Seeing Justice

My Liberia trip this month was very successful. It was definitely one of the harder trips. With no running water, a few days of no power, creatures invading the team house and club music playing next door till midnight each night to name just a few of the hardships. The thing that always pull me through these type of trips is seeing God do crazy stuff in the lives of those we are serving as well as in my own life and the lives of our field team.

Without the God element, there is no way I could live this kind of life. I am too much a creature of comfort. The joke is that I am not a camping type person, yet as I choose to walk in the life God has asked of me, I am never at a loss of the awe-ha moments of seeing God do one crazy thing after the next.

I am so in awe of the incredible favor we have with the Government of Liberia. I am in awe of all the healthy Children we are helping who not long ago were on their death beds. I am in awe of the orphanage directors who had to listen to their children cry themselves to sleep due to empty stomachs, who now have adequate food and sanitary conditions to live in. I am in awe of children who had no hope for a future, and are able to now dream big.
We are seeing Justice come to pass for so many children.

With all the success stories there are still big prayer points. One big prayer point is for the many displaced orphans that come into the system when their orphanage is closed due to negligent and awful directors. This issue is never far from my thoughts. God has a way of not letting me get away with ignoring large needs that are close to His heart. He tends to put them right in front of my face as if to say “Rebecca this one is what I want you to pay close attention to.”. The children from the closed homes are ending up in some of the full orphanages that we are helping and it is really a sad situation because they are just another mouth to feed. They are a huge burden and not considered a welcomed guest. The children are so precious and yet do not belong anywhere. The government is asking us to build a transit center for the purpose of finding adequate homes for the children, and they pleaded with us extra intensely while I was there. They know where we are financially, but they still ask. My heart aches for those kids. All we can do is share the stories with others and pray God will provide an answer for these precious children. Two girls who are displaced grabbed my heart on this trip. They are both named Mary. One is about 8 and the other 12. I called them big Mary and little Mary. They followed me everywhere at one of the homes we help. Them clinging to me, just broke my heart. They would stroke my hair and hug me with longing eyes every moment they could. Out of all 80 kids in the home, I knew God specifically set it up that those two girls would be who God would use to rip my heart apart to represent the huge number of displaced kids that do not belong anywhere. Big Mary and Little Mary have captured my mothers heart and the fight in me will continue till an answer is found for the many others who God is wanting us to fight for. Will you join with me in praying for a transition center to come to pass in God’s perfect timing.

A Real Miracle

Nearly five years ago, a baby girl who was near death was dropped off at an orphanage during the same time we had stepped in to help their distressing home in Liberia. The story given by the people dropping her off was that the child’s mother was mentally ill and had given birth to six babies before this little one. All the children had died before reaching the age of one, due to the severe neglect of the mother, who would leave her children alone in the home for long periods of time. One child was taken over by ants and died; another was repeatedly bitten by unknown animals (possibly rodents) and died. So this little girl was rescued by neighbors who could not bear to see another child die in the hands of this neglectful mother. After hearing her distressing cries day after day, they took her and dropped her off at the only home they felt would take her.

The director of the home was a loving mother, and she stayed up night after night nursing the girl back to health. The director had 85 other children to care for, yet she took that extra time with this little one to save her life. The little girl was given the name Miracle Rebecca because her life truly was a miracle, and we were very involved at the time with their home. When we started working with this orphanage, the 85 children were extremely hungry; they had not eaten for three days. They were living in horrible conditions and suffering terribly. No one else was helping them. Finding the directors to be highly credible and honest people, simply victims of the civil war and poverty, we immediately started dropping off food and then helped them get their home up to sanitary conditions. Because of that, today Miracle and the rest of the children in the home are doing amazingly well. The director reminds us that, had we not come to their aid when we did, many of her children may not be alive today, and she would never have been in the position to accept Miracle into her home. Many lives were rescued due to our involvement and God’s provision. Thank you for making these stories possible by your partnership with us.

On my way to Liberia

On my way to Liberia today. Having unexpected Layovers and delays, yet God is asking me to just give my every emotion and thought to HIm. Nothing ever goes as planned with Africa travel and I need to not let anything bother me.
Excited to see the kids and orphanage directors. Excited to meet with the Government. Excited to see what God is going to do on this trip. Will keep you posted! Stay tuned.