Last team of 2014

We have a team here from Holland Christian High School (and also a small family from Colorado who are with them) and tonight we sat down and took some time to share about our day. It is always interesting to see what things strike people and make an impression on them. It could be about the looks of Beautiful Gate, the fact that the kids are so happy that you forget they are orphans, the happiness and friendly attitude of our staff, the funny thing a kid said or did and so many other options. It helps me to think about my life and my attitude. Have I become so accustomed to our lives here that I forget to be in awe of those things that I used to notice?


I had the opportunity to share with them at the end of our devotional time and I read a blog post by Katie Davis (Kisses from Katie). It was a thought about how working in a third world country is like trying to empty the ocean with an eye dropper and when your glass is half full, it rains. The first time I read that post, I was so relieved that there was someone else out there who felt the way I felt, but who was able to explain it way more eloquently. There will always be poverty, abandonment, death, HIV, and many other problems in Lesotho, but it is not our job here at Beautiful Gate to fix all that (thankfully cause we would not be able to keep up). It is our job to give each kid hope for their future, to try by all means to find them a family, and to love them unconditionally the way God loves us.


I love when we get to share our passion with a new team. They can share their stories and love for BG and we can do the same. Our love for the kids and staff gives us a common bond of friendship and it is a real blessing. Even my kids were telling me that they enjoy having this team here because some of the members were very complimentary and made them feel very good about themselves. It has been a busy year, full of teams and volunteers and this is our final team for 2014. We have been blessed and we are so thankful.

Graduation Day

Today was the preschool graduation for the school where several of our BG children attend school. We have 2 boys who graduated this year and we took 8 of the preschoolers along with us to their graduation. There was much celebration in the little building we were all sitting in as the kids sang, acted out a play, danced and recited poems. One of the perks is that it is an English medium school so much was done in English.
One of my favorite parts is when each graduate does a little speech called "myself, myself." The child says their name, age, parents' name, teachers' names, school name and what they want to be when they grow up. They practice a lot during the year and for the BG kids, they say the names of all 4 of their house mothers, along with volunteers in their house and sometimes even Bryan or I. They often include the maintenance men as their fathers which is sweet, but it is also sad. They have so many people who love them and who care for them each day, but moments like today are a harsh reality that our kids do not really have a "normal" living situation.
The celebration took 4 hours (once again they really know how to celebrate in Africa and this was only preschool!!!) and then the kids came home and had a big celebration with their peers and house mothers. They ate cake, cookies, marshmallows, and chips and were super happy. Then there was dancing and balloon fun to end the celebration. I am so proud of these boys and really hope that one day they will get to celebrate their high school graduation with a family of their own. Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy of our awesome day.

Neighbor Kids

It has been months since I have had a neighborly visit from the kids in the neighborhood, but they stopped by today for some coloring. It started with 2 kids, then quickly became 4, then 4 more came and then 4 more came, so I think there were 12 kids who got coloring pages and some crayons. It has been raining a lot in the last few days so I felt bad watching the kids sitting on a dirt road behind my fence as they colored, but they were all as happy as could be (their mothers maybe less so after they see their muddy bottoms and knees).
I love when I can share a simple thing like a coloring page and see a child's face light up. After they colored their pictures they came back up to the fence to show me and I love their creativity. I have never seen so many rainbow animals in my life and I think it is because they wanted to use every single crayon color that I had available for their picture.

Just thought I'd share a little glimpse of the sweet little faces I got to see today. Anytime a camera comes out, then there is a lot of posing, but as you can see in the top picture, they were very focused on their coloring pages :)

Retreat

Today is the start of the Lesotho Ladies' retreat. We will be spending the weekend at Wyndford Farm in South Africa. There is a team of 4 women from the states who will be leading us in worship and teaching us more about God's joy. Please pray for all the missionary women who will be attending this retreat as well as those who are leading it. Being in full time missions in Lesotho can be draining and hard at times and I know a lot of these women look forward to this weekend each year. Also, please pray for the husbands and kids who will be at home this weekend and for them to have good times together too. I know for me, the past 2 times I went one of my kids got very sick and it was a huge distraction. Please pray that none of the kids or husbands get sick and that satan will not use things like that to distract the women from their time away with God.

When you Look into the Eyes of my Child - Poem

As I was sitting alone the other night, I had an overwhelming desire to write a small poem from the perspective of a mother who abandoned her child. I have heard so many different reasons for abandonment and while I still disagree with the way it is done, I also try to see things from their point of view. 

