Calling the troops again...

At lunch I was thinking and wondering what else could happen and I knew that I need to post again and call for your help once more. We so need to be covered with God's grace and strength each day and this battle is not ours to fight alone.

We've all been moving forward, going on with life, proccessing what God is doing in our hearts through these
experiences. Bianca is doing as well as can be expected. We helped her collect all the photos we could find of her and her baby and she made a memory album. That was very special for her and she also really appreciates the cards and notes that she's received.

We had a wonderful weekend with my parents here! They came on Friday and left on Tues. It was just what we needed and was so special to be able to be together again after having been through these very difficult weeks here! Dad was busy fixing odd and end things here in our house, while Mom stayed busy keeping the cookie containers filled and helping with everything in here. Of course, making memories playing games and just being together was very important too!

Then on Wed. the first Orphans For Jesus people came. This is a group of around 55 people that comes to MX every year to work at different orphanages and help with any projects that they can. They don't stay here but they are here at times and each day send people to help here as well. Sunday they were here for church but not for lunch.

One really good thing that happened on Saturday was that Marcella returned from her 4 wk vacation. Regina and Bethany were taking her place as caregivers of the teenage girls and also filling in for cooking lunches so it was really good to have her come back and have our staff back to a more normal routine.

On Saturday we were cleaning here and I put our laptop on a stack of chairs so that I could move the table it was setting on. I had my back turned to the chairs and heard a sickening sound of the computer hitting the floor! I picked it up and sure enough, it was a dead box! We did some diagnostics and it showed a bad hard drive. Um, well. Data. Yes, a backup is a good thing but who has time to do it regularly? To say the least, this was not a good thing! So we wait for the new hard drive to get here and thank God for the blessing of a computer.

Last night, I had just crawled into bed when I heard someone knocking on our door. It was around 10:00 and I wondered what could be wrong now. It was Anna saying that I should come quickly because 13 yr old Jaqcueline is choking! I jumped up and went quickly to see what was happening. She had fallen out of her bed and was on the floor and clearly having a seizure of some sort!  Her limbs and mouth were locked up, her eyes rolled into her head, making gurgling noices and rolling around! Lorne did a quick assessment and concluded we will need help, but there's no way an ambulance can come here in time for an emergency! He grabbed his phone, which was out of minutes and didn't work that day, and he called Greivin. The phone worked without minutes! That's God. In the meantime we were working to revive her with all we knew to do and she slowly stopped seizing and lay still. In the beginning she didn't know where she was or how old but after a bit she became more rational. Greivin and Lorne decided that Greivin would just take her and Marcella to the hospital to see what is wrong. By the time they got to the Dr she seemed ok again and he didn't believe that it was as they said, so we don't know more than we did before.

Today Lorne needed to go to Tecate and soon after he left Gideon came in with Ismael holding a rag to his head! I wasn't sure whether to laugh or groan. Another child had gotten angry and thrown a can towards him and caught his head. It was busted open but not very deep, so Nevin helped me and we were able to close it with super glue. Then came the challenge of dealing with the deeper issue of the cause of the dispute. Another day at the home!

Tonight our youth had the privilege of joining the OFJ group for supper and fellowship. Tomorrow night the group plans to come here for a hymn sing and possibly supper. Phil and Edith unexpectedly needed to leave for Lebec, CA today. They are due to have their second child in 6 wks and she's been having some early labor threats which had gotten worse the last few days. They had planned to go to a clinic in southern CA to have the baby but it seemed best to go up where they would be close to a hospital in case the baby does come this early. Her parents live in Lebec and it's a familiar community for them. This all means that one of our families here will probably be gone for a number of weeks and the few people we have will be fewer. But, we trust God to keep them in His care and that all will be well according to His will!

It's nightime and for a moment all is quiet. I'm so tired and best go absorb whatever rest I can while I can.
Continue to pray for God's protection on us here and His grace for each day's happenings as we face them hour by hour!

