Feliz Navidad.

I hope that all of you had as wonderful of a Christmas as I did. On Christmas day we went to church for a beautiful service with the team. We sang "Feliz Navidad" in church which I just had to laugh about because we were singing a Spanish song in Africa.....there is something just strange about that. Haha. It was a rainy day here on Christmas and so we laid low for the afternoon a bit which was actually really nice. I was able to travel around and visit the baby houses only to get tackled by 15 kids wanting to show me their Christmas gifts. Seeing the way the kids cherished a little wooden car or a baby doll put a smile on my face. At night we had a braai at BG with the Azusa Pacific team and a few other missionaries in Lesotho. It was such a fun night filled with beautiful conversation and delicious food. To finish the night, I skyped into my family's Christmas party. As much as I would have loved to be home with my family on Christmas I am humbled by their never ending encouragement and support. Skyping with them is such a blessing because they always make me feel like I am there with them with how they joke around and laugh with me. Through the whole day I could see the Lord's hand working. From the laughter and joy I experienced with my friends here to the heavy hearted moments when I was wishing I could be back home the Lord was faithful. The Lord was so good to me this Christmas and I am so thankful!

delivering Christmas gifts to the baby houses

watching "Brave"

hey look, a crab

Christmas day rainbow!

my first Christmas cracker

da group

Mercy :)

On Monday I blogged about a little 5 year old orphan boy who we went to go visit in the hospital. I wrote about how when we went he was in so much pain and it hurt me to watch him have to go through that. A few hours after I posted that I found out he had gone into a coma. One of our nurses had been visiting him a lot and doing whatever she could to help. She treated him and cared for him like he was her own son. Today we found out that he had gone to be with the Lord. As much as that news made me sad I couldn't help but think of how he was now in heaven with no more tears and no more pain. He is no longer an orphan, but instead he is dancing and praising with  his heavenly Father!

Vacations can be challenging for me. I LOVED going on vacations with my family back in the States and taking time to relax but here it is different. I find that I lose my sense of purpose and become very homesick when I get off campus for a even a few days. This week we went to Malealea lodge which is a very nice camp ground type thing a couple hours away in the mountains. It is a beautiful place to go and ride horses, hike, or just relax. We took the Azusa Pacific team there for a few days away. When we arrived and I started feeling really down wanting to go home I realized that vacationing was always something I did with my family. So, when I am on a getaway with people that aren't my family I find that I miss my own family a lot. Also, I came to Lesotho to help at Beautiful Gate and build relationships with the staff and children here. When I am away from Beautiful Gate for a while I more than anything just want to get back here to see my kids again to continue the work I came here to do. As challenging as it was emotionally to be away this weekend, I really was able to enjoy myself at times by getting to know the girls on the team, gazing at the gorgeous scenery, and spending time talking with God. I came back spiritually filled and ready to smother these 60 kids with Christ's love.

"For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace"  -Isaiah 9:6 

peace and love. 

Christmas is coming!

Merry Christmas Eve! I just wanted to so a quick post today and then I will post again later this week after Christmas....hopefully.

Today we have officially made it to 61 kids. CRAY. One of our children is currently in the hospital so I guess there is 60 on campus. The boy who is in the hospital is about 6 weeks old and half the weight he was when he was born. I have never seen such a tiny baby! He hasn't been able to keep his bottles down so in the hospital they are feeding him through a tube so be can get back to a normal weight. Yesterday I went along with the Azuza Pacific team to the hospital to visit him. While we were there we were able to visit with some of the other children and mothers that were there. There was also a 5 year old boy there who is also an orphan but is staying at a different care center. You tell he was in so much pain and it just broke my hear that there was nothing I could to to make him feel better. We took some time to pray over a few of the kids and its amazing how saying, "I trust YOU, Lord!" can ease some of your hurt. I left the hospital yesterday with mixed emotions. I was joyful knowing the Lord was still watching over these children even through this hard time, yet sad that these children were going through so much pain without many people around who really care about them. I remember when I first got here I didn't know how exactly to react when my heart was constantly aching for people around me. The burden became very heavy and it made me just want to be sad all the time. I thought being sad was how I was supposed to react even though I didn't like it. I have learned to be okay with being sad sometimes but also how to find little pieces of joy to cling to when I hear about or see things that are hard. In a place like Lesotho if you only focus on the negative it can really get you down. Instead focus of the joy of the moments and the beautiful promises in scripture.

