Women's Day 2015

 Today we celebrated women here at Beautiful Gate! We had a big celebration with some special music, dancing and a wonderful woman evangelist who encouraged and challenged us all. It was a beautiful event with a lot of smiles and a ton of laughter. I was allowed some time at the beginning of our event to share some of my observations over the past year. Moments when I saw our Bo'me caring for new children, mourning the loss of a child who left, visiting and caring for the sick, collecting items for those less fortunate than themselves, laughing till they cried, listening to each other, praying together, and singing together. They are so amazing to work with and every year that goes by, I am more and more honored to work with the staff at BG. Their unconditional love and willingness to sacrifice for the ones they love is inspiring.
Here are some pictures of our day:

A little dancing before our meal.

Our guest speaker as she gave an encouraging word to the women.

The BEAUTIFUL women of Beautiful Gate!!!

Me and my girls' best friend, the house mother of Khotso 1.

Me and my sister, our nurse.

My twin and Ntate KB our grill master :)

I will close this post with the poem that I wrote for the women of Beautiful Gate. I am sure it did not translate super well, but I felt it was the best gift I could give them.

Women's Day 2015
God has surrounded me with women of skin which is brown.
The hardships of their life could easily make them frown.
However, their joy, singing, and laughing can always be found.
Because their love and commitment to God keeps them on solid ground.
My time in Lesotho, my whole life I will treasure.
You faithful women of God are far above measure.

Good-bye my little friend.

Yesterday I drove in to work and found out that one of our kids was being reunited with her family. This girl was brought to Beautiful Gate when she was around 6 months of age because her mother passed away and her dad needed to work and could not stay home with her. She has spent her life at Beautiful Gate for over 4 years, and her dad is ready to have her back in his life. I cannot imagine the shock she must have felt when she saw him for the first time yesterday. He was not in the office as their village is far away so our social worker was going to drive and meet him halfway.

We had the girl join us in a circle and 3 of us prayed for her before she left. After I prayed, I looked over at her and she was holding Karen's hand and looked confused (probably had no idea what we were singing and praying about). I walked over and grabbed her other hand and sat beside her on the floor. She laid her head against my face as the rest of the prayers were said, and it was a precious moment. This is one of the children I remember admitting into BG myself. She came in on a Saturday afternoon with a social worker from her village and Bryan and I helped get her settled into her new home. We had only been at BG for a few months. I have watched her learn to crawl, walk, and talk. I have played countless games with her over the years that she has been here, and it is so crazy to think that she will be gone. She has a very goofy smile that we will all miss around campus too.


I am happy for her though because she has some brothers and sisters that she has never met. They were placed in a care center near her village, but that care center did not have the ability to care for a baby so she came to BG. Our prayer is that this family will be happy and healthy. I pray this girl will remember the love and care from BG and that it will sustain her in the difficult  days ahead. Despite this being her family, currently they are strangers. Please join us in praying that her father makes wise choices for his family and that he will be able to care for them, for more than just physical needs. She has a loving spirit and I hope that her life will be blessed and amazing. God has plans for her that include her need to return home, and we are choosing to praise Him and be excited for this next chapter of her life. Good-bye my little friend, go well!

Life :)

We had a nice weekend. Friday night, Bryan and I went out for a date to celebrate our 16th anniversary. We enjoyed a nice dinner at one of the newer restaurants in Maseru. It is crazy how different our life is than the life we thought we were embarking on 16 years ago. I remember holding each of our 3 kids the day they were born, and imagining the life they would have with Bryan and I. Never once did I think they would be living in a third world country, or actually living on site at an orphanage for 4 1/2 years. But the life God has given us, it is far better than the one I had imagined as a naïve new wife or mother.
Today I am working from home since I had the kids go with me to BG on Thursday and Friday. Once the BG kids went inside for nap time, they got a little bored and I did not want to make them suffer another boring afternoon while I am working :) I was able to finish my newsletter and helped Karen finish BG's newsletter, emailed a few people, and am writing a blog post. A pretty productive morning and it is only 11:00! Who knew I could get so much done with 3 kids running around the house. Actually they have been very calm today.
Our BG daughter left this morning which is a little sad. Paige was a volunteer over 2 years ago and she returned for a couple months this year. It was so great having her back on campus and to hear her share all the changes she noticed since being away. When living here every day, it is easy to forget all that has happened and all the changes we have made at BG. The soft play room, library and therapy rooms are just a few of the changes we have made for the better. The kids have been in better health due to menu changes, multivitamins, and hebalife shakes. God is our provider and it is thanks to His provision that any of these good things have been able to happen. We give Him the glory for his goodness.

Sickies

Well, like I just wrote on Facebook, we sure know how to break in a new house. Most of us are sick and I have been sick for about a week now, Elijah has been sick for 3 days and now Mercy has a nice fever. Lots of friends have wanted to stop by and see the new place, but.... I guess we are suppose to spend the first week or two by ourselves :) The house is great though, and it is a good thing cause we have not really left it (except for Bryan who has been faithfully going back and forth to BG). Hopefully we will all be better soon cause having nasty colds and fevers is not the best way to spend our winter vacation. Bryan has been making the most of it but reading to us all after dinner and we are almost done with book 1 of his Wheel of Time, Robert Jordan series (I think there are 13 massive books in this series, so we have a lot more reading in our future). It is a good family hobby. Last year and earlier this year, Bryan read the Harry Potter books to all of us. The benefits of not having a TV! It is nice to read books together because it has given us some pretty good family discussions. So I guess I do not have anything major to report, just a bunch of sickies enjoying their new home.

