Red Rocks Team Helping Out at The Lighthouse Shelter

The team members spent some time helping out at the Lighthouse Shelter.  Many of them spent time holding and loving on the babies in the shelter.

 Kathy and Jon pulled weeds in the Shelter flower beds .

Janelle and Deb (in the background) painted the shelter's toy boxes to match the newly redecorated interior of the shelter.

Sean and Jeremy installed deep sinks for bathing the babies in the shelter bathroom. 

One day at the shelter, Dave worked on setting up computers for the Orphan and Vulnerable Children program in Freedom Park.  He installed new hard drives and updated the operating systems.  The computers had been donated to the OVC program several months ago but they haven't been able to use them before now.

~Jenny

One of Those Days

I wrote this post earlier this week and have debated about whether or not I should post it.  I want to be honest here on our blog, but I'm afraid of being "too" real.  I was angry the day I wrote this post, here is the toned down version . . .


Some days I can numb myself slightly and shut out the abuse and neglect inflicted upon children.  This is the only way I can do and see what I do and see on a daily basis without completely losing my mind.

Other days I absorb their abuse and pain into my being and feel it so deeply that it seems my heart is going to shatter.

Today was one of those days.

We received some distressing and sad news regarding a child who spent years here at the shelter and was recently placed in a foster home.  Shortly after that I had to turn away two sick, abandoned siblings because we are at our maximum amount of children and don't have the finances to hire more staff to care for more children.

As the woman who brought the abandoned babies to us was leaving she broke down and started sobbing saying "I don't know what I'm going to do with these babies."  We gave her the help that we could; some formula, baby food, clothes, the phone number to a shelter in another town, and I gave her some money, but that was all I could do.

I have no idea what will happen to these two babies, I will most likely never see them or hear about them ever again.

What makes me very angry is when the neglect comes from "christians".  People who are interested more in appearing like they care and receiving accolades from others for their "charity work" than getting their hands dirty, doing what the Bible commands and actually making a difference in the lives of others.  People who have the ability and resources to help but won't.  People who want their egos stroked and want others to know how sacrificing and selfless they are before they will even step foot near a child in need.

Well, I don't have time for that!

There are children dieing and starving and being beaten while we're busy patting each other on the back and tiptoeing around each other's feelings.

I'm sorry that this post is not upbeat and happy, but to be completely honest, sometimes working here can be very difficult.  Sometimes horrible things happen to children and we can't do anything at all to stop it or do anything to help.   Sometimes our hands are tied and there is absolutely nothing we can do.  Some days I want to pack my family up and get on the next plane back to the US.

Some days I feel completely defeated and useless.

Today was one of those days.

~Jenny

Precious new baby girl

Yesterday we received a 3-4 week old baby girl.  She had been abandoned in a field.  It is always bittersweet when we get a new baby here at the shelter.  For each baby that we take in, there are countless others who are still in crisis.

This little girl is absolutely gorgeous and so sweet!  Her mother must have been so desperate that she could see no other way.

Here is Lincoln holding the new baby just after she arrived.  I was so focused on the baby that I cut Lincoln's head off.

  

Bath time!

Clean, safe and snuggly.

~Jenny

 

Playground

Lately I've been in the playground building business.

A few months ago a California team of highschoolers started a playground at the orphan after school program in Phokeng.  This is a place where orphans from the community come after school for a meal, mentoring, and to hang out with friends.

This playground gives them a nicer place to hang out and play.  Derek, the local YWAM missionary, and I have been working on finishing it whenever we have time.  Finally, we finished it this week.

This is me with some of the orphans.  (Yes, I know my hat looks funny but it keeps me cool.)  Martha is to my left, she is the local woman who started this program.

A few weeks ago we had the Stanphill family from the states come over to build a playground for the shelter in the memory of their infant daughter who passed away a few months ago.  They took off all the old rotting boards from our playground and replaced them with new wood.  They also expanded the playground to allow for another 7 baby swings and 4 toddler swings.  They did a beautiful job and we are so thankful for their hard work.

This is during construction.

 This is the finished product.