"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you" -John 14:18

On Friday we had the staff Christmas party and I have never experienced such a joyful celebration. Everyone was dancing, laughing, singing, and praising the Lord. I just didn't want the party to end! All the staff got little Christmas gifts and a small bonus. One of my house mothers was sitting next to me and when she saw her bonus she turned to me and said, "Ausi Paige, its too much!" I told her that she is such a gift to Beautiful Gate and that we love her and appreciate her a lot so she must accept this gift as our way of saying 'thank you.' After talking with her a little I got to thinking that if I would ever say that a bonus was too much. I honestly don't think I would. And here is this woman who probably lives in a 1 or 2 bedroom cinder block house with no running water saying that she doesn't need more money. In that moment I was not very proud to be an American. In a country where almost every body's dream is to get rich and famous....yea I don't know if I want to be associated with people like that. I don't think people in America understand the word 'need'. Most people here have food, water, shelter, love, and the Lord and that is all they need to live. Yes, the water may be dirty and their house might not have electricity but their needs are being met so they are happy. Why do Americans think they need so much more? I don't exactly know what I am trying to get at here but these were just some thoughts I have been reflecting on. 

On Sunday I opened presents with my family via skype which was so fun! Skype is an amazing thing my friends. 

Well there are a few thoughts from the week. I will hopefully post again soon!

 a few of my friends from church

tessa's new alarm clock

sweeto hat bray!

oven mitts!

I love them. 

peace and love. 

full.

What a crazy week! Well, I guess every week is crazy here, but its a good kind of crazy :)

Three children were transferred to Beautiful Gate from a different orphanage on Monday. They were coming from the orphanage I visited a few months ago. Click HERE to read about my experience there. All three of the children were not getting cared for or fed enough (all three are malnourished) at the other orphanage which is why they were transferred here. The oldest boy got assigned to my house and when he got here and I went to cuddle him like I always to with the new children. The next day when I took the kids to play group I could tell he was already very attached to me. He followed me around all morning whimpering and wanting me to hold him. he was being stubborn and wouldn't listen with the bo'me would tell him to do something. Since he was new and I knew the adjustment was probably hard for him I would often pick him up, carry him around, and help him eat. After a little while the play group lady told me I could no longer hold him because he needed to learn to do things on his own and learn how things work without my help. Though I was kind of sad I couldn't be there for this boy I understood where she was coming from. For the rest of the week I restrained from showing him any extra attention and prayed and prayed that he would adjust quickly. I was really worried about him because whenever I saw him he would just cry and cry and I could not figure out why.  Monday morning when I went to my house I could tell he was finally adjusting. He was playing with the other kids, laughing, and eating all of his food. He no longer followed me around and listen to bo'me when they told him to do something. It is so crazy to me how much this boy's attitude changed in a week's time. I thank the Lord for answering my prayer so quickly and I am excited to start seeing this boy gain a few pounds. :)

Last week Sue, (the co-founder of BG) her son Dillon, and his wife Amelie (did you follow that? haha) came to visit Beautiful Gate. Amelie had come for a week earlier in September but it was my first time meeting her husband and mother in law. It was so great to hear stories about Beautiful Gate from Sue and be able to hear about how much it has grown since her and her husband started it 11 years ago. It was great to catch up with Amelie again too. She volunteered for 8 months at Beautiful Gate a couple years ago, so I love talking to her and comparing experiences. She is always so encouraging and open and willing to talk. I was grateful for their wonderful visit and I hope to see them again someday soon!

