It's great to get wonderful news!

There are some incredibly hard and frustrating days here in Burkina. Yesterday we encountered a problem when two of our interns were supposed to board a flight and return home. At the entrance to the baggage check in area a security guard turned them away. We were told that they could not enter and get there boarding passes because the counter for their airline was closed. We clearly could see through the glass that it wasn't. In fact, we witnessed the same security guard allow others to enter and check in at that very counter. We were told to go to the airline window in the lobby. We were told that there was nothing they could do and to go to the Agency in town the next morning. How frustrating it was to know that the plane was sitting there and would continue to be there for another hour while we could not find anyone willing to assist us. Come to find out that this has been happening to other people who are even at the check in over two hours prior to there flight and for no apparent reason. Unfortunately the girls could not fly out that night, but did get new tickets with a different carrier for this evening. Getting them to the airport over four hours early and waiting until they were checked in, with boarding passes and through security we could breath a sigh of relief. What kept our spirits up is that God has a plan and this must have been a part of it. To spend an extra day with us? To have a milkshake from the Rec Center? Perhaps to meet and talk to someone on the new flight?

So when today I received a very encouraging email with a very good report I was so grateful for God's timing

 

We met Florence when her mother brought her to the malnutrition clinic that we hold in the village of Kabo. She was underweight because she wasn't getting enough food do to having a cleft lip and palate. We have been helping the mother with milk and brought them to a pediatric clinic to see if she could receive surgery. We were told to bring her back when they had specialists for this condition in town. We were then told that she should wait until at least the age of two to have this surgery. Florence did gain weight with the help of the milk we were giving and her mom stopped bringing her to the program. Many months went by and then we saw Florence once again at the clinic. She had lost a significant amount of weight again and her mother said that it was becoming increasingly harder to feed her. It became clear that if Florence was going to have to wait much longer for surgery it would be a death sentence for her.

 

Through connections that only God could weave together, we were able to connect Florence's parents with Medical Missions West. This mission helps children receive life changing/life saving surgeries in the U.S. Florence got on a plane and arrived in the U.S. this past April. The email I received today says that Florence has received surgery for her lip which was very successful and is scheduled for the palate surgery in October. If all goes well she can fly back to Burkina in December. In the past four months Florence has gained 7 lbs. and has gained the energy to start walking! I think the pictures of Florence say it all.

 

Without an exit strategy.

One of the great things about having an orphanage is that the moment a child comes into your care, you know their life is going to change. By the time they get to us, virtually every other option has been exhausted. We try to do what we can to make this the very best environment for kids that we can while they are with us. We feed them well (we like fat babies), we educate them, we develop them, and most importantly, we love them. For this reason, one of the first things we do when we receive a new child is to work on their exit strategy.

As good as an environment we can offer, and as much love as we can give, this does not compare to a forever home. We strive to make our orphanage as family oriented as possible, and I am papa to many as Amy is mama to the same. We are very intentional with our affection, and purposeful with development as any family would be. But even with all this, we are and institution. We could never be a true home for these children. So we quickly bring them in, and diligently work to get them out!

Some are easy. A healthy new baby comes in who has lost their parents, or whose parents do not have the capacity to care for the child. Easy! Papers get signed, the child is in the system, and quickly people line up from all over the world to adopt their new cute little Jimmy or Julie (or more accurately Bassirou or Latifatou.) Then there is the child who lost his or her mother in the birthing process which statistically happens in 10% of all pregnancies here. The father not always able or willing to care for the child, yet does not want to sign away the rights to that child either... this is more difficult. We work diligently with Social Action and speak with, and some times go toe to toe with, the father to do what is right for the child. Not as easy, but it's an exit strategy with some work attached to it. And then we have special needs kids. This is any child that may have a handicap or, as we see more and more, the child may be infected with H.I.V. We have had 3 children this past year with H.I.V. in our orphanage and this is where we see God shining more than ever. All 3 of these kids were quickly adopted! People seem to be lined up for kids like these. We have a young boy now, who is blind, deaf, and possibly has mild Cerebral Palsy. Came to us at 3 days old, in failure to thrive, premature and hours, if not minutes, away from a very short life. But Harouna is now being adopted into a "SUPER WOW FANTASTIC" type of family in the U.S. that are eagerly awaiting the arrival of their newest little gentleman!

