We went to the early church service with Brent and Courtney this morning at the church they have been attending here. We immediately ran into Bert...he is the person that first invited them to this particular church. He also is in the construction business and is responsible for helping get built the part of the Tabitha Community Center that has already been constructed in Sweetwaters.
He was a lovely man with a strong faith and a tender heart. When he realized that today was their last day here, he started weeping and said "I will see you again in Heaven one day"...to which Courtney started to cry and then I began crying. I thought to myself how we came here to support them and here I am breaking down every time she does. Maybe I'll let Jason be the strong stable one. We stood there talking with him for a little while and before we departed he said "Come, everyone come very close. I want to pray." He was not content until literally all five of us where entangled with one another...he prayed and we cried some more. I have found that often here. There is a unity and an immediate sense of family among the believers. I think coming from where we do, I find that less often. Back home it is somewhat of a cultural norm particularly in the South to be involved in church...just my own speculation here so take it or leave it...many times there may be a big body of people in the church simply because it's what you're supposed to do on a Sunday, but not necessarily because they are believers or followers of Christ. Here it is against the culture, the people do not go to church just to go, or believe in Jesus just because it is the thing to do...many of them have been isolated, left family and friends because of their faith, and suffer persecution because of it. They follow Jesus because they know Him to be worthy of following. I have become even more aware of what a gift the Lord gives us in the body of Christ and the unity of believers...how He can unite believers and has the ability to almost instantly give us a deep love for one another as His family.
After church we came back to the orphanage to let them say goodbye to the kids....
That was an answered prayer also...some people from the community host a monthly birthday party for the children which happened to be today...so goodbyes were not quite as hard for the children or Brent and Courtney...and it was more like we will see you again than goodbye which is always easier. Brent and Courtney will be getting Tabitha's new website up and running and managing it from the States so they plan to continue being involved as much as possible.
I took the opportunity to be able to capture a photo with Mama Gail and Izzy. These two want no attention brought to themselves...as you can see in the photo Mama Gail wouldn't even look at the camera :) and Izzy tried everything to get out of it...but they couldn't say no to Brent and Courtney...and I took advantage of that!
Mama Gail is a nurse and the founder of Tabitha ministries. She is the one holding miracle baby Seth. Over 14 years ago, she responded to God's call to go into the communities surrounding Pietermaritzburg. Upon working in the communities, Gail began to realize that God was asking more from her than a day or two of service. As she was visiting the homes of the sick, God birthed in her the idea of training local women to serve as caregivers to people dying in the community. Gail's heart told her that if these people were going to have a fighting chance they would have to learn to care for themselves and not become dependent on outsiders. That revelation didn't allow her to lay aside her role in the ministry instead she gave up most everything because of it. She knew God was calling her to be involved and in her words, she is quite terrified of not being obedient to the Lord. She left the comforts of her job in the hospital and began to pray and fast for God to raise up workers. God, starting with Zanele, began to bring the workers to her. She accompanied them on in-house visits and began to train them how to offer basic care. Everything that Tabitha has become has been a result of this group of courageous women. As they visited the homes of the sick they would report back to Gail what they were finding. Out of taking care of the sick and dying, the children began to come. The majority of the children here at the orphanage have no remaining relatives and she has always taken in the sickest of the sick. Gail is an incredible visionary. She examined each new problem and has tried as best as she could to address it. As more and more people die, more and more children are left orphaned. They of course cannot all be housed here. That is her vision for the Tabitha Community Center. She is in the process of building a center in Sweetwaters that God gave her a vision for 15 years ago. It will be a place of safety for the community and the children. It will be able to hold children that are in immediate danger and those sickest among the people. Only one room is currently built and is now used for training the caretakers and people of the community and is also where they hold programs for the children of the community. She refuses to go into debt and only builds as they have funds. That said, the first thing she had the contractors do is lay the foundation for the entire center. It serves as a promise to herself and those who work with her that she plans on seeing things through. Currently they provide uniforms to 3,000 kids because she heard that they would be kicked out of school and left home alone during the day. She uses local seamstresses to create the uniforms to provide income back into the community. She is a woman of unbelievable faith. She told us that Tabitha it not normal. Instead of doing campaigns for donations, they fast and pray. The first three months of each year is a staff wide fast. They break up the days and someone on staff fasts every day. Once that is over, they have a 12 hour fast once a month. She says that Jesus has never let her down and she has nothing in her that believes He ever will. Only a couple of people in this ministry are even paid. The caretakers (both hospice and of the children) all work for a monthly food stipend and bus fare into the city. The most anyone on this staff makes is the equivalent of $15 a day. They work very long and very hard days. To put that in perspective, the cost of most things here isn't any less than back home. A tank of gas here still costs around $45. Unlike any person we have ever met, this saint prays and honestly expects God to do what He says He will do in taking care of what He wants done. She only sees herself as a pawn in His hand. We kissed 30 kids goodnight tonight that are alive simply because she said yes to God. There is no way to estimate how many hundreds of kids in the community are still alive because of her obedience. Her life is evidence that one person can make a tremendous impact.