On Thursday of last week I got a new roommate!! I have very much enjoyed getting to know Lois and working with her in the houses. Lois is from Pretoria so we have fun comparing cultural and language differences. I have been wanting to organize the play group craft room for a very long time but was afraid to tackle this big project by myself. She agreed to help me clean it today and it has never looked better! There was so much craft supplies and toys in there that I didn't even know we had. I am hoping that now that I know where everything is I can pull the craft stuff our more with the older kids and teach the bo'me how to use some of it too. It is so great to have another person who is also in the houses everyday around. In Pretoria she works with kids so I really enjoy hearing her perspective and thoughts on some of the kids' situations. Lois will be here for about 2 weeks so pray that she enjoys her time here and is able to grow and learn about the Lord through the kids.

59! That is the number of kids currently at Beautiful Gate. A 3 day old baby arrived yesterday and is staying my house and another newborn came today and was placed in a different house which brought us up to 59. BG easily houses 60 children but any more than that can be challenging. Though we have had many adoptions lately, there probably won't be any more in the next few months. This means there will most likely still be kids coming to Beautiful Gate but not many leaving. This also means we are filling up fast! I know the house mothers have agreed to still care for more than 60 kids if needed, but I just hope we don't get to the point where we have to start turning kids away. I cannot even imagine having to do that. The house mothers have been doing such a great job with the kids, but please pray that the Lord would keep giving them energy to keep up the awesome work. Your prayers are appreciated more than you know! Thanks!

peace and love.

flooding.

I'm back! Sorry for not posting last week. It has been busy here and honestly I didn't have a whole lot to blog about. :)

GOD IS SO GOOD! That is all I have to say after yesterday's adoption ceremony. The ceremony was for two brothers who are going to Canada. It was so great to meet their parents and see them already connecting with their kids after only 2 weeks of being together. The Lord knew these kids were meant for those parents. The thing that made the ceremony extra special was the boys' biological grandfather coming for the ceremony. He was the one that made the decision for the boys to come to Beautiful Gate and let the boys be adopted after their parents passed away. This man gave the best gift you could ever give to these boys and their new family. A coward is what people called this man for letting the boys come to an orphanage, but in my mind he is the hero of the story. Even though it was hard, he acted in the best interest of the children. I am so thankful for his decision and I know the boys' new parents are too. Because of his decision these boys will get a chance at life and be able to grow up in a family that loves them and is able to care for them. Praise the Lord!

Flooding. That is never a good thing. Especially when it happens in the building that is supposed to house 3 volunteers coming in 2 days. yeaaaaaahh. Yesterday we found the short term volunteer house filled with water up to 2 inches deep in some places. It is all tile floors so there wasn't any major damage....PRAISE THE LORD! We have 3 people coming on Monday that were supposed to stay there but now they are staying in me and Kristen's house. So, today we have been scurrying around cleaning and washing towels and sheets to get ready for them to come. Though I know it is going to be busy and probably a bit stressful this week, I have learned to just go with it. Plans change A LOT here because Africans just run on a different time schedule than Americans. At first, it was frustrating and hard for me to get used to. I was used to customer service and consistency when it comes to businesses and that is just not something you find around here. When you put your daily plans in the Lord's hands I find the day goes better anyways. Things like flooding don't phase you has much because you already put it in the Lord's care.

