HOPE starts with YOU❣️

February is the often thought of as the month of love with millions of people celebrating Valentine’s Day.  A quick Google search lead me to a statistic that said that is projected that $20.7 billion will be spent in the United States alone this year.  This is how that breaks down:

·      $3.9 billion — Total spending on jewelry for Valentine’s Day.

·      $3.5 billion — Total spending on date night.

·      $2.1 billion — Total spending on clothing.

·      $1.9 billion — Total spending on flowers.

·      $1.8 billion — Total spending on candy!!!!!

·      $933 million — Total spending on greeting cards.

Am I the only person that thinks THAT IS CRAZY?

Here’s an idea – why not sponsor a child at Project Canaan and give that sponsorship to your loved one for Valentine’s Day?   It’s giving the gift of love, and the gift of HOPE starts with you!  You can always add a piece of candy to sweeten it up, but a photo of one of our children is pretty sweet!  You could give primary medical care for a child for only $30/month, or give formula to a small baby for $50/month, or even pay for a night shift Auntie for $100/month.

Today was a big day at Project Canaan because we had TEN little ones move to their next home.  Five babies moved from the El Roi baby home to the toddler home, and five toddlers moved from the toddler home up to Emseni #1.   There is a video below of their welcome to the Emseni campus.  Of these ten children, six of them are sponsored and four are not.  Here is who moved, and who needs sponsorship:

Babies home to Toddler home:

Angeline - sponsored

Bruce - sponsored

Cornelius - sponsored

Julian – NOT SPONSORED

Miracle - sponsored

 

Toddlers to Emseni #1:

Amanda - sponsored

Lithle - sponsored

Mandy - NOT SPONSORED

Sbahle - NOT SPONSORED

Peace - NOT SPONSORED

Lithle (sponsored), Peace (not sponsored), Mandy (not sponsored), Sbahle, Amanda (sponsored)

We now have 261 children living at Project Canaan and we are committed to these children until they are 21-years-old.  Most children who come to us arrive in bad physical shape.  Two weeks ago we welcomed little Raphael, who was severely malnourished and immediately admitted to our hospital.  The social worker didn’t know how many days it had been since he had eaten last.  The photo below is of Josiah (a baby we received at birth) and the new guy.  These two boys are two days apart in age, and you can see the size difference from malnutrition and stunting.  

Josiah (left) is sponsored. Raphael is NOT SPONSORED.

Raphael may never catch up to Josiah, but he will grow in strength and stature, now that there is hope for his future.  Isaiah 40:31 says, “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Would you consider sponsoring Raphael or one of our other children today?  HOPE starts when YOU sponsor a child.  I can’t think of a better Valentine’s day gift – the gift of HOPE and LOVE all wrapped up in a child's life❣️

🇺🇸 US: http://bit.ly/hfahopestarts

🇨🇦 Canada:  http://bit.ly/hfahopestartsca

Live from Eswatini … praying for HOPE to be restored for many children this month.

Janine

Coming to a location near you?

Ian and I are on a 30-day journey across the US and Canada sharing with anyone who has ears to hear about what is happening in the tiny Kingdom of Eswatini. This is a trip we take each year and while we thoroughly enjoy visiting with old friends and family, eating in favorite and new restaurants and updating all of our devices with high speed internet (!), the gap between our life in Africa and life in America only gets wider.

During a gathering the other night I found myself telling a story about one of our babies that had jaws drop and eyes bug open. I was, perhaps somewhat haphazardly, sharing the history of our little 11-month-old baby girl whose mother recently tried to strangler her to death in during a state of drunkenness.  My point was to tell everyone how absolutely adorable this little girl is and how much she loves, and responds to Ian. But the story of joy got lost along the way when I told them how she had been left on the ground since birth and it was only other children in the homestead who would pick her up when she cried and tie her on to their backs. The baby was absolutely terrified of adults and also had to come down from alcohol addiction when she first came to us.

I realize after being in Georgia for the past few days how “common” these stories are to us and how “normal” it is to tell a story about babies found in outdoor toilets or how flippant I can sound tossing out an update on a child who has been badly burned (intentionally or unintentionally) at a dinner party.  At times, I fear that I sound insensitive or at the very least, casual about it all. But that is not what is in my heart. While I may be telling a horrific story of a child’s past, my heart and head are at the end of the story that is filled with joy and hope.  While I must share the nature of a baby being found on the side of a river with river crabs having eaten his anus (requiring a colostomy), my heart and head think of the big smile that I receive every time I see the boy and the joy in his eyes when he runs up to give me a big hug.

