The blessings of rain

I wrote this last week Thursday, but I am noticing that BG's internet doesn't work on Thursdays for some reason! Then I forgot to post over the weekend, so here are my thoughts from last week.....

Today we celebrate the rain because last year there wasn’t any. The famine was severe, and many have gone hungry, near starvation, for months. It will take some time for the crops to grow, but there is relief on the way. A really cool God moment is that the Baptist missionaries were able to get seed out into the mountains a few weeks ago when there was a light rain, and now we are having some very heavy rainfall in Maseru, and that rain brings great hope.

I have learned to appreciate rain so much more now that I live in Lesotho. I have always seen it as something that is needed, but is more of a nuisance than a blessing. It was something that ruined picnics, BBQ’s, and days at the beach. In MI, many farmers have ways to irrigate their crops, so I never had a real appreciation for rain. Now I see rain as a blessing. It brings life. Life is restored through food growth, life through drinking water, and life through cleanliness to wash away germs and bacteria.

 I am praising God that He has heard the prayers of His people. He has sent the rain. He has restored life and hope to the Basotho people. God is faithful and He is good. Last week the ponds were the lowest I have seen them since being at BG, and as I sit in my office, I watch them bursting with water. I am thankful. None of our staff complain as they are walking through the mud, and the rain to go and get their tea today. They are smiling, and they are thankful because God is pouring down His blessings onto the land!

The called are falling and need prayer

This blog post is for all of you who have a burden to pray for pastors. It is officially pastor appreciation month, and I completely appreciate my pastor. He has welcomed us as full and appreciated members of our church family, even though he became our church's pastor after we were in Africa. He has visited us several times and checks in with us often. He is a good leader, a caring man, and a humble servant of God, and we are blessed to call him our pastor. It is through his support that we have remained strong here in Lesotho. Thank you Pastor Art!!!!!! Can't wait to see you in December!


Unfortunately, we have not had that kind of love and support from the pastors of the churches in Lesotho. We have been hurt over and over by watching these leaders fall. Power and prosperity have snuck their way in where God should have been. Lust and greed have woven into hearts that have become weak. Satan is winning the battle in taking down the leaders, those called to lead their flocks, and it is terrifying. We have attending 3 churches in our time in Lesotho, and in all 3 churches, the pastors have fallen. I realize that all of us our human and have a sinful nature, so I don't say this as a judgment to them, I say it from brokenness. When your leader falls and does not repent, your church, family and community could fall too.


"Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood." Acts 20:28


"It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money."  1Timothy 3:1-3


Please pray for God to humble them, turn them from the path of destruction, and restore them to His side. Pray for their heart to be like the heart of David, a heart that saw the error of his way and turned, brokenhearted to God. I am praying that we can all be encouraging and loving and not full of gossip and spite. Please pray for the pastors in Africa, but also for those all over the world. The temptations and trials are harder for those in leadership, but with the help of God, all can walk an upright life.


Please encourage your pastors, not only this month, but every month.

Thankful for BG

Greetings from Lesotho everyone ;)
I have just finished reading 2 great books over the last 2 days, sadly, it was because I was sick for 2 days, but at least I got to read ;) It has been awhile since I have read a good fiction book and I really enjoyed reading AD 30 by Ted Dekker. It was written as a story that takes place while Jesus was starting His ministry. I enjoy thinking about what it must have been like to live when Jesus lived.


We are about to get into a busy time at BG. We have a friend from Belgium who is returning to volunteer at BG, then a team from England with our friend Jenny next week, and a new church from West MI is sending a team in the beginning of November. We are also full with volunteers so we are back on track in being fully busy. It is enjoyable to have so many people interested in BG, but it is definitely full days of work ;)


The kids enjoyed a nice week off of school last week for Spring Break. It was nice because we went to BG with Polita and Nthabeleng and they got to play with the kids and see the staff. It melted my heart seeing them hug some of their favorite people. I love that BG is part of their story and it warms my heart when they tell me stories. I keep thinking that part of the reason their transition into our family went so smooth is because of the love and care at BG. They already began to feel worth, love, and affection before they came to us. They had begun to heal a little from the hurt of abandonment during their time at BG. Now they can go back and see the ones who loved them, and they can have good memories of how they met them in their need and loved them. I am thankful that I do not have a jealous heart, but a heart that loves these staff so much, I am honored that they got to be the mothers before me.