~Lincoln

New Babies

Recently we've received some new babies in the shelter.  They have similar stories.  We aren't allowed to give too many details on the internet.

The great thing about the stories of these babies is that their mothers are in the process of releasing them for adoption.  That is such a wonderful thing and a blessing for these babies.  So many times we receive children that have been abandoned and no one knows who their families are.  In that situation the social workers have to begin a long process of searching for parents and extended family who might want them.  It takes a VERY long time, months, and sometime years to accomplish this.  All the while the child is in limbo, unable to be adopted to a loving family.  We are so thankful for situations like this where the babies are ready to be adopted when they are still young.

Shelter Renovations

Over the past month or so we have been very busy renovating, cleaning and making repairs in the shelter.  Everything was scrubbed from top to bottom and repainted, repaired or replaced.


Many of the children had been placed with family members, foster parents or different shelters at the end of 2009.  With less children we were able to do a lot of work that couldn't be done with a shelter full of children.

 The front of the shelter

 This is painted just inside the entry of the shelter

 The toddler room

 This is what is stenciled around the toddler room

 The infant room

 This is what is stenciled around the infant room

 The children's bathroom

 The new toddler toilets (we're having some problems with the plumbing leaking)

 The kitchen

 The kitchen

 This is what is stenciled around the top of the kitchen, for some reason the picture is blurry.

We have also been helping to complete a dorm that will house up to 8 people.  The dorm will be available to short term volunteers who come to help out at the shelter.

Bedroom #1

Bedroom #2

 Bathroom

 Bathroom

It's been a lot of hard work and long hours, but it's nice to see everything complete!


Because of all of the work that needed to be done in the shelter, we haven't been accepting new children.  But now that everything is finished we have started taking babies again.  On Friday we received a precious 2 week old baby boy.  He will be staying at the shelter until an adoptive family is found for him.

Janis, the founder of the shelter, and the new baby

Before and After

This is for my Red Rocks Team that just got back, I want to share some earlier pictures of some of the kids that you came to love. I can't give their names on the internet, but I think that you'll recognize them.

This is the baby that our daughter Madison got to name. Her smile now lights up the shelter.


This is the same little girl the day she arrived at the shelter. She practically became part of our family. We would have adopted her if we could have.


This is a current picture of the little girl with Jenny from our Red Rocks Team.

This is the "grumpy old man" with his mom before she died.

Here is the "grumpy old man" 2 1/2 years ago. Notice how dry the skin is on his arms. His whole body used to be dry the like this and he wore socks on his hands to protect his dry skin. He was always in pain because of this. Now his skin has totally cleared up and he is so much healthier and happier.

These are the two drama queens of the place.

The child on the left here is the same as the child on the right in the above photo. No one could forget that smile.


This is the Princess (in light blue) that is part of the siblings that I've written about. (I've been saying that there were 5 siblings, but I think there were actually 4.) This is her when she was at the shelter the first time. Her two sisters are in front of her in pink and behind her in red.


This is a current picture of our Princess.

Day 10

Day 10 Red Rocks Team Trip

Today our team continued working on the playground at the shelter. We made pretty good progress but it isn’t done yet. We’ll work for a few hours tomorrow morning before our fun day in Johannesburg. Tomorrow we will go souvenir shopping, go to the Lion Park, and eat at Carnivore Restaurant in Jo-burg. It will be nice to have a fun relaxing day after working so hard.

Part of the team worked in Phokeng putting the final coat of paint on the ceiling. The cabinets were also installed today at Martha’s.

Tomorrow is Amara’s birthday (Amara is one of the ladies on the team) so we had a surprise birthday for her with the kids at the shelter. While she was in Freedom Park this morning the older kids in the shelter decorated a birthday cake for her and made some cards. It was a cool surprise for her.

Tonight we took the 7 oldest kids in the shelter to the movies. We saw Ice Age 3. It was a very cool treat for the kids. One of the girls that we took with us is the one that I wrote about earlier in our trip who has returned to the shelter because she was abused by her father. This was the first time that she has ever gone to a movie. She had so much fun. It was great to hear her laughing so loud in the movie theater.