School Update and moving update

I just about lost my sanity a few minutes ago as I tried desperately to figure out how to order my son's online classes. Apparently, I am a teacher on the account and not a parent so I had to do it completely differently than the parents I had emailed with instructions. Praise the Lord, I found the right way to order and Elijah is officially an online student starting on August 24, 2015. It is really insane that I have a 7th grader, just for the record!!!!! I also need to give a shout out to JP Ministries because they covered the cost for him to be enrolled in his new classes this year. I am so excited, Christian online learning, here comes Elijah.


Faith and Mercy will continue with the Sonlight curriculum with some helpful additions from Dawn and Beth who taught them all last year. They are really enjoying their teachers and looking forward to a new year. This year instead of 7 students, we will have 9 students in our new school, Kingdom Christian Academy of Lesotho (KCAL). We have most of the month of August to hang out still, but I have been in charge of some book ordering and enrolling stuff....thankfully, I am done now!


We are mostly moved in, I think I have 2 large suitcases and one carry on suitcase that is awaiting unpacking. I have not worked at BG for 2 weeks due to all of this moving process, but will be dragging my 3 reluctant kids to work with me on Thursday. I have indulged them enough and really need to check in and get some work done before they fire me!!! :) I really miss the staff and kids though too and want to see how they all are. Apparently, we got two new babies today which brings us up to 72 kids. Our max capacity is 75, so please pray for a few adoptions or reunifications to happen real soon!


Yesterday involved an all out war in our new house, and I am not really sure who won. Do not be alarmed though, it was with Nerf guns. I am still finding bullets everywhere! In between setting up the new washing machine and unpacking the bookcases, we had World War 3. I have not seen Elijah that happy is ages, despite my killer shot that hit him right on the head (I will admit to a bit of immaturity as I laughed until I cried at my super, accidental shot). The kids and I are really loving all this open space. I hate saying that because it makes me feel like a spoiled American, but we have been living literally on top of each other since moving to Africa. While we are a pretty close family, having a room to myself for 30 minutes is very new. I could get used to this ;)

Moving Day is Coming

We are moving! Bryan and I are moving our family off campus this Saturday. We found a really nice home about 5 minutes from Beautiful Gate, and we are going to be renting it for the next 2 years. This is a big change for our family and especially for our staff and volunteers who have become quite used to us being readily available for anything they need. I think it will be a huge adjustment for us too, but one that has been a long time needed :)


We have a family and a single volunteer who have been living in out team house, and so we will be able to move them into our current house when we move off campus. Beautiful Gate has become very busy with teams and volunteers and this is a great way to open up more space.


2015 was suppose to be our last year at Beautiful Gate, but as you all know we decided to extend to 2017. Having this house open will also be a benefit as we begin the search for our replacements after our short furlough later this year. So many changes, but God is good and He has been leading and guiding us along as we make these big decisions. I am going to miss being able to walk out of my house and go to playgroup whenever I want. Or be cooking dinner and still be able to have a chat with a staff member or volunteer. However, I will enjoy a lot more uninterrupted time with my kids and Bryan. Living where you work is a tough balance that I feel we have done well for 4 1/2 years, but we are ready for a small change. We remain 100% committed to Beautiful Gate and this move is certainly not due to any burn out or anything like that. We love, love, LOVE what we are doing here at BG and look forward to the next few years with great joy and anticipation for what God is doing through this ministry.


We took our kids over to their new home today and they were ecstatic!!! Apparently, they miss having stairs and they were running up and down the stairs and sliding down on their butts (one of them will learn the hard way when they get a splinter). They will each have their own room and we will actually have more than one toilet for the 5 of us, hahaha. Not that it is needed, but it will be nice not to wait in the long line because we always have to go at the same time. There will be a room attached to the house for guests so please feel free to come and visit us sometime next year :) Yes, that was a big hint to our family especially, but friends are welcome too! Life is never dull when you are a Geurink!

Birthday wishes for my "twins"

Hello, I am Faith and I am very excited to say that today is my twin brother and sister's birthday. Actually, they are not twins. One is older and one is younger than me, but they share a birthday. They are two of the best siblings you could ever have (most of the time, ha ha). Mercy is probably the cutest thing that walks the earth, on two feet anyways. Elijah is....humorous and a fun bro to hang out with. I thank the Lord for my lovely siblings.
From Faith


I had a little guest blogger today! Thanks Faith. I am one of those really rare parents who have 3 kids who actually like each other, hahaha (oh yeah, most of the time). I still remember Elijah visiting me in the hospital and holding his brand new baby sister, and he looked at me with wonder and said I had given him the BEST birthday present ever. What can I say, it was not planned at all, but I can take some credit, right?! Elijah and Mercy are so similar that they can really drive each other crazy, yet they can also spend time playing games and enjoying each other's company. I love seeing God develop their personalities more and more each year.


My life is so full of good moments with these crazy kids in my life. It kinda stinks that my oldest gets older and my youngest gets older on the same day. I like to live in denial that they will be small and sweet forever, but I can not live there for long with my 12 year old and my 8 year old celebrating birthdays today :) I feel like this year has been a remarkable year and the 5 of us feel closer and more unified as a family than we have ever been before. It is so cool and I really look forward to what God has in store for us in the next year. I am not worthy of these 2 fantastic blessings God has trusted me with, and every year, I am more and more thankful. I am the luckiest mom in the whole world!