2016 Happenings, the Children and Our Family

For us and the dedicated mothers that love on our children here, this year might be described as the year of the babies.  Two years ago we had our first year of having no babies under age one since our first baby rush in 2011 but this year we are definitely at full baby capacity once again!  In fact, just in 2016 we received 3 new babies and if you add that to the four that we had that means that we currently have 7 babies age young two or under!  Definitely a full house!.  Thankfully, two will be transitioning back home soon as their fathers are still alive and they are no longer in need of formula anymore.  Both Lulangillo and Martha’s parents died right after childbirth and with no one to be able to provide for the needs of such tiny babies we made a temporary agreement to help care for them the first year of their life and what a blessing they have been to us.  While it is hard to let them go we know that their best place is with family if at all possible and we trust the Lord to watch after these precious ones that He allowed us to be a part of for this short time.

Our newest addition however, baby Samson, is quite a miracle and we are so blessed by God’s provision in his little life. He was birthed in the bush somewhere in the night or early morning and abandoned by his mother who is mentally challenged and not in touch with reality.  Somehow by the grace of God, his grandmother heard crying and went lookingin the bush.  When she discovered him he was lying on the bare ground, completely naked, placenta and umbilical chord still attached, and he was very very cold.  She quickly bathed him in warm water, wrapped him in a warm blanket and brought him to us.  When we took his temperature and found it to only be 75F (25C) we immediately started praying and kangarooing him (heating him up skin to skin).  Praise God that after 5 hours his body temperature was back up to normal.  Now, only a few days old he is doing great and seems to be thriving.  What a special story of God’s provision in so many ways, that it didn’t rain that night, that no dogs got to this tiny baby and that his grandmother was able to hear and find him.  He is a living miracle and we believe that God has big plans for this little survivor.

Due to space we did have to turn down caring for one little baby earlier in the year..  Baby Grace came to us after her mother died but due to the young age of our 6 other little babies we were not able to care for her on a long term basis.  Pamela though, (one of our original eight and the eldest of our our children) who is busy finishing her youth sewing school and learning how to start a sewing business of her own, proved to be a great mother in training as she cared for this precious baby by us for 3 days until we were able to transfer her to the nearest children’s home 25k (1 hour) away from us.  It is such a joy to see Pamela growing up into a mature and responsible young lady and while transition periods are always hard, we pray and hope good things for both her and baby Grace.

Our other children are thriving and doing well although they are quickly outgrowing our current housing situation so we are praying for provisions on how to expand some.   This year we decided that we wanted to make sure that our older girls here in the village were good with their education foundations so we pulled Gertrude, Otavia and Millium from the government school (8km 10 + miles away) to give them a private teacher for the year.  When Precious (who was in town studying sewing) heard she asked to come back to continue her studies and we agreed.  The teacher did a wonderful job and I am so proud of these girls hard work this year.  They have grown by leaps and bounds and we look forward to seeing how they do for their big grade 7 exams next year.  Please pray that their re-entry back into the government school goes well and that they continue to stay on the straight and narrow in terms of their education, moral compass, peers, and the influence that others have on them.

The younger children at our children’s home are doing great and loving the preschool/ beginning primary school that we have operating.  The 5 teachers that we have are proving such gems and have done a great job being more independent than ever before. We are so proud of the progress that they and the students have made and their love for all these kids is so evident in all that they do.  The progress on the community primary school building has been slow but we have given the community a deadline of having their part done by Jan 1st so that we can open the week or so after.  So far they seem committed but it has been a long journey and pray that they see it through to the end, for the sake of these students that really want to learn. 

Health wise all of the mothers and children are doing well.  Those that are HIV+ have remained healthy and seem to be doing great and apart from Martha being in hospital for a week this October, we have had no other major health concerns praise God! (just the normal coughs, colds, flu’s, skin infections and diarrheas that plague the village life).  We have noticed however that some of our housemother’s age is starting to show (especially our senior Housemother Ennie) so please pray that God will give her all the strength and energy that she needs for the task at hand.  She is such a special lady and an important part of the children’s home here. 

The teenagers in town are loving their new “home” and the housemother Purity is really doing a great job teaching them life skills and helping them to navigate the stormy waters of transitioning from children to young adults.  The studies in town are very difficult compared to the village so please pray that God will continue to help them learn, focus, and be concerned about the things of God and not the things of this world (like boys, girls, clothing, phones , peer pressure etc).  Watching them in their transformation has been amazing and everyone loves when they come home to visit, especially all their little brothers and sisters here.

Our family however has had it share of medical challenges this year with Jakob experiencing frequent headaches and migraines (like his mother did when she was his age), Jeremiah we discovered has developed quite a serious reaction to bee stings (which is a concern considering how many there are around here), Jako had a bout with Malaria, has to be very careful with his back and has been battling a lot of neck pain lately, and Amber spent a week in hospital in South Africa from some bad complications from flu.  Her knees are still giving her a lot of pain but we are hoping that her knee surgery December 15th will provide a bit of relief from that.  In all of this God has proved himself faithful again and again.

In terms of our other family life we are doing well.  Amber has been busy homeschooling Jakob for grade K and she has really enjoyed seeing him progress in areas that he really struggled with at the beginning – like reading.  Jeremiah is excited to start “mommy school” next year and the boys enjoyed all the attention that they received from the various teams that came.  Jakob now has a love of robots and loves playing with all his friends from the children’s home while Jeremiah, our independent one, loves playing with his brother or friends but also following around momma and papa wanting to help wherever he can.  They both are developing very soft hearts and a desire to help others who are in need.  We and they are definitely blessed.