Isaiah 1:23, "They do not defend the fatherless"

Hey, it's been a while.  It has become more difficult for me to share our experiences here.  I feel like I am betraying the trust of my children by airing their struggles for the world to read.  Maybe that's silly, as you don't know them personally.  I do want you all to know about the struggles these kids are facing. AS BELIEVERS, WE NEED TO KNOW.  We continue to deal with the same issues...children being left outside alone all night (it's getting into the 40's at night here), left to wear the same clothes for weeks on end because no one washes them, having no food, being beaten for no apparent reason, seeing their mother drunk night after night.  To you these are just words that sound terrible and sad and unjust.  To them this is their life and we are eye witnesses.  We are eyewitnesses to things that leave me speechless, physically sick, and cause me to turn away so that they cannot see the tears on my face.  I find I cry so easily here. And if I see them crying, forget it.  I'm crying along with them.  The pain of seeing them hurt runs deep, leaves me empty and emotionally drained, longing for a helping of hope to fill me back up.  I want so badly to make it better, provide what they need, provide safety from the mother who beats them, the mother they love.

We have been attempting to work with government workers in hopes they could get these children the help they need and deserve.  Let's just say it's been months and nothing has changed or even been pursued.  We hope that we have made some allies in at least trying to help, but we are brutally aware that not everyone shares our concern nor a willingness to do anything at all.  Some have even amazingly, or perhaps not so amazingly ("Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you" 1 John 3:13) opposed our efforts and presumed our involvement in their lives to be harmful.  This shocked us and set us flat on our backs for a moment.  But we press on, assured of God's love for them and His call for us to "Speak up for those who cannot speak up for themselves, for the right of all who are destitute." Proverbs 31:8

I wanted to share this blog post from Tom Davis, author and orphan advocate. If you are a Christian, caring for the orphan and vulnerable child is not something to pursue as an interest in your free time.  It is a requirement and the top priority of your Lord...

Today, I wanted to post some scriptures to meditate on. It tells some of the story of why orphans are so important to God and why we are supposed to care for them.

1. God calls Himself the Father of the fatherless.

·        Psalm 68:5, “A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, is God in His holy habitation.”

2. God considers spiritual service the purest when His people are taking care of orphans.  (and)  A religion that does not care for orphans is no religion at all.

·        James 1:27, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress.”

3. God’s people are commanded to care for orphans.  To see an orphan afflicted, and to turn a deaf ear, is sin, even rebellion.

·        Exodus 22:22, “You shall not afflict any widow or orphan.”

·        Isaiah 1:17, “Learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, plead for the widow.”

·        Isaiah 1:23, “Your rulers are rebellious, and companions of thieves; everyone loves bribes, and follows after rewards.  They do not defend the fatherless.”

4. We can be the hands and love of Christ Himself by providing practical care.

·        Deuteronomy 10:18, “He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing.”

·        Psalm 10:14, “But You, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand.  The victim commits himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.”

·        Matthew 18:5, “Whoever receives a child in My name, receives Me.”

·        Matthew 25: 45, “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of the least of these, you did it unto Me.”

5. Orphans are to be taken care of with the same honor and provision as a Pastor or Priest.

·        Deuteronomy 14:28-30, “The Levite (priest), because he has not portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.”

6. A portion of all that we possess is sacred and belongs to the orphan.

·        Deuteronomy 26:12-14, “You shall say before the Lord your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion from my house, and also have given it to the Levite and the alien, the orphan and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed or forgotten any of Your commandments.”

Sunday afternoon at the ranch

While many of you are desperate for warmer weather and sunshine, we are finally experiencing cooler temps and loving it!  Last week we were even able to pull out the sweatshirts and jeans!  It is still strange to be ending our school year as we are heading into the winter months.  I'm usually getting into "fall baking mode" when school's starting back up, not ending.  In reality, our school never really ends here....Shhh, just don't tell my kids!

Today has been a beautiful Sunday.  After church and lunch together we took several boys and Davis (Henry is sick) to the local Crocodile Ranch for a little Sunday afternoon field trip.

Finishing off with everyone getting to try a couple bites of croc.  Tastes like chicken.

Best.Day.Eva

Wow, I cannot believe it's been a month since I posted last.  It's not that nothing's been going on, some of it has been heavy stuff that takes a lot of emotional energy to put on paper.  Let's see...over the past month one of the boys sustained quite a serious concussion.  The poor guy fell off a swing, blacked out and vomited, and then walked several miles alone to our house for help.  We brought him to the doctor immediately and made the decision to keep him at our house for a few days so I could watch him for further symptoms of head trauma (and of course, we talked to his mother about this).  After the first day when he began to feel better it got pretty hard to keep him down.

In this pic the patient is playing Go Fish while wearing pj's and my red clogs.  He looks much better in them than I do!

I'm happy to report he seems to be doing fine.  Thanks SO much to those of you who were praying!

