A week of Justice

This week has been all about Justice.
We have worked hard to make sure that a young girl who was being raped nightly by an orphanage director is finally going to be properly cared for.

We are working out all the details for a little 4 year old girl weighing 14.7 pounds to be placed in a decent home this week, so she can get the care she needs..

We are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for orphanage homes with corrupt and negligent directors who will soon be closed once and for all. After years of working hard for the justice of these neglected and abused kids, we see that a system is now being set in place so that the social welfare office can take these homes to court to bring final closure to them.

We are actively working to find healthy solutions for each child within these homes. We are blessed to have such favor within the country and government to help bring about change in this Nation. We see God doing amazing things here.

This week we made an amazing connection with a Former Liberian resident now living in New York, who is also taking action to help the many needy children in Liberia. She is building a state of the art Boarding School for 4 to 10 year olds. It will open in August. This school will be run by two very capable nuns, who love God passionately. Through our meeting, she committed to accept children meeting their criteria who will no longer have a home when their orphanage is finally closed down. In working along side the social welfare office, we see this as the number one problem the Government will have once these closures begin to happen. We are now starting to see God answer our prayers to this impending dilemma. We have realized that if the Government does not have a place for these children to go, then the closures will not happen. This is critical for action to be taken.


Another highlight has been my meetings with the orphanage directors who are doing a great job with their children. Working with each of them for a plan of manageability, was another personal goal on this trip. We have had many planning conversations regarding the number of kids they each feel they can realistically take care of when their new businesses are running at capacity. Having a plan for sustaining themselves and not being dependent on others, has always been our goal for these homes. My challenge to them is to duplicate themselves through mentoring their friends to each take a child to help share the load. These conversations were very encouraging and productive.

I will leave Liberia with a full heart yet again, and continue to have full confidence in God and our field team left on the ground. Coming back to Texas I will continue to fight for these kids lives and future along with our other office personnel who are equally passionate in these efforts.

Kissing the orphan and kissing the President: Update from Liberia

Bombed out vehicles lined the streets as far as your eyes could see. Buildings were decimated by fire and bullets and overflowing with squatters.

Just five years ago, when we first came into Liberia, 14 years of civil war had turned Africa’s beacon of prosperity to ruins.

With each trip back since 2005, it has been amazing to see all the structural development. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has been working hard over the last four years to bring restoration to this completely destroyed country.

As far as our work with the orphan children, it has been a slow process in seeing justice prevail. The government is working on new policies so that the homes with corrupt or abusive directors can be legally closed, but this has been a long process and is still taking too much time. On the other hand, we are seeing amazing results in those homes with wonderful, trustworthy directors, yet the kids suffer terribly due to the circumstances of poverty. Through God’s guidance and our amazing staff on the ground, we are having wonderful results with them.

Each day I am surrounded by orphan children starving for affection and love, children who have been discarded by society. My heart breaks for them. They’re desperate, they crave whatever attention they can get.

One such a day last week, God revealed to me a beautiful illustration of His love.

After spending the afternoon at a very needy home leaning down and kissing the sweet little dirty cheeks of neglected children, I stopped by the mansion of the former President of Liberia.

After driving through his security gate lined with men with machine guns, it was evident that he was a very important man here in this country, and I was driving into another world.

In greeting President Blah, I kissed him on each cheek, which is the custom here. He greeted me with a great, warm welcome. We had a wonderful time listening to his stories of God’s faithfulness in keeping him alive through the war and the many death threats and hardships after the civil war ended. It was such an honor to sit and listen to him, and as I left his home, I began to have an epiphany regarding what had just happened in those last few hours.

Within one hour, I went from kissing the cheeks of orphan children, who are the lowest in society here in Africa, to kissing the cheek of the former President, who is esteemed as the highest in society.

God began to reveal His heart through this picture: In most parts of the world people are valued according to what part of society they come from, yet God regards each human life with incredible value and worth. Every single person is priceless, irreplaceable. He intensely loves each equally. God values the orphans the same as he values those from the highest in society such as a President.

May we always strive to value all those in our path as God does. And may we see how our simple acts of mercy can truly change the destiny of someone else’s life..

