two new kids

I wanted to introduce to you all two new children that are now finding OLA their new home.

When we went yesterday, we had the privilege to meet Susanna (she is below). She is four years old and she moved in on Saturday. Of course, "moving in" does not mean what we think. It means for Susanna that she was taken away from her mother who had gone crazy and stopped caring for her awhile ago. It means that without prior knowledge to this four year old, she was taken to this children's home to be fed and looked after and in some ways, loved on for the first time in a long time. It had been reported that others found that little Susanna had stopped being cared for and that she wasn't eating or people found her looking for food anywhere she could find it. When others came to investigate, they had realized that her mother had gone mad and was no longer caring for her daughter. Susanna was caring for herself and as best as she could, and she was caring for her mother as well.

Please pray for her because since she has come to the home, she has not said a word to anybody. Nothing, not one peep. Not one complaint, not one tear, not one acknowledgement of changes in her daily life.

Sami (our youngest) played Legos with her almost the whole hour we were there. She engaged a bit, but not with enthusiasm nor joy. Our hearts were motivated by love to encourage her, but she is just a four year old girl who probably does not understand that for the time being, this home is her best interest. All she knows is that she is with strangers and that her mother is not a part of her daily life. Please pray for her. That she will allow God to put back some pieces that have been torn off of her heart at way too early of an age. That she will see us "strangers" eventually as friends she can trust and maybe move forward to beginning to trust God.

Of course, I have shown you this picture of Joseph before, but it is the best one I have, so please pray for him as well. He is probably about 4 or 5 weeks old now. His mother died while giving birth to him. From what we have been told, she was "way too young" to be having children and a boy (again, way too young to be producing children) is the father, who doesn't even really understand what that means. When the mother died, her parents did the best they could to care for little Joseph for about the first two weeks. At that point, they realized they were not able to care for him in a way that was healthy. So little Joseph found his home at OLA, in the hospital section until he is strong enough to cross to the orphanage side. They have told me that it will be in about three more weeks.

Joseph came in very malnourished and weak, almost not able to survive the day. BUT, praise God for the grandparents who had the wisdom to bring him in before it was too late and he is receiving good baby formula and he is receiving love, prayers and snuggles each and every day.

A mad mother, a dead mother..... what do you do with these circumstances when you get older and realize the impact of these women? How will Susanna and Joseph respond at their point in life when the "light bulb" goes off and they recognize the reality of their mothers? I don't have the answers to these questions, but what I can do is "adopt the moment."

The Lord is really showing me the impact of adopting the moments with these children. Tomorrow's blog entry will be all about what that means in this ministry and for each of us who make that choice.

Thanks for your prayers and your encouragement. God Bless.