 

As of today, we have 251 children who have been placed with us by the Social Welfare department of Eswatini to love back to life.  Each child has their own unique history and personality, and each one will have their own successes and challenges, and that is why it is so important for us to have people like you helping us.  We can’t do this alone.  It takes a very large village to raise these children and we are so very thankful for each and every person who supports us with words of encouragement, love, prayers and with financial gifts.

If you live in the Atlanta, Vancouver, Nashville, Toronto or Ottawa area and would like to come and hear about our lives in Africa, the children whom we love or the people whom we serve. For dates in the US click here. For dates in Canada click here. 

I am excited to report that both Chloe and Spencer will be with us at our Toronto events on November 9^th and 10^th so please be surto come and see them and say hi!

If you would like to sponsor one of our 251 children on a monthly basis, please do so today. We appreciate your love and support.

To sponsor a child in the US please click here.

To sponsor a child in Canada please click here.

Live from Alpharetta, Georgia … I am a bit jetlagged.

Janine

Our poor, sweet Isabelle

Isabelle on the day that I first met her

 I don’t often write stories about our children in my blog, mostly for privacy reasons.  Each child’s story and privacy are of great concern to us and we are here to protect them.  But today I want to tell you some details about one of our baby girls  because she really needs prayers and she needs a sponsor (or sponsors).  Since this is Labor Day weekend in the US and Canada I thought perhaps you would take the time to share this blog with friends and family as you share your weekend with them.  It's an opportunity to talk about what we are doing and inviting more people to get involved.

Some of you may know of our child named Isabelle.  She is a sweet little girl who came to us in November 2018 after having lived a very hard and pain-filled 15 months of life.

Her first hospital stay under our care.

She was born on July 31, 2017 and 13 months later she was taken to a clinic only weighing 3.6kg (8 pounds).  She was extremely sick, malnourished, in obvious pain and they started her on a 12-month regime of treatment for Tuberculosis and they took blood to see what else was going on. She was admitted in the hospital four times between August and November and it took TWO months to get the blood work back from the lab, which was two months too late to discover that she had cryptococcal meningitis, which could easily have taken her life in that time period.

The Doctor called me directly to ask if we could help. The mother was not giving the child the life-saving medications that she needed and also had a 7-year-old back at home, so when the mother had to stay in the hospital with Isabelle the 7-year-old became very vulnerable.  Isabelle was in desperate need and the mother was begging for help. We agreed with Social Welfare to bring Isabelle home, but first she had to be admitted in the hospital immediately to be treated for the meningitis.

The day I met Isabelle I could see the pain in her eyes and she never stopped crying. She really didn’t have the energy go cry loudly so it was just a never-ending whimper of pain.  She was miserable. Her neck was strained backwards leaving her head to wobble uncontrollably.  Part of this was from being on her mothers’ back with no support and part of it was from having a terrible headache for only God knows how long, with no relief.      

Weeks later Isabelle finally made it to Project Canaan and the long road to recovery began.  We focused mostly on loving her back to life with a custom diet, lots of time being held and a bit of work with our therapist.  It has been a very long slow road, with two hospital admittances since she has come to us.

Another emergency run to the hospital.

When Isabelle turned 2-years-old she could still not sit on her own, or hold up her head well, but she was doing “tummy time” and when put on her knees she did make some attempt to crawl, but was not successful. But she tried, and we all cheered her on.

A few weeks ago she started having seizures and she looked like she might have had a stroke, showing weakness on her left side.  We started antibiotics again and then she was admitted back to the hospital.  It was suggested that we get a CT Scan done, and the results broke our hearts.  Here is a portion of the Doctors report, “Firstly there is hydrocephalus (fluid in the skull, in or around the brain, in this case in the ventricles).  Secondly, there are signs of damage to the brain itself, most likely from suffering oxygen deficiency at some stage. There is no treatment for this. The clinical signs would be delays in development, and possibly seizures and cerebral palsy.”

She came back home to us on Wednesday and while I was so happy to see her home, I was so sad to see the condition in which she returned. Each time she gets sick (and I mean really really sick) we can see her deteriorate.  Her arms were more stiff and her feet starting to turn in.  She has been staying in the isolation room to keep her healthy, but she is also lonely there and gets little stimulation, which she really needs.  So on Friday I brought her out to “general population” with the other babies and tried to get her sitting with her head propped up so that she could see and/or hear all the singing and playing that was going on. Sadly, we really don’t know how much she can see or hear, and she has no verbal communication at all. She just sits and stares.  But hopefully she knows that she is loved.