Liberia trip Nov 28-Dec 11: Checking on team and projects

At the sight of our vehicle, children came screaming and running towards us as we pulled into their orphanage home today. This is always a highlight and an emotional time for me upon each return to Liberia. Opening the door and being mobbed by a sea of black little healthy faces is the most amazing and wonderful sight, as I remember just a short time ago, pulling into this same orphanage with these very same children in huge distress. They had sunken in eyes and very malnourished and skinny little bodies when we first met them. There is nothing more rewarding than being apart of their rescued and transformed lives due to our intervention.

Orphan Relief and Rescue was founded 3 years ago to help the orphans in the orphanages that no one wants to touch. They are the homes in the worst conditions. Our animals in America live in better conditions than most of the orphans here. We want to help change every aspect of that. My husband and I being co-founders reside in Lindale Texas with our 3 kids and travel back in forth to Liberia overseeing the work here.

Our 7 full time International field staff members and Liberian employees are doing a phenomenal job with our programs on the ground here. Our relief, construction, capacity building and child development programs are all in full swing and accomplishing amazing results.

The difficult part of what we do is seeing the many abuses that go on in the homes that have very terrible and selfish directors. We want to see those kids removed once and for all from those homes. I have many meetings set up this coming week regarding this issue with many people of influence. We want to be a part of the solution to this other very real problem. I will keep you posted in next weeks dispatch. Check out our website at www.orphanreliefandrescue.org for more information about what we do.

Tenderized by God

A business man recently asked me this question as I was all teary eyed sharing stories about the kids we are helping in Africa. “How can someone like you who is so practical and matter of fact be on the other hand so mystical and emotional when it comes to what you do in Africa?

I responded by saying that as I touch, feel and see these suffering children and caretakers, I cannot help but feel God’s heart breaking for them and be tenderized by God through being involved in their lives. It is very humbling to be apart of a miracle and answered prayer for these kids. We regularly are making life and death decisions for these children and are constantly needing God to guide us and direct us in all of this. God has touched me in ways that I could not have imagined possible. I feel the presence of God in my life so strong as I do the work and share the stories. It is often difficult to even put this experience into words.

As I was recently reading a devotional by Oswald Chambers, he so adequately described what I was trying to put into words regarding this experience. He is describing this touch by Jesus.
Has Jesus ever looked at you? The look of Jesus transforms and transfixes. Where you are “soft” with God is where the Lord has looked at you.
If you are hard and vindictive, insistent on your own ways, certain that others are in the wrong than you are, it is an indication that there are whole traits of your nature that have never been transformed by His Gaze.

So I can say, this truly summarizes what has happened to me. I have been transformed by God’s Gaze as I am reaching out to these suffering and abandoned little ones. I feel like, I have got a glimpse of Christ through them.

Returning from Liberia

I've just recently returned from a two-week trip to Liberia to personally touch base with our field staff as well as to check on our current and upcoming projects. I took with me two special friends from Crossroads Church in Louisiana, both of whom were a tremendous encouragement to both the children and the field team.

My head and heart are so full returning from seeing all that we are apart of. It's humbling to me that, because you have chosen with us to say 'yes', hundreds of children now have renewed hope for a prosperous future.

The day that I left, I sat in a chair and held so many precious children in my arms, remembering how desperate they were when we found them. One little girl named Esther, who is now 11, was literally dying when I first met her. I remember her squeezing through the crowd of children and nuzzling herself into my lap. Wrapping her arms around my waist and laying her head into my chest, she whispered “l love you Rebecca, please never forget me”. Tears dripped down my face as I whispered back that I love her too, and that I will never forget her. I will always make sure she is okay. As I was whispering this to her, I felt like God whispered to my heart a 'thank you' for saying yes.

Esther represents the thousands of other suffering orphans who have no hope without someone saying 'yes' to help them. It was one of those sobering moments when I once again realized God’s amazing love for each individual child – all of whom have a dream, a destiny and a need for love. I am once again humbled and moved to be a part of it all. (Scroll down on the right column to see Esther's before and after pictures).

Our field team continues to amaze me with what they accomplish with such a small budget. They have shown true ingenuity in utilizing every dollar for its fullest impact on these children’s lives.

