Africa- Day 5

WARNING: I will be referring to our trip as a trip to Epiphany. Just know that Epiphany is in northern Africa. I will not be using our friends full names, just J, R, K, and G or the Gs for the family. I will turn on comment moderation for several months just to make sure we don't accidentally say something that we shouldn't say! Please feel free to leave comments, but I will approve them before they show on the site. If you have any questions about our trip that I can't answer publicly just let me know. We are happy to share details, just not in a way that could jeopardize our friend's new life in Epiphany. Thanks for understanding!

Day5 held one of my favorite activities: we went to the local public hospital and held newborn, orphaned babies. One of the workers on the team does this every Wednesday and R has not been able to join her because she's taking care of her own little ones. So, since the boys were home and the timing was right R, T and I went to the hospital in the morning. There were 8 newborns that needed our care, 6 boys and 2 girls. On the way to the hospital I was drilling T with lots of questions about the babies. Why are they orphaned? What happens to them? Well, here's what T told me. The babies are orphaned because they were abandoned at birth or removed from the mother. If an unwed mother comes into the hospital and births a baby, they take the baby away and send the mother home. The mother can only get her child back if she marries the babies father and comes back to the hospital before the baby is sent to the orphanage. Another common reason for babies being orphaned is that his/her mother is a prostitute and abandons the child at birth.

Children are not adopted in this culture and no one from outside the country is allowed to adopt either. So, once an orphan, always an orphan. R and I knew we'd get attached if we held any of the babies for too long so we became the bottle brigade. Several other women were in volunteering that day and it was nice to have such a large group loving these babies. After we'd fed the babies their bottles, the other ladies would bathe them, put on a fresh diaper and new clothes. When it's up to the nurses to care for the babies they get their bottles propped up in the bassinet, one diaper change a day and might or might not get held at all. They are under-staffed for sure and these little ones get the left overs.

As I fed each little one I prayed for him/her. I prayed that even though they would grow up Muslim they would have dreams and visions of Christ. R prayed that they would not find peace in Islam, but seek another way. Each little one brought tears to my eyes as I thought about the situation they were headed for. BUT I know how big my God is and how much He loves each and every one of us.

Remember how I said I didn't want to get attached- well that didn't work out :) A sweet little boy named Achal kept making his way back into my arms. I'd fed him his bottle and he was very alert and awake. He was fascinated by what was going on around him. He had dark eyes and enough hair that they parted it and combed it to the side after his bath! The head volunteer, a nun, took him from one of the med students that was there looking at the babies and gave him to me and said, "He's happiest with you, very content in your arms." So we snuggled, for about 15 minutes. I sang Jesus Loves Me and he smiled, I prayed for him and he smiled, I rocked him and he fell asleep on my chest. I could tell it was time to go, so I laid him in his bassinet, gave him a kiss and cried (of course!)

On the one hand I felt helpless, nothing I could do to change his life. BUT, on the other hand I have a very powerful tool- prayer. So, I've added Achal to my daily prayers. In my inability to do anything I'm forced to turn to God and ask Him to protect him, love him, and show him who Jesus is. Honestly, I'd rather be able to DO something. Support him financially, adopt him even, something. But, I can't and in that I have to rely totally on God. How many times do I not rely on God because I can DO something about it on my own?

Well, we headed home in the pouring rain, which felt right because it matched my mood. After lunch, we headed up to a small town in the mountains for a little R&R at a nice hotel. We almost didn't make it though because of the rain. We hit a bad spot in the road were the rain had washed debris onto the road and people could not pass. A short wait and some heavy equipment fixed the problem and we were on our way.

Water on the road and the equipment fixing it. If they hadn't fixed the road we would have headed home, this was the ONLY way to our hotel.



The higher we climbed the thicker the fog became. By the time we arrived at the hotel it was so foggy you could hardly see the road. When we checked into the hotel it was very quiet- only 2 other families there. It honestly made me think of The Shining!

Checking in at the hotel. You must present a passport in order to stay. Plus, a breakfast and dinner buffet are included in the price!



The hotel was very nice and comparable to a hotel in America with one difference- the beds. A room that sleeps 3 is actually 2 twin beds pushed together and a couch that converts to a twin bed. Works for us! After dinner the kids went to bed in J & R's room and we played Canasta and ate lots of junk! You'll have to wait for the Day 6 and 7 update to see if our view improved!

Ummm, where are the mountains? "View" from our balcony.