When you look into the eyes of my child,

What do you think of my choice?

Do you think that I am a monster?

Could you have walked in my shoes

And made a different choice?

 

When you look into the eyes of my child,

Do you hate me?

Do you think it was easy to walk away?

That I did not cry out in anguish as

I said good-bye to my little one.

 

When you look into the eyes of my child,

Do you know that my life is over?

That I have nothing left.

I go to bed hungry each night and

I am getting weaker everyday.

When you look into the eyes of my child,

Did you know that I was raped?

Do you know how hard my life is?

That I am an orphan who is caring for my siblings

And had to drop out of school.

 

When you look into the eyes of my child,

See that I have given them hope.

Understand that I had no other way.

Give them the love I will always

Wish I would have been given.

Cape Town Adventure

Beautiful Gate South Africa celebrated their 20th anniversary this past weekend. The founders and the directors of BG South Africa (BGSA)have been extremely helpful and supportive to Bryan and I as we have taken over the leadership of Beautiful Gate Lesotho (BGL). That being said, we decided to take 4 members (all Basotho) of our management team along with us to celebrate the success of BGSA. The ceremony was nice with a lot of singing and speeches and even a really nice presentation of the children who are part of their after school program. There were a lot of parents who graduated from their parent training program as well and it was such a nice celebration. Well done Beautiful Gate South Africa. I am proud to be affiliated with your organization!

As wonderful as the celebration was and I could say a lot about it, what is really on my heart is the reaction of our 4 staff to their trip to Cape Town. Only 1 of them had been there since childhood and so the experience was new and exciting for the other 3. The enthusiasm they had for the ocean, mountains, wildlife and food was overwhelming, There were times when they were speechless (which pretty much never happens with this group, hahaha) as they looked out over the vast ocean and then they broke into songs and hymns praising God for His creation. The two guys even struck up a conversation with a stranger at a gas station about the beauty of Cape Town and how you can in no way deny God when you see such a beautiful place.

They swam in the water and waves despite the cold water and breeze, they walked next to penguins and baboons (the baboons were a bit scary to me), they sat in awe of creation at the south western most point of Africa, they hiked and they laughed and joked with each other till they almost cried. Being on this trip broke some of the barriers between boss and staff and we all could relax together and experience a common bond of appreciating God's handiwork.

What can I say to such things? My heart is so full and I only wish I could give the same experience to all my staff. I felt like crying once or twice just by the joy they expressed and their words of appreciation for being able to join us on this trip. God is good and this last sentence is dedicated to our 4 staff members, "I like it for the laughter, the singing, and the energy!"

Beautiful Restoration

Today was a day of restoration here at Beautiful Gate. What satan has meant for harm, God has turned to good. What has been incomplete, has now become complete. What was broken and missing has now been restored. Another orphan has joined his family and a lost child has been found.

There was a little boy here at Beautiful Gate before our family arrived in 2010. He has been here for such a long time and has waited anxiously for the day when he would have a family. I remember days when other kids would be adopted and he would sit by himself during playgroup and he would have tears run down his face. So broken and so alone as he waited for his turn. He is such a softhearted little guy and it always made us feel broken hearted as we would hold him in our laps and dry his tears. We prayed with him and asked God to provide a family for him.

Today was the day and God has answered our prayers! He now has his very own mom and dad and he could not have been more proud. I do not think he stopped smiling the entire time they sat together in the chapel and it made all of our hearts glad. No more tears and wondering when it would be his turn because now he will never be alone again. His heart is no longer broken and his desire for a family has been made complete.

As if this was not enough restoration for the day, we also celebrated with an aunt as she came and was reunited with her niece. She cried tears of joy as she held her niece for the first time and then said that she looked just like her sister and cried more (I am not sure if the aunt's sister has passed away or disappeared??). It was really sweet to see her smiling at and kissing her new niece with such a look of love in her eyes. She cried when she told us that she did not even know she had a niece until our social worker found their family and told them. It was obvious that she is happy to be the one to care for this precious child.

It is always sad to see the brokenness that comes along with running a child care center. Children who are without parents and who desire having a family with all of their hearts. Or children who are lost and their family is unknown. Today we saw God bring hope back to these kids and these families through adoption and reunification and it is the most beautiful sight in all the world.