There is no place I would have rather had my girls be if they couldn't be right with me. I have read a lot of article that really bash orphanages and care centers and I completely agree that some are terrible, but it is unfair to lump all of them into the terrible category. If BG wasn't around, there would be 71 kids under the age of 6 living on the streets. There is not a good foster system here, it is extremely flawed, so the best place for kids in Lesotho is a care center. I only say this because the articles I read said people should never give their money to an orphanage. How sad it would be for the country of Lesotho if everyone took that advice and these precious babies were left out on the streets. For those of you who have been faithfully following our journey, thanks for your love and support for the work we are doing at BG. We could not run this ministry without the prayers, financial support, and help of friends around the world.


Sorry my blog post jumped around a lot. It could be because I am recovering from the flu and my brain may not be at 100%.

Welcome to This World

Welcome to this World

You probably have no idea
how special you are.
For years and years you
will carry a scar.
Unwanted, unloved, abandoned
at birth,
People will tell your story with
careless mirth.
Was it a pit toilet, a garbage bag,
or buried alive?
Unwanted, unloved, until at our gate
you arrived.
Our eyes well with tears as we
hear your story,
Knowing you will be safe now-
we give God the glory.
It breaks our hearts that you came
to us this way,
Unwanted, unloved, and abandoned
until today.
Welcome to this world, my sweet
little child,
This day of your birth has been
anything but mild.
We will give you love, care, and even
your first meal,
As you wait for your new family,
we hope you will heal.
                     Anita Geurink


I wrote this in honor of the many babies who have been brought to BG these past 4 months. Some are even brought to us the day they are born. It is incredibly heart breaking to hold a tiny newborn baby who was just found in the trash. It is horrible to walk away from a child who screams because the last person who left the room never came back. We welcome them into our family in hopes that someday, they will have the hope that comes through adoption. Until that day, we will show them that they are not unwanted or unloved and they will never be abandoned again!

Tired

I have been waiting to come out of a kinda dark spot, but it really hasn't happened yet. It is strange the things that are bothering me and making me cry. One of the strangest things about it is, that these things were the things that bothered me 5 years ago and shouldn't be the things that bother me now...but they do. It is rather unfortunate really. I thought I had built a more steady wall around my heart in the years I have watched hard things happening.
There are people begging me to help them EVERY time I go to town. Pleading their cases, desperate for a job, and unwilling to accept a no for an answer. I have people coming to my gate, and they look desperate. Again begging for a job, a little money for food, transport to the hospital for ARV medication..... It is constant and it has gotten worse, and I am only one person. I can't help them all and still pay my rent and feed my 5 kids. What is my responsibility? What does God want me to do? I HATE being the rich white person who is supposed to solve everyone's problems. I am already providing jobs to 45 people at BG. I am caring for 65-75 kids, plus my own family. I have hired a widow to clean my home, paying the school fees for an orphan, and trying to help a family eat as they are one step away from homelessness. Yet, I am not even scratching the surface. The need to far greater than I could even dream of.
I am just tired. I don't want to go to town because I know what is coming. I don't want to look at my gate because I know what is coming. I turn people away and I just cry because I really felt horrible for their situation, but I couldn't help. I am stretched as far as I can go emotionally. Then other things come up, so many things that I can't even begin to describe; death, sickness, loss of friends, unexpected situations, uncertainty, abandonment, apathy, inexcusable medical "mistakes,"  fighting among Christians, and so much more. I used to give Bryan such a hard time for being a pessimistic person, but I can understand how it all adds up over time.
Lesotho is my home and I have always loved it here, but there are seasons where it weighs very heavily. One of the things that Bryan and I have discussed is how hard it must be for wealthy people. Always being asked to donate to this cause or that cause, they must get exhausted and feel like no one even sees them anymore, they only see a pocketbook. I hope that in all our fundraising efforts, we have never made anyone feel that way, but if we have, we are deeply sorry.
All these feelings are just a small part of what has been going through my head for the last 6 weeks, and while I thought it might not be best to blog about it, I just feel like I need to get it out. I apologize for a venting post, and ask that you would pray for the thousands of Basotho who lack work, food, and proper health care. Also, if you could pray that I could hear clearly from God in who I help verses who I am just meant to pray for, that would be greatly appreciated.