It is finished…

We had a meaningful service on Monday evening here at the home. There were some neighbors that came and also some Christian friends from Tecate. It was an opportunity for the neighbors to hear the message of salvation and the hope that we can have in Christ.

 

 

 

 

Then on Tuesday we went to Tecate for the burial. Again, there were some neighbors that followed us to the cemetery and were with us there. We had a short graveside devotional and then the burial. The grave is so final! How glorious to have a hope beyond the grave!

Life and death…

A funeral at a children’s home seems so out of place and yet we are born to die and the reality of death is a way to minister as nothing else can. Tonight we plan to have the funeral service here at the home for little Emanuel and tomorrow at 10:00 we’ll have the burial in Tecate. Having the service here gives an opportunity for all the children to be present and to minister to them in a more personal way. Continue to pray for all of us as we walk this difficult path these next hours.

God is good…

We praise God for His goodness and for so wonderfully answering the many prayers that have been lifted on our behalf and we thank all of you for your notes of encouragement and your prayers! We truly feel God at work even amidst the pain of the hour!

God planned before this to have a group of former Faith Mission workers here this Sunday to minister to us. They sang a number of songs in church this morning, (in English :)) that ministered to us as a staff in a way that nothing else could have. “No tears in heaven”… “Does Jesus care?” Yes he does!.. “You said you’d come and share all my sorrows” “Safe in the arms of Jesus” So healing! And they plan to return for an evening hymn sing tonight. Praise God!

This morning when I went over to see how Bianca and Marlene’s night was they seemed so at rest. Bianca said she had a dream and saw her baby. She said he was all white and just looked like a little angel. She heard him say, “Mama.” She replied, “what, my son?” He then told her not to worry about him because he is content and happy there with Jesus in heaven. What a precious, priceless gift from God to have that confirmation for her heart! Then in church this morning she requested the song, “Me liberto.” It talks of having been in sadness and prison without pardon, but Christ came and set me free. It says, “I saw the glory of my Jesus, Oh glory to God, He set me free!” She has a testimony of complete trust in her Saviour and in His plan for her life! Of course, she’s still sad, but there’s such a difference in sadness with faith and hope, or sadness alone.

Some of the other children are really struggling with fear. They've been taught that the spirit of a dead person returns and they are afraid to be alone. The one girl won't even go to the bathroom alone for fear something will happen. Greivin was able to share with some of them today that the only Spirit that is here with us is God's Spirit and that we have nothing to fear but their faith is weak. Pray for all of them that these stories of darkness could be removed and that they could know the truth.
Thank you for your continued prayers!

Bianca & Emanuel

This is a more complete story of Bianca’s life here at the home since she came. A few details are repeated from the earlier post but we were asked for a complete story and so I thought I’d share it here with you also.

On July 23, 2009, Bianca, a 12 year old girl, arrived here at Shining Light Home with her 8 day old baby, Emanuel. Those first few days her eyes were so sad! It tore at our hearts to see the pain hidden there. She had suffered so much in her life! When she was younger she suffered a lot of burns over her body from a car accident. She was hospitalized for a time and left with lots of scars. Then at age 11, abused by her father, she found herself pregnant and then gave birth at 12 yrs old in a city far away from her mother and any family that might have cared. But she poured her whole heart into being a mother for this precious little boy, who was all she had.

Marlene is her mother here and she nursed her to better health after she came. Along with caring for her physical condition, she was hearing that God loves her and all that He has done for us. She responded to that love and has a strong faith in God and a desire to be faithful to Him. She slowly opened up to the home here and became more involved in the work and activities. She takes an interest in her schoolwork and has such a positive attitude towards those in authority.

Bianca shares a room with Marisol, a 13 yr old who also has a baby. These two girls became sisters at heart and want to do everything together. Yesterday they were having fun taking pictures of their babies together. They talked and dreamed of when their babies will be big enough to run and play together. They've been forced into the adult world years before it was time and will never be little girls again.

