Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Orphanage

Ella took me to an orphanage today that houses babies birth to 18 months. These babies are mostly African or Colored (mix white/black) and have been abandoned or have HIV/AIDS. There are several orphanges like this all over S. Africa, but this one happens to be 10 minutes from the Embree's house. This particular orphanage just moved into a new facility that can house up to 60 babies! Over the past 3 months they had 9 adoptions leaving them currently with 10 babies. They are all beautiful little babies.

One little girl was an abortion survivor. At 6 months her mother aborted her through a method that proved unsuccessful. They had her "remains" on the table and she started crying! She has a little scaring on her face, but is one of the healthiest and brightest babies in the facility now! God is a God of miracles, even among the tiniest of people! Another miracle story is a little boy someone found in a tied off garbage bag in the trash can with the umbilical cord and placenta still attached but barely alive. He is also thriving now and doing well with the tender care of the nurses and nannies at the orphanage.

I spoke with the founder of the facility about bringing a group of youth to such a place to help out and she said that is a definite possibility. They've had groups come before and it's worked out well. I'd like to do a few mornings or afternoons there as a side ministry and experience for any youth that might come down. It's very eye opening!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Anita: This is a message from your Dad, since he wasn't sure how to publish a comment...
"It's awesome hearing the details of your trip. Glad it's going well!"
Love, Your Parental Guidance

Anita said...

Thanks parental guidance. Be sure to re-read the cultural tid bits. I added some today that apply specifically to you..."indicator switch" ring a bell?? :-)

Love you!

Kari Smith said...

Wow! My heart hurt over each of those adorable little babies that you wrote about. It never ceases to amaze me that people can feel so hopeless that they would try to take the life of an innocent child. Praise the Lord that He took those children in His arms and nursed His creation back to health.