Who knew? God knew.

 

In 2008 we were leading a team of volunteers in Swaziland from the US and welcomed a family from Charlevoix, Michigan.  I remember them will for a variety of reasons. First, the father was a dentist and was going to work with Dr. Mark McGee doing dental work for the whole week. The second reason was that her brother (a strong, fit young man) fainted out in a homestead visit while we all stood and held hands to pray. He was dehydrated and anyone who has traveled with us since then has heard us tell how important it is to drink a lot of water because he this young man could get dehydrated, anyone could.  (As an aside, he chipped his tooth when he fell and his dentist father had to glue the tooth back together back at the hotel. Great to have a dentist as your father).

The third reason that I remembered them was that almost all of their luggage was lost, and the 14-year-old girl (Jane) had none of her own clothes to wear.  Most girls that age would be very upset, but Jane just went with it and even had to borrow clothes from her older brother all week without a single complaint.  Her luggage never did arrive and since that trip the whole family only travels with carry-on luggage!

Today I saw that young girl, Jane, again. She is now 23-years-old.  In fact, Jane has been with us for the past month here in Swaziland.  She and Spencer have been dating for the past few years and have now graduated from University.  Both plan to go on to graduate school and decided to take the next two months to go on a trip of a lifetime (as if Africa wasn’t enough!). 

Today we put them on a shuttle to Johannesburg where they will take an 8-hour flight to Abu Dhabi.  Then they will take another 8-hour flight to Vietnam.  They will backpack through Vietnam for 23 days and the move on to Thailand for 20 days, finishing up their adventure in Indonesia for 17 days. 

We are so incredibly proud of both of them and their desire to stretch themselves, learn about the world, and learn about each other as they look towards and unknown future in a world where nothing is certain. 

What they both do know for sure is that God brought them together when they were 13/14-years old and God has a plan for their lives. As we said goodbye to them, Ian prayed over them for protection, peace and joy.  We look forward to following their adventures over the next months, and there is a part of us that envies the carefree time that they have to explore the world.

So, what is the moral of this story? You just never know who you are going to meet on an 11-day service trip with Heart for Africa!

Live from Swaziland … our nest is empty again (except for the other 148).

Janine

My mind is wandering ...

The Indian Ocean from our bedroom balcony.

I am writing this blog while looking out over the Indian Ocean, and my mind is wandering as I stare at the waves and am lulled by the sound of the water crashing on the rocks below me.  It’s funny how the mind wanders, isn’t it?

Ian, Spencer and Chloe are all with me and I am so thankful for this family holiday time together.  Then my mind wanders to my mom, Bernice, who is in a Nursing Home in Canada, and whom I miss a great deal.  She would love going deep-sea fishing with Spencer and Ian tomorrow, but alas, that is not possible and it makes me sad. 

 

Then my mind wanders from my mom to Ian’s mom, and I am reminded that it is her birthday today. What a gift it was to us that both of Ian’s parents are alive and healthy and celebrating birthdays still.   

The thought of her birthday leads me to our Baby Seth, who also is celebrating a birthday today – his FIRST.  Seth is HIV positive and has been on life-giving, life-saving treatment since the day he came to us.  His Mother had eight other children and allegedly killed the last one two years ago. She couldn’t care for another baby so dumped Seth in a pit latrine and walked away. The neighbors found the baby, called police and baby was taken to hospital.  Mother was found and was arrested and put in prison.  We have no idea how long Seth will live, but without a significant improvement in the Anti-retroviral treatment that he is being given, it is unlikely that he will live the life that my mom or Ian’s mom have enjoyed.

That leads my mind to the baby who we received just 3-days ago on New Year’s Eve – he wasn’t dumped, but would have been if a Social Welfare Officer hadn’t decided to work overtime to save that baby’s life.  This baby was born on December 27^th to a young girl who was raped when she was 12-years old by a family friend.  At the tender age of 13 years she had a C-Section and delivered an 8.2 LB baby boy (the largest I have seen in Swaziland).  The mother was discharged from the hospital on December 31^st and took public transportation to Manzini to beg the Social Welfare Office for help.  Neither she, nor anyone in the family wanted anything to do with the baby. They were ashamed, afraid, but didn’t want to harm the baby. Spencer and I drove to town to meet the young mother and the baby’s Grandmother and as they handed the baby to me, they wept and thanked us for saving his little life.

 

Spencer holding 3-day old Baby Russell.

Spencer holding Chloe when she was 3 days old.

That thought lead me back to my own parents, who accepted me from a 15-year old girl who got pregnant when she was only 14-years old.  That family too was ashamed, afraid and did want anything to do with me, the baby in 1963.  My adopted parents, Russell and Bernice Willis, came to my rescue and welcomed me with open arms.  The little baby boy who Spencer and I picked up on New Year’s Eve was named Russell, after my own Dad who loved me and cared for me as his own. 

Matheson, Ontario 1963.

I shared the story of my 15-year old biological mother with the Baby Russell’s 13-year old mother and his young Grandmother.  I could speak with great authority to the fact that God’s plans are not our plans, but I sure am glad that God allowed my mother to get pregnant at that young age so that I could be there on New Year’s Eve, 51 years later, to receive Baby Russell.  He doesn't waste anything.

^“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”  Jeremiah 29:11-13

Isn’t that a great scripture? Don’t be afraid of His plans friends.  Seek him with all your heart and you will find Him.

Live from Durban, South Africa … I am thankful.

Janine