There have been many new children the past few weeks and probably 3 more are coming tomorrow. A few of the new ones are less than a couple weeks old. SO CUTE! One of the new girls in my house is so afraid of me! I am guessing that she has never seen a white person before so that is why she is uncomfortable around me. I feel bad because every time I walk into the room she starts screaming. I hope that she can learn to like me because she is a cutie patootie and I just want to cuddle her! haha. Please pray for the new children that arrive here and that they would settle in quickly and not be afraid of me. :)

"He called a little child and had him stand among them....And he said..."whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven"

-Matthew 18:2-4

LEARN. Learn from your children. That is what Jesus was teaching here. I must admit that I feel a lot like a mother here. I absolutely love it, but I find myself worrying so much about the little things like how they behave, if they are eating enough, and making sure none of them are getting sick that I forget to learn from them. Everyday they basically sing the same songs in play group, but there is never a day when they don't put their whole heart into their singing. I need to learn to be like that when I praise our Father. Investing every ounce of my being into that praise, holding nothing back. These kids are also joyful. I need to learn to be more like that. When I walk by their rooms at night and I see their little faces in the windows and their hands rapidly waving at me, I can't help but smile. Even though these kids don't have many toys or things they can claim to be their own, they are still happy and would much rather play with new friends than a toy anyway. I need to remember to treasure my time with PEOPLE instead of wasting time being attached to THINGS. These are just a few of the many things I am learning from these kids. What can you learn from the kids in your life?

peace and love. 

thankful.

What a week! One day we were celebrating Thanksgiving and the next I was getting some major sunburn. This weather thing is still something I am not used too.

Lesotho does not celebrate Thanksgiving but on Friday we had some missionaries over to celebrate it anyways. The US embassy made turkeys available for the people who wanted them so we even got to have turkey! The food was delicious and the fellowship was wonderful. I will say that even though we had the traditional food it did not feel like Thanksgiving at all to me. For the past 18 years I have done the same thing  for Thanksgiving. Spending time with family, playing dress up with my cousins, and going through black Friday adds are all the things I am used to. I was able Skype and see most of my family which was really nice. Thanksgiving was different this year. Not bad, just different. I spent more time spending time with the Lord and thanking him than worry about the food or traditions. The thing I am probably the most thankful for is my family. Cliche, I know. Through every step of this process my family has been so supportive and loving. Even though I am far away I have never felt left out or like they don't care. I have been blessed beyond belief. I am also very thankful for my "adoptive" family here, the Geurinks. They treat me like I am a part of their family. They have helped me through many of the hard things about being here and laughed with my through the joyous times. This year I have also found I am thankful for a lot of little things. Things that I am just used to but things that most of Lesotho doesn't have. Things like plumbing, electricity, running water, a safe place to live, money for food, a vehicle, and carpet are rare around here. What makes me so special that I get access to these things? Lastly, I am thankful for the kids I get to play with everyday. They have taught me, tackled me, peed on me, snotted all over me, hugged me, kissed me, danced with me, sung to me, and loved me. There was a day last week where I got bit 3 times, peed on once, and got a chunk of hair pulled out of my head. The kids were fighting a lot that day which meant a lot of kids crying. Even though it was a pretty rough day, when I came home at night I could not help but be thankful for them. Nothing they do to me or to each other could make me love any of them less. I now have a better understanding of Christ's love for us. Nothing we do could separate us from His love! I am thankful for that. Click HERE to see what all of American volunteers are thankful for this year.

On Saturday me and my room mate, Kristen went on a little adventure. She had a package in LadyBrand, South Africa ready to pick up and Geurinks couldn't go out of the country because they are in the process of getting more pages for their passports. So me and Kristen went by ourselves. It was Kristen's first time driving in Lesotho/South Africa and I must say that she did pretty good! It was pouring down rain but she still drove like a pro. We ended up getting there after the post office closed which was a big bummer but we were still able to do to Living Life which is a cute little coffee that feels like "pinterst-land" to me. We were able to reflect on our experiences so far over a delicious meal. After Living Life we went to Spar which is the grocery store. The main reason I wanted to go was to get pretzels because you cannot buy them in Lesotho. YUM :) After our little visit into South Africa we came back to Lesotho and went to the mall to see a movie. Overall, it was a really fun day to just get off campus and have time to reflect together about our BG experiences.