Another highlight was a couple of weeks ago when our family decided to do "home church" with the boys one Sunday.  We talked about gratefulness and how God loves grateful hearts.  We contrasted the Pilgrims and the Israelites and highlighted their different responses to God's faithfulness and provision, even in the midst of suffering and hardship.  We challenged the boys to reflect on God's goodness and blessing to them over the past year.  They each shared a way that God had blessed them in the past year.  Godlieb was thankful for the hospital, others for school, meals at the multipurpose center, and their family. We finished with watching the Veggie Tales movie, "Madame Blueberry", who learned that a "thankful heart is a happy heart."  After lunch that morning we opened a very special package from Mrs. Fowler's class, full of Valentine's treats and personalized letters for each boy...so special!  They now have pen pals in the US.  They enjoyed writing back to their pen pals...Mrs. Fowler, our letters will be on their way soon!

Writing thank you's

Now onto Tuesday's grand adventure!  The boys just finished their first term in school and are now on holiday for a month.  In order to motivate them to have near perfect attendance, we offered them a trip to Windhoek to see a movie as a reward.  Unfortunately, one of them was not allowed to come because he skipped a period and then refused to tell us the truth about it, even when given a second chance to come clean.  We were sorry to have him miss, but hopefully this was a lesson to them all about the value of honesty.  

We picked up the gang bright and early and they were all smiles, ready for their big adventure.  Only one of them had ever been to Windhoek, and definitely not to where we were going.

Of course I never take a road trip without books along!

This trip was full of firsts...first trip out of Otji, first time in Windhoek, first time to a mall or movie theatre, first escalator!

First donuts from Checkers!

 We saw the Croods and they loved it.  Malcolm and Roberto joined us in between their classes.

Smiley Sametime, Fritz, and Niklaas
 enjoying some pizza before heading back home.

I think they loved their day. Their worlds definitely got a little bigger, which is a good thing.  It is helpful for them to see the world outside of the location and Otjiwarongo.  It helps them to dream about their future and gain a vision for a life beyond what they see each day.  On the drive they spotted baboons, warthogs, hartebeest, oryx, kudu, and giraffe!  God is good.

Lastly, I had to share this video I took of the Boys rockin to TobyMac on our way to Windhoek.  I hope it works.  I cannot watch it without laughing!

Our week in photos...Thankful to HOPE

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,"

I Peter 1:3

Happy Birthday to my new teenager Davis (with friends Javier and Josiah).  The cake tasted better than it looks...red velvet with cream cheese frosting.  I cannot make a layer cake for the life of me!

An unplanned egg coloring party.  Turned out Thursday was a half-day of school, so unannounced to us, the whole gang showed up by noon. We have been seeing a lot of the boys the last couple weeks.  Sometimes it's in the mornings, sometimes straight from school, and sometimes it's at bedtime.  This obviously requires a bit of flexibility on the part of our family.  I am very proud of my children and how they have handled sharing our home and our family time.  I know it isn't always easy.  It's stretched them for sure, but they do really well, often sharing their toys, their space, and their mom and dad.  It's a bit of a balancing act, finding ways to balance our family's need for our own time and space, but also making ourselves available to the boys when they needs us.  We have told them they can come to us any time with any need, knowing they likely have no one else to go to.

Godlieb's a Go-Fish-Playing maniac!

Godlieb and Carl have a love/hate relationship

We forgot they had Good Friday off.  Surprise!  Everyone was here at 11 am.  Godlieb and Nicolas brought their amazing toys they made themselves.

Talk about resourceful!

Good Friday we showed the Jesus Film at the church in the location.  Karrie suggested this only the day before, but somehow we pulled it together and had quite a turn out, at least 150!  Here Davis is entertaining the movie goers while they are waiting for us to open the gate.

Roberto is home, Roberto is home!  Happy to be reunited, if only for a week.

Davis entertaining the crowd before the movie.

Today was a special day.  The boys, along with Davis and Henry, took part in their first ever Easter egg hunt.  I tried my best to capture their huge smiles, but it was tricky as they were moving so fast to find their eggs!  

Albert found one!

Spar bags for Easter baskets..that's how we roll here in the Nam

Now for the fun part!

Reading about the Resurrection

Discussing the HOPE we have in Jesus.  Because of the CROSS, this life is not the end!  Jesus has conquered death and made it possible for us to live with Him for eternity.  What a HOPE we have! We discussed our HOPE of spending eternity together in heaven.  We reminded the boys that this life is but a grain of sand.  This is a thought I cling to often as we live, love, and minister here.  Though these precious boys may never be completely relieved of their trials in this life (nor will any of us), they can have HOPE of a future without pain, hunger, or sadness.  Thanks be to God for the gift of His Son and the forgiveness of our sins!

"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,"
Ephesians 1:18

And the Easter fun continues...more Go Fish, soccer...

Tiba and Henry in their cozy corner, reading comic books and eating their treats.

Happy Easter!  If you're alive to read this, you've been given a gift.  Don't waste the gift of forgiveness and eternal life.  Accept it and bask in the HOPE of a future with Jesus!