Nine months down, four to six weeks to go
I'm officially 9 months and feeling every bit of it. Beanie continues to grow and kick and I feel like a volcano about ready to errupt (classic heartburn). Jeff and I finished the antenal class we were taking on Wed. so now we are anxious to try out all the things we have learned. Jeff and I are a little bit closer to choosing a name. Looks like we should be able to get registered at the hospital this week. Took us about a two weeks to get the credit control Dept. here and the insurance people in the U.K. on the same page. CC here couldn't get there faxes to work to the U.K. so they faxed them to Jeff at the Hangar and then he scanned them and emailed them to the Insurance people. Hopefully the insurance people will be able to transfer the money soon and then credit control will give us a reciept and then I go to the finance desk and check in. In anycase, last time I was at credit control the reception ladies and the manager helped me to pick out a nice Setswana name for the baby, Karabo, which means "answer", which indicates that you prayed to God for a baby and this was His answer. So now I'm known as MmagoKarabo (mother of Karabo) in the credit control dept. To pronounce Karabo, you should say it like the Spanish speakers do. Ka rrra bo.
Sobering thoughts
A good friend of ours has a niece whose an orphan, both her parents died some time ago. She and her sister were being raised by extended family. Apparently one of the Uncle's took advantage of this girl when she was quite young and she has had a really hard time ever since. Orphans are so incredibly vulnerable, especially the girls. She is now 17 and last year some time, she ran away. Our friend, and her husband, found her about two weeks ago, well she actually showed up at their place. She was extremely thin and very sick. Our friend has two boys, 7 and 9 and she and her husband both work. But it was very apparent that this girl could not be left on her own, she needed constant adult supervision and also serious medical care. After a few days they knew that they would have to take her to her Grandmother's house in a near by village so that someone could be with her 24/7. It was a very hard decision because they didn't know how the Grandmother would react or if the girl would run away again. We were all praying!! They finally took her to the Grandma's place and our friend even recruited some of the other Aunties to come a be there just in case Grandma fainted or something. Grandma's reaction was "I'm just so glad to see her alive." This greatly comforted the girl and she realized that she was wanted and valued. The Grandma has already lost three of her kids to AIDS and it's definite that her Grandaughter is HIV postitive and dealing with secondary infections. Our friend thought that maybe the Grandma would collapse or be in shock, or freak out, but she actually was very calm and strong, kind of a resolve. She was just so thankful to have her grandaughter back. They took the girl to the clinic and got her on treatment and with in just a few days she was already looking so much better. Now she is gaining weight again and my friend and her family visit her often. Unfortunately this scenario is all to common but without such an encouraging ending. The way we feel about ourselves and our hearts make such a huge difference. I think that's why God goes right for our inner Spirit and our hearts, they are the most important and they affect everything else. It's amazing the recovery of people who are sooo sick, just from feeling and being loved. Drugs help, but that love thing is the most important.
FM News
Just to let you know that the Little Seeds workshop went really well. The 10 people that went through the workshop will come for more training every couple of months and also be monitored and supported. Lots of work but totally worth. Our desire is that one day these 10 people will be able to train 10 people each.
Other updates
Florah: Our house help, has been away nearly three weeks. She didn't take her cell phone with her so we've had no way to contact her to see how things are going with her mom. She was robbed last time she was there, on the way to the bus rank, so she left her cell phone for safe keeping. We are hoping and praying that she was able to get her momto the doctor and that the medications are helping. Luckily a friend of ours, Deb Spicer, let me borrow her house help for a day this week. The house was getting pretty filthy as I can just do the bear minimum these days. But wow, did it make me feel so good to have a clean house.
Olebile: Our little friend who was shorter than me and 13 when we met, is now 21 and a head taller than Jeff. In anycase, he is taking a two year computer course and was in desperate need of a computer to practice on and to read his class curiculum on. One of the ladies in FM, Ann Hunter, bought a computer from someone who was leaving so offered her old computer. Jeff helped Ann clear all the old data and then we took it over to Olebile and helped him get set up on it. We were feeling kind of guilty about how slow the computer was but then Olebile said proudly "it's a lot better than the one my friend has."
Furlough
Just to let people know that we plan to be state side some time in Aug. We'll be in Johnson City, TN most of the time (well that's plan A) but we do want to be able to see as many folks as possible. Our church is helping us organize some things, but if any of you have a good safe vehicle that you could spare, or stuff like that, well we'd appreciate it. We are hoping to stay until mid Jan. I'm pretty focused on having a baby right now, but I have to realize that after baby comes, life is still moving right along and August will come before we know it. We've never been parents or been on furlough with a baby before, so I imagine we'll need alot of patience,prayers, help, and advice. People love to give advice so I'm sure we'll get plenty of that!!! I'm guilty too!!.
Thank you for all your prayers, for us, for Beanie, and for the people here in Botswana. It makes all the difference.
love,
Jeff and Michele