Yesterday I wrote about the song that the team wrote. The music to it is very cool, you’ve got to hear it, but for now here are the lyrics:

They titled the song “Lerato” which means “love” in Tswana.

Verse 1

If one man could change the world

And bring color to this city of tin cans

Rusty blue, helpless but not hopeless hue

Sitting with the answers in your hands

All the lost boys are playing in the street.

Will you come play Peter Pan?

This aint no fairy tale it’s a barbed wire reality

But they’re not losing their innocence

Chorus

So come sail away with me off to the red soil

Step out of your boat and see what I can do

You might think that I’ve called you off to change the world

Maybe it’s the world that’s changing you

Verse 2

I’ve got everything you want but you’ve got everything I’ve been missing for so long

You live and breathe everything I need

Turns out you’re the one who’s savin’ me

Seems the reaper is standing at your door

But all we found was life inside

There’s nothin’ left worth livin’ for but all you want is more

Summary

14 strangers answering a call, nothing special at all

There’s a palm print that’s been left on our hearts

That won’t be wiped away when we depart

To fully appreciate the song you’ll need some explanations on the meaning of the lyrics, here’s a few of them:

-One of our team members named the kids playing soccer in the streets of Phokeng, “The Lost Boys”

-In the house next to Martha’s there is a little boy that is maybe 2 and everyday he sat on the other side of the barbed wire fence and watched all the kids play at Martha’s. Someone nicknamed him “Peter Pan.” He was so cute and adorable and sad looking as he watched everyone else play.

The boy below is "Peter Pan"

Day 9

Day 9 Red Rocks Team Trip

It's very late at night. I'm tired and I don't have a lot time, but I wanted to post a quick update. I'll try to post some pictures later. Sometimes it is quite a mission to upload pictures because the internet connection is so slow here.

Today we sent part of the team back out to Phokeng to continue on the ceilings. Tomorrow the cabinets will be installed. Tomorrow is our last day of working so we have a lot to do.

We also began rebuilding the Lighthouse shelter's playground today. Our intention was to install new posts in the ground and then re-use the existing wood from the old playground, but as we've begun the project we are finding that almost all of the wood is rotten so we are pretty much starting from scratch, which has made the project much more involved than we originally intended. I doubt that we will finish completely, but hopefully we can do enough that the kids can use it.

We also sent 4 of our ladies to Neobirth today. Neobirth is a crisis pregnancy center in town. The ladies from our team were just going to see what they do at Neobirth and learn a little about the social issues that they deal with. While they were there several mothers came in seeking help with their pregnancy or asking for help for their newborns. It was one crisis after another while the girls were there and they got quite an education on the problems of South Africa. One of our team members is a social worker in the states and said that today was the most impacting day yet for her. I'm glad that they had that opportunity.

Tomorrow our last batch of team members will visit Freedom Park.

Tonight I had a meeting in town regarding the leadership of the shelter and I returned to find that the team had been writing a song about their experience in South Africa. It was amazing. Maybe we'll post the lyrics here eventually - keep checking back. It means so much to me to see how this trip has impacted each of them individually. It is more than I could have hoped for. A lot of tears were being shed tonight because of how God is moving in each person's life.

Manna from Heaven

Day 4 Red Rocks Team Trip.

Today 4 of the girls and I (Lincoln) went to Freedom Park, a local squatter camp, and brought food parcels to people living in the shacks and prayed with them. That is always a moving experience and it was fun for me to expose our team to that part of South Africa. The rest of the team will visit Freedom Park next Monday and Wednesday.

Part of our team worked in the Lighthouse Children's Shelter garden, roto-tilling the soil and digging up weeds. Another part of the team tore down the old playground at the shelter. That thing was a death trap. It is a heavy, leaning giant just waiting for a breeze to blow over....very scary. Our team bought some big treated poles that we will plant in the ground to give the playground more stability. Tomorrow we will do that and next week we will begin reassembling the playground.