Amazing Art Prize Exhibit - you don't want to miss it!!!!

"I first became intrigued with the children of Beautiful Gate through their images. I fell in love with their innocence and their incredible stories through my friends who moved to Lesotho in early 2015 from Holland, MI to serve at Beautiful Gate for 2 years. Beautiful Gate is a haven for orphaned, abandoned and neglected children in Lesotho, a country in southern Africa. Some of these children have been found in garbage dumps or roaming the streets with no place to go and no one to care for them. Thankfully Beautiful Gate exists today to give these precious children a Christian home to nurture and guide them through their early years. The ultimate goal is to unite these children with a forever family that will love them as their own. It has been my privilege to paint the faces and images of these children where they can play and be happy in a safe environment. It is my hope that others may join me in celebrating this wonderful place called Beautiful Gate Lesotho."
Mary Westrate
http://www.artprize.org/63253


This link is for Art Prize in Grand Rapids, MI  September 21 - October 9, 2016.
I am super excited about this exhibit and really want to encourage all of you who live in West MI to please, go out of your way to visit this exhibit. This amazing woman is showing such support, and she has not even been able to come and visit the kids at BG yet. Bring your friends and please, come and show your support for BG at Art Prize this year. I am so bummed that I will not be able to go, so feel free to post a picture on my (Facebook) wall so I can feel like I was a part of it too ;)

Good-bye my dear Friend, I will miss you

There are moments in life where things take you so off balance, there is no where to go but down. I hit a moment like that on Monday and I am still reeling in shock.
I know this kind of thing happens to people all over the world every single day, but I guess you just never get used to it.
A dear friend of mine has very suddenly passed on into the arms of Jesus. Just last month she was messaging me and we were making plans to have her come over for tea. She hadn't been to my new house or met my new daughters yet, so she said she would let me know when she was back in town. This friend used to be our nurse at BG. She was a great nurse, and I think I have blogged about it before, but we were required to let her go (labor dept wouldn't give her a work visa) because she was not a Masotho. As soon as we let her go, the government of Lesotho picked her up as a nurse for a clinic up in the mountains (don't even get me started on the hypocrisy of that decision of the Lesotho labor department). Her new clinic was in a mountainous area of Lesotho and the only way to really get there was through MAF flights. When she had time off, she would go visit her husband and son in Zimbabwe (her home country), but on her way back, she would stop by and see us at BG when time permitted.
Her precious daughter died a few years ago, and my friend missed her daughter so much. My one comfort right now is that they are united in heaven and her longing for her precious daughter is healed. But for those that remain, it is just heartbreaking. We didn't even know she was sick, and now she is gone. I hate that I didn't get to visit her, or pray with her when she was sick. She gave up so much to come to Lesotho in order to find work and provide for her family, and it feels so unfair that this is how it ends. I know that God's timing is always the best timing. I am grateful that He blessed Lesotho with a woman who knew how to love and serve others more than herself. I am grateful that I could call Patty my friend. We could talk about what it was like being foreigners in Lesotho and share fond memories we had of our home countries. I admired the love she had for her family and what she sacrificed to help them thrive. This country has lost a beautiful angel of love and mercy, but God has gained a very good and faithful servant.
I miss you terribly, Patty and I look forward to worshipping our Father in heaven together one day. You made me feel loved and appreciated as your boss even when we cried together because I had to let you go. You cared for the children and staff at BG with great patience and grace. You handled frustration with grace, and confronted in love. I am blessed beyond measure to have been lucky enough to call you my friend.