We don’t even know where to begin this month. It has been a long, hard and busy month. Evicted from our land for over 3 months, we continue to live in this rented house that is so inadequate for our needs as we have outgrown it and need more space. The house is falling down around us as the roof is leaking badly and is slowly collapsing. The house is freezing cold this winter as the chilly winds blow through the shifted tiles on the roof causing freezer conditions in the house. But where do we find a new temporary place to house our 15 babies, 6 aunties and their 11 children, and 5 of us, totaling 37, living on this property? We are finding is so frustrating as we look out across the road, every day at our new buildings standing empty, just while we wait for a court date to be given to us so as to reverse the eviction notice.
With our Lozi now gone from the home, the work load for Robyn has increased drastically and she is constantly busy, with little time for rest and relax. Our four 2 year olds in the home and Cade, keep us all so busy. Running the toddler stimulation class every morning, helps keep them active and learning. We are struggling to move our older ones, as some orphanages have shut down and all others homes are full. The foster care program is on hold, so even though some could go into foster care, that is not going to happen for a while. Once again we have had to say ‘no’ to newborn babies who are in need of our care, as we are just so full and have no more space for them.
Sadly, on the 10th, we received news that Robyn’s best friend of 63 years, suddenly passed away. What a shock it was for all of us and her family. Heather and Robyn had met in Grade 1 at just 5 years old, and continued their friendship throughout their 12 schooling years. Heather was Robyn’s only bridesmaid at our wedding and in 2008, Heather and her husband Andy, joined us at Bulembu as ABC house-parents to 7 of our little toddlers. She will be greatly missed but we know that we will see her one day in glory, as she was one of those people that displayed Christianity and the love of Christ in her life and in all that she did.
On 11th, Keturah celebrated her 17th birthday. Robyn treated her to her favourite meal, pizza, and she thoroughly enjoyed it. She is taking her school work very seriously this year and is studying hard and doing well. She is doing debate and public speaking and is on the school senior team, as she is such a good speaker, having English as her home language. Then on the 26th, Keturah participated in an interschools debate completion and her school won the event out of 12 high schools. We are so proud of her and her achievements as she shows a lot of leadership skills.
On the 18th, our twins, Reese and Timmy, were reunited with their mother and father, who are now back together and whose father now has a job and can support his little family. The twins are 16 months old and healthy and strong. Their parents had been visiting them, so we were able to hand them over to their parents with little fuss from them, as they had gotten to know their parents. This has made it a lot easier in the home with only 13 babies and toddlers to care for.
Then on the 27th, our gardener, Mfana, and his wife, welcomed their beautiful baby girl. Their family is now complete with their 2 sons and a beautiful baby girl. This now puts our staff children numbers up at 27 children in total amongst our 13 ABC staff members. ABC is sponsoring 5 of the staff children with their annual school fees, in high school this year.
Prayer Requests:
- Give thanks for the Lord’s provision for the running of the baby home and enough finances and provisions for us to continue running the home.
- Please pray that our land situation can be resolved so that we can continue building the new baby home
- Please continue to pray for good homes to be found for our babies who need to move from our home once they turn 2 years old. We have 4 older ones, over 2, that need to move to more permanent homes.
- Please give thanks to God for all that He is doing in ABC!
We are extremely grateful to everyone who assists us with finances which allows us to continue to pay the staff, the rent for this house and all other necessities needed to run the baby home. Our words cannot express our gratitude to everyone who supports us, who prays for us and encourages us to keep on going. We are extremely grateful to everyone and appreciate all that everyone does to assist us with the running of the ABC baby home. Without you, we cannot survive. THANK YOU!
God Bless you!
Gerry & Robyn
