Vanished

Hi friends,

This is a far more somber post than I usually make... I'm going to tell you about a recent experience I shared with my friends who run a local orphanage, Beautiful Gate, in Lesotho. Actually I'm going to use her words as I feel she beautifully captured in her blog exactly what I was feeling...

A mother showed up at Beautiful Gate (BG) with her new born child. She had gone to the government and explained she could not care for the child. Instead of the government just taking the child, they talked with her and then gave her some advice (of which I will not share on this blog). The mother left upset. She came to BG knowing that we care for children and tried to give us the child. (This was not the advice of the government). She told our staff member that if we didn't take the child she would abandon it. Because of the laws and regulations that we have to adhere to, we cannot just take a child from someone without the proper forms and documentation. Our hands were tied. To say we were stuck between rock and a hard place would be an understatement. If we take a child without proper paperwork and the mother vanishes, that child will be forever stuck in the system. If we sent the child with her, we feared she may follow through on the threats she was making. Our staff members talked the mother and asked her to make right choices for this child. We knew we couldn't take the child in without getting in trouble with the government. Instead of just sending her on her way we gave her some diapers and formula and then drove her and the child to her house. When our staff left her, they realized she had nothing and even though we went above what we were suppose to by giving her diapers, formula and a ride, she had no bottle to make the formula in. Our staff then decided to get a bottle from BG and bring it back to the mother. When they got there, she was gone. The following morning our staff went back again and the mother and child were not there.

She vanished...

My only hope in situations like this is that God knows right where they are. He knows the mother. He knows the child. He knows their pain and He will work to bring about good in this situation. He has to! My hope is that even though people vanish, God will never vanish from them. He has them in the grip of His hand and won't let go. - C. Terpstra

It's an impossible choice... having to turn away a mother and baby at risk knowing that if you don't obey their rules, the government could come and close down all operations at BG, sending more than 60 children out on the street. 

I spend each Wednesday night at Beautiful Gate with my closest friends. I was there the night this mother came, I watched my friends and several staff members agonize over this impossible choice. I found myself saying, "I'll take the baby... could I take the baby?" knowing it wasn't legal but unable to stomach the possibility of this child being abandoned. Would you join me in praying for the following:

• At-risk children in Lesotho

• Women who feel they have no choice other than to abandon their child

• The staff at Beautiful Gate Orphanage who care for the needs of children aged 5 and under. They truly are the hands and feet of Jesus!

• My heart as I hear stories of abandoned or orphaned children and want nothing more than to give one of them a forever family and home.