Below is a video of how Isabelle is all day, when she is not in pain. 

Today I am writing to see if someone reading this blog will sponsor Isabelle?  Maybe it’s something your bible study could do, and pray for her each time you meet? Maybe it’s something you can do as a family and pray for Isabelle together at meal times and at night.  We need help. Isabelle needs help. Will you join us and be a part of Isabelle’s story today?

To sponsor Isabelle in the US please click here.

To sponsor Isabelle in Canada please click here.

Live from Eswatini … we are praying for Isabelle.

Janine

Free to be themselves

Angel and Lolo - They told Margie that they will be best friends forever.

We now have 245 children who live at Project Canaan.  Our youngest was born last Wednesday and our oldest will turn 9-years in December.  We are the legal guardians of these children until they turn 18-years-old and we are committed to them until they are 21-years-old or until they are finished their formal or informal education and are on their way in the world.  We have an incredible team of people who work with us every day to make this ever-growing village work.   

People who come and spend any time with our children are quick to point out how confident they are (even the shy or quiet ones).  They are surprised and impressed by their ability to communicate with each other and with visitors, often referred to as “new friends” and they often find themselves laughing at the questions being asked, the reminders being given or information disbursed by our children.  Our kids make me laugh, each and every day.

People who don’t spend a lot of time with our children (or have never come to Eswatini) are quick to suggest that our children are all going to be messed up when they get older.  That we are going to need to get some serious counselling for them and then there is the ever helpful comment, “Just wait until they are teenagers! THEN you will have lots of problems! Hahaha.”

Before reading further, please take a moment to watch this really cute video that I took this morning at Jr. Kids Club (for our age 3-5-year-olds).  Look at the joy in their eyes, their actions and at the celebration of the accomplishment by each other and by our staff!

The world is filled with messed up people, even in two parent (Christian) homes children can be abused, broken, hurting or ignored.  We believe that the way to raise emotionally healthy children is to raise them in an environment where they know that they are safe, they know they are loved, they know that they belong and have the freedom to be themselves.  And that is what we are doing.  The Auntie’s and Uncle’s “parenting” these children are doing so every day at home. They are being taught about respect, and about boundaries, and being silly and saying sorry, but first and foremost to love one another.  The foundation of their learning is rooted in the faith and knowledge of a loving heavenly Father who will never leave them nor forsake them. We are not perfect and we will make parenting mistakes, but HE never will.

Why would children being raised that way, from under the age of two (we don’t accept children over that age and 50% of our children arrive under 30-days-old), turn in to messed up children in a few years from now? 

If you don’t believe me, let’s take a look at Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in the chart below. If you don't know who Abraham Maslow is, he was an American psychologist who was best known for creating Maslow's hierarchy of needs, a theory of psychological health predicated on fulfilling innate human needs in priority, culminating in self-actualization.

When you look at the bottom two layers of the pyramid you will see the “basic needs”, which are physiological and safety. None of the children who have been placed with us were given those “basic needs” where they came from and so they respond very well and very quickly once they receive those things from us. 

You may have read me saying that we often have to “love a child back to life”.  Some of the children brought to us are so sick and so broken that love is almost a better medicine than the “basic needs” listed above, but of course they must go hand in hand. That intense love helps to heal their bodies and souls and fulfills their psychological needs.  You should hear the Auntie’s cheers and praise at each child’s accomplishments from taking their first step, to putting the round peg in the round hole.  We celebrate life and we celebrate the one who gives us life.

Ian helping Kaela color a tomato during craft time - celebrating all that God grows on the farm.

Do I think the “teenage years” with hundreds of teenagers living here will be easy? My answer to that is “I LOVE TEENAGERS”, and honestly people, they are not going to be the first teenagers on the planet - we were all teenagers!  And look at us now. We survived, and some of us thrived.  

We are working to raise self-actualized children who will be self-actualized teenagers, and eventually become self-actualized adults.  They will make their own mistakes, have their own challenges, throw their own temper tantrums and even have accidents etc. But we will continue to love them, just as we are today.  They will also win their own awards, overcome their own challenges, work through those temper tantrums and clean up the mess from the accident, and we will be with them to cheer them on, celebrate with them and love them, just as we are today.  That's what Jesus would do.

