the child arrived here, it cried constantly especially when the house mother left the room. It was so traumatized by the experience. Over a few weeks time, the child was able to relax and stop crying and even went out to join the play group during the day and began to smile and have fun. Our staff loved this child through a very difficult time and I found myself checking in on it more than I normally do with new children because of the circumstances that brought the child to us.
Today I was told that there was a family in the office who were searching for their child. DSW referred them to us and after an intense interview by our social worker to make sure they could describe a child that fit a description of one we had on campus, it was determined that the child who came 2 months ago was in fact theirs. When I saw which child was brought to them, I was shocked.
It turns out that they are not the parents but the aunt and uncle who were caring for the child. Its mother came to them and said she found work in Maseru and took her child. She then showed up for work after having abandoned her child and no one who knew her in the Maseru area ever knew she had a child. They told us that she is in the female prison now.
After we prayed for the child, I went up to it to say good-bye and the child jumped out of it's aunts arms and into my arms. I have never had any child do that before during a farewell and it touched my heart. I gave it a hug and a kiss and wished the child well before the aunt and uncle left.
I am happy for that child in that it is returning to an aunt and uncle who seem to love the child and want very much to look after it, but I worry about the future of this child. The justice system here is not like what I am used to and the mother could be released before long and her parental rights (most likely) will not have been terminated despite trying to kill her child. I pray the aunt and uncle are strong enough to refuse her the child in the future and that the child will grow up in a loving home where it can forget the injustice done to it at such a young age. God is watching over this child tonight and I pray He covers this child with His protective wings!

Choked Up

Today I was beyond blessed to witness the handover of one of our Beautiful Gate children to her new mother. I have seen many handovers since coming here, but today's was so special and it got me choked up. I get a lump in my throat just thinking about the new mother's reaction to seeing her daughter. When the house mother brought the baby into the room, the mother quickly got out of her chair and walked to the house mother and just started sobbing. She held her new little girl close to her cheek and hugged her and then hugged the house mother and just kept wiping the tears from her face as she cried. She whispered to her little baby and showed her to her parents and they began to tear up. Her father walked over to us and just started shaking our hands and thanking us over and over again for what we do here. All 3 of them were so overcome with emotion that they could hardly speak. They thanked us profusely and wiped tears and handed their little daughter/granddaughter back and forth to each other. They thanked God and let us pray over them before they left with their new little girl and were full of joy and great rejoicing.

This child who left today was the one I named back in January. The only child I have had the privilege of naming which was very special to me. I have watched her grow and have made a special bond with her, and I know that God has picked out the perfect mother for my little girl. Such love and joy and peace she will know with her new mother. A mother who visited her often because she is a local Basotho mother, but who could not wait to take her home. She will have a great life and only God knows the impact she could have in Lesotho one day when she grows up!

If God loves us even more than this mother who showed such love today, it is no wonder that He was compared to the father who waited for his prodigal son to return and when he saw him in the distance he ran to him and threw his arms around him. I felt like I caught a glimpse of that kind of love today through a mother who was waiting for a long time for her daughter.

Volunteers!

July and August were very busy months for Beautiful Gate with international volunteers.  We had two individual volunteers on campus and we still have another with us until November.

The first to arrive was Cassi from the USA on July 4.  After many long flights to get here, she arrived safely, but her main luggage was a day behind.  After resolving that issue on July 5, she was assigned to help in Pula 2.  She helped to prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner there, along with feeding the children and spending some quality time with all the children in play group during the times between.  Cassi returned home on July 30.

Cassi in Malleable

The second to arrive was Paige from the USA on July 12.  After arriving late in Joberg, she missed her connection and was able to arrive at Beautiful Gate one flight later than originally planned.  And all of her luggage arrived with her.  Yeah!  Paige spent the first day or two recovering from jet lag and has been assigned to Khotso 2.  She helps the staff at meal times, along with feeding the children and spending quality time with many of the children in play group.  She is also assisting our nurse with specific duties for children that have extra dietary needs.  Paige is scheduled to be with us for 4 months.

Paige arriving at Moshoeshoe Airport

The last to arrive was Andrew from Belgium on July 13.  He is a British man who resides in Belgium and has supported Beautiful Gate for quite some time now.  Upon arrival in Africa, Andrew and I had a wonderful two hour drive from Bloemfontein through many construction zones.  Andrew spent most of his days with the children in the play group and also assisted our nurse with taking height and weight measurements for reporting purposes.  He also assisted Khotso 1 during lunch and dinner times.  He returned home to his family on July 26.

Andrew lives very close to Brussels

Beautiful Gate also encourages our volunteers to explore this wonderful country and culture, so we decided to take one of the coldest days to travel into the mountains.  As you can see, there was a very nice amount of snow in the mountains and we even had to turn around for safety reasons shortly after the place in this picture.

Paige, Andrew and Cassi freezing in Lesotho!  :)

I know that when they all decided to come to Africa that they did not have a picture of a snowy mountain in their minds!

The very next day we decided to hike a mountain near Beautiful Gate after church.  It was not snowy there, but the temperatures were still very cold.  This hike provided a wonderful view of part of Maseru as well as the beautiful snow capped mountains of Lesotho in the distance.

At the top of the hike

Beautiful Lesotho!

It was/is a pleasure to have all three of them here with us and we look forward to how they have and will bless the children of Beautiful Gate!

On July 27, Beautiful Gate was also privileged to host 10 young women and 5 chaperones from Holland Christian High School's basketball team.  They were able to pet a lion, go horseback riding, play netball against the local high school team, lead worship time, paint a baby house and (most importantly) spend time with the children of Beautiful Gate.  Being athletic, play group time was definitely a highlight for many of them.  And, they also gave the overnight staff a well deserved rest for one night, as they took over the duties of that staff.  It was great to witness God working in their lives as they were able to see a third world country for the first time (for many of them).  The team returned home to Michigan, USA on August 6.

Horse riding at Malealea

Painting the Baby House

More painting!

Leading worship at chapel time!

The Team!

Lastly, we were blessed to entertain a team of 12 from England from August 7 - 15.  They were able to go to the Lesotho museum in Morija, drive to Mohale Dam, paint a mural in the playgroup area and (most importantly) spend some time with the children of Beautiful Gate!  Jenny Dobson, a supporter of Beautiful Gate Lesotho, led this team of various age groups during their time here and was able to show them what she was able to experience the last time she was at Beautiful Gate.

In Morija at the Museum

Painting the mural in the Play Group area

Messy Church banner - 1/2 is from their church and 1/2 is from Beautiful Gate

The UK Team in front of the completed mural

Each team brought their gifts and talents to help Beautiful Gate and I cannot express my appreciation for each volunteer that came.  Thank you for serving the "least of these"!  If you are interested in volunteering at Beautiful Gate, please feel free to contact me.  You will never be the same again!  You will be blessed forever!

Bryan

P.S. Sorry about the formatting.