Forty -five days ago I started a whirlwind travel schedule
that flew me 29,328 miles
(or 47,198 km) around the world.
I met with people in Honolulu, Hawaii; Venice, Italy; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Edmonton, Alberta to talk
about the desperate
situation of the children of the Kingdom of Swaziland and how we can make a difference to a single baby while giving hope to a dying nation.
situation of the children of the Kingdom of Swaziland and how we can make a difference to a single baby while giving hope to a dying nation.
The response has been good and I choose to believe that
people do want to help. We have
plans from the Hawaiians to start roasting and selling private-label coffee on
Project Canaan to help generate income for the farm. Some of the people we met in Venice, Italy want to help us
get a Free Range Egg farm up and running to help provide the nearly perfect
protein for orphans and vulnerable children. Our friends from the MedAssets Healthcare Business Summit in Las Vegas are
working to provide medical supplies and equipment for the El Rofi Medical
Center and the El Roi Baby Home (including a special shout out to the German
company DRAGER for committing to donate a new Isolette, Incubator and Baby
Ventilator). And our friends in
Edmonton, Alberta (New Life Community Church) raised $40,000 for needs and
further development of the El Roi home for abandoned babies.
On top of that, we have people working on accessing water
from the natural springs at the top of the property and Rotary International is
raising funds to build a huge dam at the bottom to capture the water from those
springs, while others are looking at how to generate hydro-electric power as it
flows down the mountain. We even
have long term volunteers from California, Arizona, Wisconsin and Afghanistan
(serving as a Captain in the US Army) preparing to come and live at Project
Canaan for one to two years! God
is clearly sending the people and the expertise that is required for this
massive project. We are thankful
for all the ways He provides.
But, I have to be honest. While I really DO get excited about coffee and eggs (the
perfect breakfast) and medical supplies and incubators, these things just don’t
compare to the news that little Baby Anna has arrived at El Roi!
Baby Anna was born on February 13, 2012 and, while we
don't know many specifics around her birth, we do know that she was dropped
into a deep pit latrine (outhouse/outdoor toilet) and left to die a terrifying
death. A stranger was walking by, heard the cries from this tiny newborn
baby and immediately called the police.
She was rescued and taken to the government hospital where she was cleaned up, cared for and treated for a chest problem. For six weeks we have been trying to have Anna released into our care, but the police were still investigating and trying to find her mother and so the child was kept at the hospital. After much prayer and appeal to the highest powers, we finally got the phone call and Anna arrived home on Wednesday, April 18th! She is baby #5 and we give thanks for her life.
She was rescued and taken to the government hospital where she was cleaned up, cared for and treated for a chest problem. For six weeks we have been trying to have Anna released into our care, but the police were still investigating and trying to find her mother and so the child was kept at the hospital. After much prayer and appeal to the highest powers, we finally got the phone call and Anna arrived home on Wednesday, April 18th! She is baby #5 and we give thanks for her life.
That is one half of my life. Here is the other.
My mom is struggling with frontal lobe dementia in a nursing
home in Guelph, Ontario and my heart continues to break for her. She has no brain filter system left and
her anger/frustration is manifested with flying food trays and scratching and
biting her caregivers. She is
completely immobile and rarely gets out of bed (which requires two people and a
Hoya lift). My heart hurts for
this woman who served the Lord her whole life, but is now trapped in a body
that is broken and hurting. For
those of you who struggle with aged parents, know that my prayers are with
you. Mom’s most recent attempt at
escape (via a Bahamian cruise) did provide a little levity to the family mood,
but passed quickly.
My pride
and joy these days are my beautiful children, Spencer and Chloe. Never have I been more proud of my
children than in these final days of preparing for life change. Spencer has decided to go to Florida
State University (to study Communications) and we are all trying to get our
heads around leaving this young Canadian in America while we head off to the
Dark Continent. Swaziland hasn’t
really felt that far away from Atlanta because it is always in my heart and
mind, but Tallahassee Florida seems like a million miles from the Matsapha
Airport in Swaziland. How is it possible
that my little blond boy is preparing to graduate from high school on May 19th? Spencer turns 18 in June and is ready
to take on the world – I pray that when that time comes that I will be ready to
release him.
Chloe is turning 16 in July and will jump right into the
middle of 10th grade on June 6th since school in Africa
runs January to December. Most
“soon to be” 16-year-olds would be freaking out at the thought of moving to
Africa, but not our Chloe. She is
the bravest, sweetest, most loving child that I know and she truly sees the
hand of God directing her path to live and serve in Swaziland. Her maturity and faith far exceed her
age and she is light years ahead of where I was at her age (remember, I got
shipped off to boarding school for a bad attitude when I was 16 … point
taken?).
There are a lot of moving parts in our lives right now, but
God is faithful and has encouraged us, carried up, consoled us and amazed us
each and every day of this journey.
May 31, 2012 is our departure date and it is coming
quickly. My speaking engagements
and travels are finished until the day I get on a plane to South Africa. For the next month I so look forward to
serving my family, cooking great meals, baking, helping with “University
stuff”, planning birthday parties and a fun graduation celebration. While my emotions seem to pour out of
my eyes at the most inappropriate times, I do plan to laugh a lot and give
thanks continually.
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to
look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from
being polluted by the world." James 1:27
Janine
