Any Place Else

Emily arrived home Thursday evening, happy and exhausted.  She had a great time on the youth trip.  While she was gone, I home schooled my friend’s daughter until her mom came back from a trip.  I cut the fabric for a new quilt project.  Now I just need free time and electricity at the same time so I can start assembling it.  Maybe I don’t have the best hobbies for living here, since both digital scrapbooking and quilting require electricity.  Or maybe it makes me more appreciative when I do get to work on them.  OH!  And Daniel found the memory card I lost in December!  Yaay!  Somehow it ended up tucked between two games in the closet.  Maybe we should play games more often.

Yesterday a group of us MAF wives went to the orphanage together.  Here are a couple of the sweeties I encountered in Kimbondo this trip.

I noticed Marina right away because one of the sisters, Nori, was playing with a group of kids and Marina was the only one who wasn’t smiling or participating.  When I mentioned it to Nori, she told me that Marina has just been there a few days and is still in shock.  She is 5 years old and is the size of a 2-3 year old because of severe malnutrition.  This could be the first time in her life she is being fed on a regular basis.  She had several skin eruptions, also due to the malnutrition.  Nori told me that Marina had been abandoned at the orphanage and arrived with an infection.  She still had a fever.  I thank God that she was left there and not on the streets, but Marina is still very hurt and confused.

Emmanuel has been at Kimbondo Pédiatrie for some time but I had never met him because he was too weak and was in the infirmary.  He’s finally strong and healthy enough to be in with the other children his age.  Emmanuel can’t walk or talk, but he can sure smile!  

I really do not know what would happen to  Marina and Emmanuel if they had ended up any place else, and honestly I don’t like to think about it.  The orphanage at Kimbondo actually began as a clinic for treating malnutrition in the region, grew into a hospital over time, and then also an orphanage.  They have the capability to treat Marina’s health issues and a physical therapist for Emmanuel.  They have staff like Nori.  The most negative thing I have ever heard Nori say was in response to a remark I made when she and I were each holding several children and there were others crying because they wanted to be held also.  I said I wished we had enough arms to hold them all.  Nori replied: “that is the problem.”   

Pray for Marina in the upcoming weeks and months, that God will heal her body and her broken spirit and help her to adjust to her new home.  Pray for Emmanuel to continue growing stronger.  Pray that God will give wisdom, strength, and encouragement to Nori and the other staff.