Part of our team was in Phokeng at Martha's (the lady who feeds and cares for 40-50 orphans in her neighborhood.) We got the ceiling up in the kitchen and began the ceiling in the feeding room. The doors are all prepped, sealed, and ready to install when they dry. Tomorrow I'll order the cabinets and hopefully we can install them next week if they arrive in time. The rest of the team joined the builders in Phokeng at 2:30 and we had fun playing soccer with the kids and making some beaded necklaces. It's fun to watch the team begin to build relationships with the kids out there after two days of being together.

A very cool thing happened in Phokeng today. Manna from heaven.

Across the street from Martha's home is the stadium that will be hosting some games for the world cup in 2010. Right now they are having the confederate cup there which is a huge international soccer tournament. The caterers there had a lot of left over food and didn't know what to do with it, so they decided to drive around the community and ask people where they should take it.


They happened to run into someone who knew Martha, and they told them to bring it to Martha's house. They drove up with a truck load of bread. We unloaded the bread and they said, "We'll be right back with another load." They returned half an hour later with another truck of bread, and one truck filled with potatoes. It was amazing. There was so much that Martha couldn't keep it all in her house. Good thing we just finished putting doors and locks on her new kitchen. We brought 3 trash bags full of bread back to the shelter as well. It was really cool for the children to have a gift like that come out of nowhere.

Red Rocks Team Trip

Today is day 3 of our Red Rocks Team trip to South Africa. We've had an amazing trip. This is by far the best missions trip I've ever taken. We have a great team. Everyone is working really hard, there hasn't been any complaining, everyone is eager to get involved and do whatever needs to be done.

Today was our first full day of ministry. We worked in the garden and played with the kids at the Lighthouse Shelter.

Part of our team spent the day in Phokeng working at Martha's house. Martha is a lady that cares for 40 - 50 orphans that live in her community. She feeds them once a day, helps them with homework, and acts as a surrogate parent to them. The kids do not live with her, they just visit once a day for their meal and some love. The YWAM team here in Rustenburg has built a car port, and then bricked it in with rooms to be a kitchen, eating area, and two rooms. Our team is putting in a ceiling, doors, and kitchen cabinets. Today we started working on the doors and installing the ceiling.

In the afternoon the rest of the team came over and spent the rest of the day playing with the kids, singing songs with the guitar, and dancing together. Everyone had a lot of fun. We brought some instruments to give to the kids, like tambourines, drums, and some homemade recorders.

One amazing story happened today. Three years ago when we lived here there were 5 siblings that came to live at the shelter. They had been taken from their parents because the father had beat them with a cattle whip. After several months at the shelter the social workers informed us that the kids were returning to their family because the parents had gone through "counseling." It broke our heart to let them go, but we had no choice.

When our team arrived this week we were met by one of the little girls that is one of those siblings. She has been sent back to the shelter because she had been beat again so badly that she was sent to the hospital for 5 days. She is such a sweetheart with a beautiful smile and wonderful personality.

Today she was hanging out with some of our team talking to them. She is very open and vulnerable about her experiences and willing to share. One of our team members, Jenny, was asking her if she ever prays. She said, "Oh yes, I love Jesus, I pray all the time." Jenny asked her what she prays for, and she said, "Oh, every night I pray for an instrument. I really want a tambourine, or guitar, or drum."

Well, she didn't know that Jenny is a music teacher and we had brought 4 suitcases filled with kid's instruments and a guitar. So, Jenny asked her what instrument she wanted and she picked out a tambourine that she was able to color and decorate. She was beaming from ear to ear, she was so happy.

Then as they were talking some more Jenny commented on how she liked the bandanna the little girl was wearing. This little girl wears a bandanna because her head was shaved because of her injuries. She said that she has been praying for a princess crown so that people don't see her bandanna on her head. Jenny had brought princess crowns for the girls in the shelter to decorate. This precious little girl was able to decorate her own princess crown.

She spent the rest of the day hanging out with the team, and eating dinner with us, being the little princess of the group. It was really an amazing God moment where the team had the opportunity to be used by God in a really special way. We look forward to seeing what else God does on this trip.

Pictures of the Beautiful Children in Rustenburg, South Africa