Little Emanuel didn't grow much at first. It seemed he was just scrawny and we wondered if he might have some problems. Then a few months ago, Marlene changed his milk and soon he started to fill out and he became a chubby baby who was doing very well. Recently he was becoming more active and was a contented little boy. Yesterday he was jumping in his jumper and was so happy and healthy, it seemed. 
Last night before Marlene went to bed around 11 she checked on the children and said all was well. Emanuel slept with Bianca and she was up during the night and gave him his bottle. He ate well, burped and went back to sleep. At 7 this morning Marlene woke Bianca and after a little bit Bianca called Marlene to come quickly because something is wrong with the baby. Marlene quickly moved him to her bed to see what was wrong but he wasn't breathing! Marlene called for me and I quickly went over, but it was clear that he was gone! Gone! No life! Oh the depth of pain from a young mother who has just lost her precious child! Pain that is indescribable. Pain that only God can heal.

Lorne went to bring Greivin and they tried to call DIF but couldn't contact anyone there. He then called the police and they soon came to investigate. They asked lots of questions, wanting all the details as they happened. They then said that there are other authorities that need to come and when they come the police would return. They also told us that these authorities are out at another accident scene and it could be awhile before they come. Finally, around 11:30 they returned and again went through the whole process of questions. They talked with Bianca alone, had questions for Greivin and for Marlene. They asked some of the other children in the living room whether Bianca loved her baby or cared for him well. There was a secret police here as well who appeared to be just a visitor along with these others. He mingled with the children in the living room, visiting with them and then later one of the children asked him if he isn't a police. So he told them that, yes, he is a secret police.

In the beginning they expected that the baby had possibly suffocated. The one man that came did an examination of the baby and could not find any cause of death or any sign that he had not been able to breathe normally. He then ruled that he died a natural death. It seems he died peacefully, without pain or illness. It was at 12:30 when they took the body to Tecate. Greivin also needed to go in right away to process paperwork. After he went in he called back and said that Bianca needs to come in for more questioning and to be able to do the paperwork. So Marlene took her and they went in to the office. We are not sure when we will be able to have the funeral because of legal procedures.

Bianca's testimony this afternoon is that she feels that God allowed this to happen to see if she would be faithful to Him. She said that God gave her baby to her and now He took him from her. She finds much comfort in the fact that her baby will never know pain or be sad and that he is in Jesus' presence and care at this time.

As for God, His way is perfect… Ps 18:30

Hear my cry, Oh God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, WHEN MY HEART IS OVERWHELMED: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Ps. 61

Oh, the depth of the pain that we feel! Groanings from the deepest part of our beings and yet the truth does not change. This morning 6 mo. old Emanuel died as we slept. I awoke a little after 7 to a frantic calling outside our bedroom door and so I quickly opened to see and was told that they think Emanuel died. Surely not!! I ran for Marlene’s room and looked to see what was wrong but there was nothing to do. Life was gone! He had been sleeping with his mother, 12 yr. old Bianca, and she said when gave him his bottle during the night he seemed fine. He ate, burped and went back to sleep. But after Marlene woke her this morning, Bianca saw that something was wrong and called Marlene right away. She quickly put him over on her bed to try to see what was wrong but very soon saw that he wasn’t breathing. When I came over, his face was still a bit warm but his hands were cold and it was obvious that he was gone. NO! NO! How can it be? This little mother was so attentive to her baby! She has suffered tremendously in her life! Abused by her father she found herself pregnant, and then gave birth at 12 yr.s old in a city far away from her mother and any family that might have cared. But she poured her whole heart into being a mother for this precious little boy, who was all she had. Oh God, where are you? What are you doing, Lord? What is your plan, our Father? Just now we say, “Truly our souls wait on God.” Please lift us to the Father in these next hours and days as we guide 40 children through this maze of grief; through the many questions for which even we have no answers, more than to point them to Jesus. As we seek God’s face ourselves in again dealing with the reality of life and death and God’s sovereignty. We need your prayers!