 

Recently, one of our young staff members who was raised in an orphanage in Eswatini made a comment about our children and how different they are from the children at the home where he was raised. He said, "These children are so different because they are free to be themselves.  And the staff also are free to be themselves."  Wow.  Those words spoke directly to my heart. 

We are not just in this for today, or for the next year – this is a long-term commitment and one that Ian and I are honored to have been called to. We will not be burned out or scared out or made to be discouraged or to fear the future.  We are keeping our eyes on the Him and letting Him direct each of our steps each day.

Today I would like to thank every person who has been on this journey with us whether it be through child sponsorship, praying with us through sickness, wiping our tears of pain or rejoicing with us seeing miracles.  In truth, the journey has just begun, and we are so very excited about the future for each and every child who is a part of this amazing family. 

If you would like to sponsor baby Douglas who was born and arrived last Wednesday, please do so today by clicking here for US Sponsorship or clicking here for Canadian sponsorship.  Thank you in advance for joining our village. It takes a very large village to raise 245 children.

Live from Eswatini … free to be me.

Janine

200 babies lives saved

On March 1, 2012 we received our first baby – Joshua.  The El Roi baby home was built and ready for babies in January 2012, and we wondered if a baby would ever come.  Since that day, we have received a baby every 12 days on average. Our family moved to Swaziland in May, 2012 to be with the children.

Yesterday we received a call about a baby girl who had been left with a stranger by her mother three months ago (!) and the stranger finally went to the police. Social welfare was called, an investigation ensued and the child was placed with us.  We have named her PRAISE, a treasured name that we had been saving for baby #200, hoping that she would be a girl, and she is!

The past few months have been a roller coaster of emotions for me personally as more babies arrive, more babies start to walk, more children lose teeth and more children can speak in two languages.  How will we fund them? What if we don’t get more donor support, how and when will we have to say “no” to a baby who has been dumped in a pit latrine, or left on the side of the road? 200 children is a lot of children, and our eldest (twins) are only 7-years-old. 

Ian and I think of each child as being a 22-year commitment to each child, because that would get them through any post-secondary education that they might seek. I will be 76-years old when PRAISE is 22-years-old.  I know that there are many great people who are alongside us in the calling, and there will be many more when we are gone, but that is Ian and my reality each and every day. Every time the phone rings with a baby in need, it’s 22 more years.  For our family members in Canada who say that we are retired … we are not.

I try to spend as much time as possible with the kids so that I know their unique personalities, likes, dislikes and what makes them laugh.  This past week I have been working on child sponsorship updates for our monthly donors and it was so fun to sit with the Sr. Supervisors and just talk about the children who have been sponsored.

Here are a few highlights so that you can know a bit more about a few of our children:

·      Shirley is a strong-willed child and is in a time of “testing” our staff.

·      Lucy is very smart and not only skipped Pre-kindergarten, she is at the top of her class in Kindergarten.

·      Timothy likes to paint within the lines, and is left handed.

·      Phephile wants to be Grace’s best friend and Anna is jealous of their friendship and is acting out because of it.

·      Most of our bigger boys want to be a Power Ranger or a Super hero when they grow up.

·      Nathan will cry if you make him do any form of physical exercise.

·      Margaret (2-years-old) is very caring for the other “little babies” and helps them up steps, helps feed them or helps them up if they fall.

·      Job, River and Hosea are the “3 Musketeers” at Emseni One.

·      Lenah, Angel and Deborah (who now prefers to be called "DD") are best friends and love to laugh and be silly girls.

·      Holly and Ivy are IDENTICAL twins, but Holly’s hair looks like Don King, so that is how you know which one she is.  We have nine sets of twins.

·      Jonathan is now speaking in English and siSwati, but his voice sounds like a high-pitched bird. A year ago we didn’t know if we would live.

There is no greater joy I have than to sit and watch these children learn, love and grow. Some days I take my laptop down to the baby home or the Oasis and that is my office for the day. I can’t do that at the toddler home – too many sticky hands and fingers!  The toddler home is for hugs and throwing the ball.

I can’t imagine what our lives would be like if we had not said “yes”, not having a clue what we were really saying yes to. Obedience precedes understanding, and I am so thankful that we were obedient because the blessing that has been given to us indescribable.

Please join Ian and me in sponsoring a child today. We have some awesome gifts from Khutsala to share with you for a limited time. See below.

In the US: bit.ly/ProjectCanaanChildrenAngel

In Canada:  bit.ly/ProjectCanaanChildrenAngelCA

Live from eSwatini … giving thanks for the support of others.

Janine