Days that fill our hearts with gladness

Today we took a little roadtrip. The purpose was two-fold: to visit another orphanage that has two special needs children that are available for adoption and to follow up on a child who had surgery and was still recovering.

At 7:30 am Ruth, Stephanie and I headed out of Yako. We were accompanied by Pastor Solomon from Doure, the village where we have a weekly Bible Club and a weekly Medical Clinic. The child who had surgery, Moises lives with his mother in Doure and when he found out we were making the trip he asked to come along.

Along the way we passed the town of Gourcy. It was apparent that something was going on...highschool aged children filled the streets...hundreds of them. It appeared to be some sort of protest. We prayed our way through the crowd. They let us through and we were grateful. We heard later on that there was a student strike, but we aren't sure why.

We arrived at the orphanage. We really had no idea what to expect...you just never know what you are going to walk into. The children we were coming to see were a two year old boy who may have Cerebral Palsy and a three year old boy who is HIV positive and we were told had been very sick and hospitalized for awhile. We were greeted by the most lovely people who showed us around their very clean, very lovely orphanage. There are about twenty children there ranging from babies a few weeks old to preschool aged children. What was evident was that these children looked very healthy and very happy despite the fact that they have no parents to call their own.

The boy who was handicapped was delighful. Actually he got around very well by crawling and he interacted with the other children. From what we could tell his legs were crippled and he couldn't walk. From the way he moved it would seem that it may be possible for him to walk with the proper therapy. He is bright and alert and engaging.

The child with HIV looked very healthy. He is chubby and active...this is not what we expected. While many believe he has no future and that nobody would want an HIV positive child we know that God already has parents picked out for him. God knows exactly who is going to care for and love both of these boys.

If you want more information on either of these beautiful children, please email me at reachburkina@gmail.com.

We left the orphanage and headed to the medical clinic. Moises has been there for two weeks. He had broken his leg a year and a half ago and his leg was cared for with traditional medicine only. His leg had not healed and when we first saw his bandages unwrapped we could not believe how much of his leg had been eaten away. Mike and Ruth took Moises to the clinic on a Friday and were told that a team of bone specialists were arriving the following Monday. This was God's most perfect timing!!

Doctor reviewing Moises' Xray

Our follow up visit was to see how surgery went. We were told that he had an infection in his bone and that surgery lasted six hours. We knew it was probable that we would find Moises without his leg. Again we were presented with a miracle. Moises' leg was spared and he looked absolutely wonderful for a boy who endured that kind of surgery. He was smiling!

Pastor Solomon, Stephanie, Moises and his mom

Not every day is a happy story here. There can be much heartache...but these are the days that fill our heart with gladness.

Love and blessings!
Amy