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orphan

Small Steps

By Blog, Involve, Personal

We had Lovekin retested this week and got the results today – it was confirmed that she’s HIV positive.  So far, only our team in Haiti knows (and all of you around the world.)  Her village and her grandmother don’t know yet.  Until there is a plan in place, we believe it is likely that they will discard Lovekin if they find out she has HIV.  There is the sad possibility that as we keep helping this little one, her community will see value in her despite her condition.

Many people are praying for her.  Some are offering advice for next steps, recommending referrals, donating to her fundThank you all.  We’re following up as quickly as possible.

Lovekin is still ill and malnourished so we are trying to keep her on a daily care regimen to help restore her most basic health.  But her grandmother is very frail and limited.  We’ve raised enough money to take care of the immediate financial needs so we don’t have that obstacle right now.

This Friday, two of our Haitian team members are taking Lovekin to a special clinic at the Gheskio Center in Port au Prince.  I’m hoping that we can walk out with medication, a treatment plan and some tracks to run on, but sometimes that’s a lot to hope for in a single day in Haiti.

Keep those prayers coming…

Heartache

By Blog, Involve, Personal

Lovekin was born in August 2015. Her mother died a few weeks afterward due to complications from childbirth, and most likely from AIDS.  Her father was not involved in her life and her grandmother is struggling to care for her and cannot afford to feed her.  When we met her she was malnourished and had a fever and a variety of minor medical ailments.  To avert her grandmother deserting her, the Chanje Movement engaged in her life and took care of her immediate needs, including baby formula and medication.

We were in the intake process for Lovekin at Chanje Lakay in hopes of saving her life when we discovered she is HIV positive.  Our shelter is not equipped to deal with the care for her, so we are actively trying to find her a home where she will have the best care.  She is a delicate bundle of joy despite the circumstances of her early life. She has a sweet, contemplative demeanor and loves to be held!

We have created a designated fund for Lovekin to provide for her needs in the weeks, months and (prayerfully) years to come.  In the event that the generosity of donors outlasts her life, the remaining funds will be used to care for other Haitian babies and children who are HIV positive.

We will be posting actively as her story unfolds…

The broken and abandoned

By Envision

“We see with our eyes so that our hearts can feel.” That was one of concepts we processed as we drove through downtown Port au Prince.

I never take a group there because I enjoy it. I take groups there because it helps inform our prayers and enlarge our hearts and infuse both with compassion.

Personally, it reminds me of the Holocaust and how I tap into my own heritage and how it moves me to teach about it despite its evils. I don’t enjoy watching Schindler’s List or going to a Holocaust museum. But I must.

We spent a lot of time with Haitian orphans today because we understand that they will be the stewards of Haiti’s future.

Now our team also understands a bit better the tragic events of their past, and has expanded their compassion. Teams always come expecting God to work through them. He does. And He always does even more in them.

Today we were His arms to embrace them and share His love. We saw His mercy and grace through others as well. We saw life change as our translator committed his life to Christ. And we are changed too – before we saw with our eyes, and now we also see with our hearts.