Izzy has been with the ministry for the past 10 years. What Zanele is to the community of Sweetwaters, Izzy is to this orphanage. She also is one of the most selfless people I have ever met. When she first felt God call her into ministry to children, she didn't believe herself capable, particularly when it came to such sick children. However, she was obedient and now lives in the orphanage in a bedroom right next door to the children's' rooms and has for the past 10 years. This meager little room is considered to be a large part of her compensation. Honestly, that is so whacked up from my normal way of thinking. We tend (at least I do) to think 'what am I going to get out of this?' She gets a humble room and 24 hour child duty and what does she get as payment? Her payment is that humble room and 24 hour child duty. She has no vehicle. She takes every Thursday afternoon off and walks to a friends house for coffee. Otherwise, she is with these children literally 24 hours a day 7 days a week 365 days a year. I know how overwhelmed I get with my own children and asked her if she ever just wanted to run away. She said "Oh yes, I fire myself at least 3 times a week. Then one of them smiles at me and I think...okay, I can do this for one more day." She is unbelievable. I have never heard her raise or voice or get angry...she is loving, gentle and kind. Even though she has to be beyond exhausted, she continues to love these children and love the Lord. She puts together all the bible programs for the children here and the children in the community of Sweetwaters, supervises the other caretakers of the children, helps Gail with administrative tasks...her jobs are too numerous to list...and beyond that, everyone here just steps in when they see that something needs to be done no matter whose "job" it is. She is currently in the process of adopting this little cutie...Ester (age 3)
Izzy is an amazingly strong and inspiring woman to say the least.
After all the goodbyes were said, we left to take Brent and Courtney to the airport. Last photo with them before they left....
It has been blessing upon blessing being here with them. I am so thankful for the privilege and opportunity God gave us in coming...we have been blessed in so many ways. I love that about the Lord also...when you try to bless someone, you end up with just as much or more of a blessing yourself. It was such a joy to be able to share this time with them. I think for them it has meant so much to know that someone from back home will be able to get and understand what they have been through...that they will have someone to talk to about the emotion of it all. They love these children and this place deeply and I know that God will continue to comfort their hearts as they grieve over missing this place. He has a special plan for those two...they love the Lord and desire for their lives to bring glory to Him. It is a privilege to know them. We love them deeply and will miss them our last couple of days here.
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Yesterday I arrived in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Today I visited their government welfare agency which is called INHFA and was able to spend some time in their orphanage. Heartbreaking. Devastating. Gut-wrenching. This little guy on the far right is Oscar. He is around 14 months old. When my friend picked his almost lifeless little body up from the crib he immediately responded to just her touch. His little arms hung limply from his sides but within a 
few minutes he was smiling and laughing. Any attempt made to put him back in his crib and those little limp arms turned into forceful grips refusing to let go. The time came when we had to return all the children to their cribs and in every room cries resounded off the walls. One of the older babies just said the word mama over and over. The harsh reality is that she has no mother to comfort her. I could handle the cries but what transpired between this little guy and myself was the most unbearable thing I have ever experienced. He reached out his little hands in a desperate attempt to not be separated. I tried to comfort him and gently whispered to him to hang on and keep on fighting. I have never seen the look of desperation and 
hopelessness and despondency in a baby so very small. As I had to turn my back on him and walk away my heart broke into a million pieces which I'm sure in no way remotely compares to the heartache he must have experienced over being left alone again. I hate this. It is not fair. It is not just. It is terrible. It is awful. It is painful. It is intolerable. It enrages me. It grieves me.