But what do we do when things are even more difficult. What if that handicap is so severe, there may be little to no hope for an adoption? We are still finding the answers to this question. We recently received an angel named Sonia. An amazing little girl, with severe handicap. We do not know the extent of her abilities or inabilities. We believe she suffers from severe Cerebral Palsy or something similar, and may or may not be deaf and blind. Amy and I know a few families in the States who had and have angels like Sonia. I was privileged to know and care for a boy named Brandt when I was just 12 that was very much like to Sonia. Our pastor has a beautiful young lady named Amber who shares a similar if not the same handicap. Each family I have known has loved their child with a deeper love than I could even comprehend, but that did not make their job as a parent any easier. Having a child like this changes your life. It is not easy. And looking from the outside in, most would never choose to endure most of these hardships.

Social Action came to us thinking we would never accept a child with this condition. This could be a life long commitment. There may not be an exit strategy for someone like Sonia. We were not even the slightest bit hesitant! This IS why we are here! This IS the least of these! And God IS the king of Exit Strategies! This one goes far beyond our abilities, and we really could never plan and exit strategy for this. This just like every other, from the easiest to the hardest, is a plan for God to design, present and accomplish. So we wait with great expectation!

TOMS Shoes...you've heard of them, right?

In one week we will be back in Burkina Faso and one of the things that we will jump back into is the distribution of TOMS Shoes to thousands of children.

We have partnered with TOMS Shoes for a year now and I think now is a good time to reflect on this past year and what this partnership means.

A year ago we were just getting started. We had some basic ideas of how we were going to tackle giving shoes and where we planned to give them. We have really learned so much in this past year. We learned how many distributions we would need to hold each week to give all of the shoes that were sent to us before the next shipment arrived. We learned how to handle 2000 children at a time excited to receive shoes. We learned how many volunteers we would need for any given number of children expected to show up. We learned how many shoes to bring so that we had enough, but not too many. We learned that the children of Burkina will stand for hours out in the sun and wait patiently without cutting in front of someone else or pushing and shoving. We learned that there are some pretty big feet in Burkina. We learned that there are some pretty damaged feet in Burkina. We learned that the children didn't want to dirty their new shoes so they didn't put them on right away. We learned that children in Burkina never get tired of chasing a balloon or trying to catch bubbles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

And we learned a lot about TOMS Shoes. They really do give hundreds of thousands of shoes to kids in need. They continue to support the communities so that children will receive shoes every 6 months and not just one time. They encourage the education of health and hygiene during distributions. The shoes they send are sturdy, quality shoes. They provide every tool necessary to help facilitate these distributions. They help offset the costs for their partners and don't want giving shoes to be a burden, but an enhancement to the work their partners are already doing. They encourage hiring temporary help at distributions which give some income to local people. We have been able to hire people with disabilities who would otherwise not find work or worth, to help with distributions.

And really, it's about the healthy feet and smiles. It's been a good year partnering with TOMS!!

Thinking of Our Home

Well, our time in the U.S. is halfway through and I am starting to have dreams of home. Home is Burkina now and there is much there we are missing. Our thoughts are of many things. The children at the orphanage and the tests that they are taking, are the toddlers learning something new, did I miss a milestone with one of the babies, how is our dog doing without us, did our TOMS shoe delivery arrive, what visitors have I missed, is everything green now with all the rain, how are the chickens, guinea hens and rabbits? Yes, I have even been thinking of the rabbits! Are any of them pregnant? How many babies might there be when we get back?

This Friday we travel from Hollywood, Florida to St. Louis, Missouri. We will make a stop in North Florida and then Georgia on the way and expect to arrive in St. Louis Sunday night or Monday morning. This will be the first time we have seen our daughters Delaney and Haley in a year! I cannot tell you how excited I am to have them in my arms again. Delaney is graduating high school and we could not be prouder of her.

We have four more weeks of cherished time with family and friends and then we make that long journey back home. I wonder what else will be popping into my head in these upcoming weeks.