God has made a way!

He has made a way for them, where there was no way. Today was a glorious day as we received the first 5 of many orphaned and abandoned children in desperate need of care. Tonny 3, Jimmy 6, David 6, Vernist 7 and Claude 10! Pictured above are Claude and Vernist!

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They lived with their 18 year old sister being a total of 5 children. Their mother died in childbirth to Vernist and their father passed away some time ago. Their home was a mud hut with a roof near collapsing and holes all in the walls. Their sister did her best to care for them and provide, but just wasn't able to feed them. They often went without food and when they came today showed signs of severe malnutrition. When they arrived at the homes, I spoke with our Director Audrey to investigate and confirm that these were indeed the children we spoke of taking in... as Vernist is the size of possibly a 3 year old being the age of 7. It broken my heart to look at the difference between my son Malaki's legs and his; Malaki being just 8 months old looking much larger than him in width.

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These 2 boys are amazing... and love soccer! Claude has been practicing for a while, as he can dribble the soccer ball in the air for quite some time. They are happy to know that Mama Malaki loves soccer too. (It didn't take long for me to challenge them with the ball to see their skills!) And thus it begins, the road to restoration and growing in the love and grace of God. On a side note, 4 of the boys transitioned very well. Jimmy had a bit of a hard time when his responsible left. Jimmy was found in the forest at birth and the Governor found an old woman to care for him; 6 years later she finds she isn't able to care and provide for him and fears that when they die he will be all alone as he is rejected from her 5 children who are adults. It is by all means hard for any child to transition into a new home, new faces... a new life. I was proud to see how our staff responded in this situation and smile within my heart at the team the Lord has aligned to do His work here in Burundi.

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Pictured above is our amazing staff, minus our Director Audrey. Thank you all who have supported this mission to respond to the need that is vast. Restoring and caring for orphaned and abandoned children... You are making all the difference! We will keep you posted, please be praying. We have medical checkups this Sunday from a wonderful German doctor! He will assess each child and help us to care for each child's physical needs. Many of the boys are severely malnutritioned and often sick. After an exhausting day, we can sit back, smile and see some of the beautiful faces we have fought the last 2 years for. All our love...