14 months later...

Malaki, just passing 14 months on the 18th - how time flies... I can still remember 14 months ago when our lives were enriched / forever changed with this amazing little boy. 14 months later... what is he up too?

- Kicking the soccer ball around the entire house. (really, dribbling the soccer ball as though he was taught at some point!)

- Talking up a storm, especially when he is with Papi.

- He likes to try to do a head stand looking through his legs upside down. (he often finds it amusing and laughs at himself)

- He really enjoys spending time with Desire who is now 16 months old. They are with each other almost everyday, and chase each other around the house. The staff and I find ourselves always watching them in laughs!

- He also really likes to look at all the pictures of family hanging from our walls (ALL over the place!) He points and tries to say things...

And to sum it up, it's really been a nice season with him. Maybe the easiest time thus far as he is growing alot more independent and has a happy character. He hasn't been sick for quite some time now, and we are grateful for this. I love, love the pictures above. Especially the one where they are both raising their foreheads as they watch Kay (our dog) fight her temptation to eat our rabbits as they tease her by coming to the edge of the fence! All our love...

Encouraged, indeed.

On Friday, we welcomed a group of Americans and (1) German to our land to join us in praying over the land, the Children's Village (The Village of Jeremiah 29:11) and to simply give thanks to God for bringing us this far... From left to right, Kelly, Sasha (Sara) :o), Kristina, Bill, myself and Stefan. They are in Burundi for a short, yet impacting time teaching English among many other things.... It was such an encouraging time for us as they prayed earnestly for God's will to be done. They came to us for a great purpose, declaring and bringing to remembrance the promises God, therefore I say, we were encouraged, indeed.

On a side note, last night I was extremely broken as we were at a baptismal celebration and I saw something that just made me stand still for a moment. The mother of one of our boys, who gave him up because he was born out of prostitution, the family rejected him, and they were extremely poor unable to find the means to eat... she was also at the celebration. As I walked around the back of the house, I saw her emptying all the remaining morsel's of food from some 50 or so guest plates into a plastic bag for her family to eat that night. I remember during the interview and time of assessment she was asked by someone why she was wearing a clothing that looked new, being that her family was often hungry. She replied "even poor people have pride, and if they have to attend a meeting, they can only hope that clothing can be borrowed from a friend for the occasion..." I have learned alot from these moments. She is among the many, too many of women that turn to prostitution because they see their children starve, they themselves are hungry, unmarried or widowed and are simply desperate". They need help. And hopefully with that help, at some point they can begin to help themselves and through Christ they can be made whole again.

On a third note, yesterday morning a woman came to our house saying that she was exercising when she came across this boy in the road that looked very bad. She told me "he has worms in his fingers, he's about 7, lives in the streets... just lost his job. (Just lost his job? "I thought!") She persisted, please take him, he is in desperate need of help. There goes my fragile heart again. Broken and dismayed. The reality is, street children need alot of different attention that we don't offer right now and also alot of one on one counseling and medical attention. We have 2 children's homes for children who don't have families and need families. But working with street children, that have been raped, that do drugs, steal, beat and have no sense of discipline... you have to use wisdom in that. So then the question comes. What happens to this boy? Who can help him? That question ate at me all day...

We have been thinking on a transition house for street children, meaning a temporary place to sleep in the midst of helping to relocate their families or finding them a new one, counseling, feeding them, loving them and seeing them delivered from the life of begging, stealing and living in the streets. Key words in this paragraph are "we have been thinking"! It's a burden to both Isai and my heart, and we both have a some experience in working with children in that kind of situation... we are just seeking direction from God. Also, trying to get connected with other organizations here who work with children in the streets to see if they are able to help this need in our province, or would like to consider a partnership etc. Who knows... but one thing I do know, is that someone has to help them. They need a helping hand. Please be praying for us as we seek God's direction in this, as it's found time and time again to be a burden within our hearts. Many children come to us from the streets and we are not able to take them into our 2 homes... we just don't have the space. However, God will make a way, where there is no way. All our love...

You are my sunshine.

Mala, enjoying walking around... just mastered getting down the one step to make it outside when our front door is open. Interesting enough our dogs Maya and Kay are so concerned with him that they watch every move and when he falls, they run to his rescue licking him to ensure he's ok. Yes, this is a glimpse of today.

On a side note, we had an awesome time with some friends in Buja for a few days. Well, really family. While in Buja, we also were invited to a meeting from the Minister of Solidarity to gather all organizations, people and churches working with orphaned children. It was a very insightful meeting as they gave us trainings on minimal standards they expect as we care for children. Currently there are 98 different homes for orphaned children. Yes. This is a massive amount for a country that is the size of Maryland. There is over 5,000 children in care within these homes, and still the need is vast. I commend the government for taking time to focus on good solutions in caring for their orphaned, abandoned and vulnerable children that are many. This meeting was surely the beginning of something positive towards child care and standards for the nation.

Today is our children's last day of school, their teachers are praising them for improving so much in their studies; its really encouraging to see them doing great in school. They go to visit their villages on Monday and have the choice of how many days they want to stay up to 2 weeks visiting siblings, friends and neighbors. Some of our children want the whole 2 weeks, others 3 days or so... we encourage them to remain connected with their families, but do not force it. We are happy that all want to visit their families; and all their families are able to receive and feed them for a short time.

Besides all this good stuff written above. Life is normal as usual. Lately it's been an exciting time as the fire of God has been coming down and the Holy Spirit has been moving and transforming so many. What do I mean by this. It's like you go to visit someone and the Holy Spirit is pouring our words of wisdom, words of knowledge and prophetic words... as though God is speaking to His people. Reminding them, hold on to that hope, seek me and your joy will be restored. God is speaking, and if we are willing to listen, if we are willing to yield ourselves, we are but an instrument in the hands of God for Him to speak to His people. It's but a reminder in our hearts of the urgency of the times we are living in. Jesus is returning... this is a reality near to our hearts.

Hanging on.

Literally, it's one of Malaki's favorite things to do with Isai. Hang from the ropes where we hang our clothes to dry. Believe it or not, Mal is strong enough to hang on all by himself! Also, I threw in there a pic of Mal loving on David... it's nice to see how they grow on each other. Malaki has been very sensitive and affectionate lately approaching the kids with his arms open to then rest his head on their shoulders. It's just precious. He tried it with Desire who is just 2 months older, and they both toppled down on top of one another.

It's a good time in life right now... we are healthy and together doing what we were created to do in life. Many seasons of hardship, as for this season, well... I'll enjoy the rest, stillness and contentment that my soul often finds these days. Sometimes in life, we need to just hang on. All our love...