Please continue to partner with us so we can keep helping these children. If you are not already partnering with us, please consider giving towards alleviating the suffering of so many others through Orphan Relief and Rescue's work on the ground.

Loving the kids

It has been so great to see all the kids and Directors again at all these orphanages we are helping here. My head is always so full of the magnitude of what we are involved with. It is quite an overwhelming task as we see so much need. We truly have to have wisdom as to what we touch and what we don't touch. This is definitely a challenge. I am so impressed with what has already been accomplished though, just in our first 2 years here.

Orphan Relief and Rescue undertook projects at more than 20 orphanages in Liberia and Benin, including...
Six major construction projects, new dormitories and school buildings
Seven wells dug or rehabilitated
Six new latrine and shower blocks
More than one ton of food delivered every month -- more than 50,000 lbs to date
Hundreds of children protected by mosquito nets and screens
Hundreds of children off the floor and into beds with quality, hygenic mattresses
Seeds, tools, and training to help plant hundreds of acres every year
Monitoring to prevent abuse and advocacy to protect those most at risk
Hundreds of children treated regularly for parasites and skin ailments
Established partnerships with local clinics to provide ongoing primary healthcare
Pigs, chickens, and goats purchased for raising

I am in awe of what God has allowed us to be apart of.

Off to Liberia

I am off to Liberia today. Sat. April 18. Please keep us in your prayers. My family back home here in Texas, as well as our travels and ministry times there with the team on the ground and the orphanage work.

I am bringing a Pastor's wife from Louisiana named Sharon, as well as a member of her church named Sam. We will be focusing on working with our child development program there.

I will update this blog while there, so you can check this for more details of the trip.

God's faithfulness

I am happy to say that all the finances came in for my plane ticket to Liberia. So the tickets are now purchased for April 18th.
Each trip is always unique and exciting because of being able to touch and feel the kids that we are helping. There is nothing more rewarding than touching these kids whom just a short time ago were so hungry and truly suffering. They look so healthy with each returning trip that I come on. I love just putting their faces in my hands and looking them into their now healthy eyes. What miracles!! We are so thankful for being able to do what we do.

Getting ready to go to Liberia April 18

My next trip coming up is April 18. Financially things have been really tight with Orphan Relief and Rescue due to the decrease in donations in the last couple of months, so at this moment I do not have the finances for my trip. Tim and I do not want to take any money from our projects, so we are trusting God for these extra finances for this trip. The crazy cost of 2400 for the ticket is always a challenge. I currently have 500 that has come in for this trip.
So my deadline is to have this by this next Friday or this trip will not happen.

This trip is to check on all our existing projects going on in the field, as well as to meet with the different team members with each of their job descriptions. This is important to make sure they each have what they need to continue to work effectively. We have realized you can only do so much by the phone and email. It takes me about 3 trips a year to do these face to face meetings to make sure things flow well. I also want to touch base with all our government friends that we continue to build strong relationships with, so that the change we want to see with these homes are country wide, not just with the ones we touch.

This month we are also implementing our new Child Development program which we are very excited about. Our field team is just beginning this.

This program is where we are focusing on specific areas with the children we are involved with. Encouraging Spiritual, emotional and physical growth.
This is done through: One on one-mentorship relationships, (done with church teams, and field staff). Support groups for the post war traumatized children as well as the sexually and abused children. Seminars done by professionals brought in. As well as being able to link these children with the educational/vocational tools they need to succeed in a profession.

Our ultimate goal is to see each child come into a healthy and whole relationship with Christ and others, to become the next healthy leaders of their country.

A church in Louisiana is the first one to partner with us in this. The pastor's wife and another church member are hoping to make this trip with me in April. This is all great stuff we are excited about.

So please keep us in your prayers for this trip as well as for others to link arms with us to help with the fundraising for these kids.

Official Celebration of the Opening of New Orphanage in Benin

On our Valentines Day here in the US, A small community in Benin West Africa was celebrating the official opening of the new Orphanage home "House of Hope". The children were all dressed in their new African matching outfits. There was food, singing, dancing and over all celebrating God's miracle for them.

We continue to be in awe of this new home for these kids who have no mother or father to care for them.