We now have 100 children under the age of five.

It is hard to fathom that Baby #100 arrived this week. My heart rejoices that another little life was saved, only to break again as I think back through the past 3 ½ years of pain and suffering felt by these innocent and helpless babies.   We have received many babies who have been dumped in pit latrines (outdoor toilets), left on the side of a river, lit on fire by their parents or are the result of incest and/or rape.  In fact, at least 30 of our children have been born to mothers who were ages 12-15 years old.  It is heart breaking and there are many days that I want to stick my head in the sand and pretend that this is not happening, but it is.

On March 1, 2012 we received our first baby. His name is Joshua. His mother was mentally unstable and unable to care for him and his father was unknown. After trying to abort the baby several times without success, Joshua’s mother decided to contact Social Welfare in order to try and find a solution for her unborn child. Joshua arrived at the baby home when he was just a few weeks old, covered in syphilis and sick with other medical issues.  Today he is healthy and strong.

His own mother named him Joshua after hearing that he would be living at Project Canaan.  She knew the biblical story of Joshua entering the “promised land” of Canaan and knew that he must have that name since he was the first to arrive.  The Lord told Joshua that Canaan would be a land flowing with milk and honey and true to that, Project Canaan now has 73 cows providing milk and the bees are making honey for us to sell. 

On August 27, 2015 we received our 100^th baby.  His name is Sipho, which in English means “Gift” and he truly is a gift to us. Sipho has been living in the nurse’s station at a hospital for the past three weeks after his mother was admitted to the Psychiatric hospital. He arrived to us with pneumonia, anemia and is HIV positive, but he has the biggest smile and laughs quickly and easily.  He is home now and is receiving one-on-one care by highly trained people and two full time nurses.

We have 51 full time staff at the Children’s Campus on Project Canaan.  That includes cooks, cleaners, nurses, Aunties, Uncles and a nightshift for the smaller babies.  All of this happens under the close watch of Helen Muli, who I want to mention by name now.  Helen is love and you can see that in the photos I have attached of her in 2012 and now with Sipho in 2015.  Thank you Helen for your sacrifices, your leadership, your friendship and most of all your commitment to serving our Lord in everything you do.

 

Now, if you are reading this, I am asking for your help.  I am asking for 100 of you to give $100 for our 100 faces of hope to help us celebrate this milestone in our journey.   For some of you that will be a sacrificial gift and for others it is nothing.  Will you partner with us today, right now?

In the US click on 100 Faces of Hope

In Canada please click on 100 Faces of Hope Canada

I also want to say a big THANK YOU to Beth Blaisdell, our Executive Director at Heart for Africa, US because she is the one who created the “100 Faces of Hope” campaign as a way to help us continue to be able to provide the best care possible for these children.  Beth is tireless in working to get people to sign up monthly to support each child who comes in.  None of us ever want to say “no” to an abandoned baby because we don’t have the funds. Thank you Beth for ALL you do in the US to support everyone in Swaziland.  You carry a big load and we are thankful for your commitment and love.

Live from Swaziland … 100 Faces of Hope.  Wow.

Janine