Today, we were spoiled. We got to go swimming! That is still crazy to me...swimming outside 3 days after Thanksgiving?? Oh well, I am not complaining. :) I underestimated the African sun today and did not wear sunscreen. I have not worn any since I have been here since I really don't mind getting sun burnt. I usually get a few good burns every summer so I am pretty used to it, but today I think that I overdid it.

ALL THE LETTERS ON MY WALL....THANK YOU!!! 

one of our many fly killing adventures...(this is my room mate Kristen :)

 jello and marshmallows...a thanksgiving must. 

 trying my first litchi on thanksgiving 

 highlight of the day: buying a fan. I was only a little stoked. 

 SKYPIN THE FAM ON THANKSGIVING

our thanksgiving meal

Mercy :)

pretty proud of her pie

a thanksgiving sunset

learning to love tea (Living Life)

movie theater....an interesting experience

RAINBOW

DRIVING LIKE A PRO!

swim.swim.

love these kids. 

tropical :)

This week I got two e-mail updates from families that have adopted from BG since I have been here. Let me tell you, those e-mails MAKE my day! I was so glad to hear that they were both doing well and settling into their new lives. God is so crazy good.

peace and love.

twins.

TWINS!! Twins arrived at Beautiful Gate last night! Me and Mercy were sitting on the front porch watching the sunset and talking about heaven when the social worker came and told us about their arrival. The twins are about 2 months old but still only around 4 pounds. They are so tiny!! I heard they were premature, and since they are so small only a few of the house mothers are allowed to hold them at this point. For the past couple weeks we kept hearing that they were coming but it kept getting pushed off. The nurses at the hospital have been on strike lately the twins were not getting cared for properly. When we found this out our social worker and nurse worked to get them out of there as soon as possible. I am so thankful that they ended up here at Beautiful Gate! After just talking to Mercy about heaven and then getting to meet the twins, I was so excited for heaven where there are no malnourished children. Please pray that they GROW and get to a healthy weight soon!

This past week was very bittersweet for me. November 14 is the date I would have gotten home had I not extended. I do not regret extending my stay, it just was strange to think, "I could be home with my family and friends right now." On the 14th I was sitting with "my boy" on my lap trying to imagine saying goodbye to him. It just reminded me that my time here is not about me or what I do, but rather about loving Christ and loving these kids. This week has also made me very excited for the next 4 months. Its 4 more months of holding babies (rough, I know). 4 more months of hospital runs. 4 more months of beautiful African singing. 4 more months of adoptions. 4 more months of being called, "Ausi Paigie."  4 more months of waking up on weekends to the sound of laughing and screaming children. 4 more months of pure joy that only comes from the Lord. 4 more months being in awe of the Father.

Hey. Thanksgiving is this week. WHO KNEW? Not me. It honestly does not feel like the holiday season at all here. The weather here is very very warm which makes it very hard to want to wear ugly Christmas sweaters and all that jazz to get in the holiday spirit. This Thanksgiving will be a special one I think. I am excited. I will have to tell you about how it goes next week!

Sorry for the short update this week.


peace and love.

PS. CONGRATS to my little brother who made the Freshman basketball team this week!

winter?

I have been to the hospital 3 times in the last week. That is probably a new record. No, I was not the one getting treated but rather I was taking kids in to see the doctor. I have been going more and more lately and the last two times I went were very interesting experiences so I am just going to tell you about those a little.

Last Thursday around 10AM the nurse found me and asked if I could go to the hospital with my house mother and a couple kids right away. Shortly after I agreed my house mother got a phone call that her daughter at home was sick and not doing well. We had not yet left for the hospital and she was torn on what to do since technically since the other house mother is gone she can't leave. After about a half hour of discussing and trying to figure out scheduling stuff my house mother went home to take care of her daughter and I ended up going to the hospital with Beautiful Gate's nurse instead. We had two kids that were just very sick and needed some medicine. The boy I was holding was in terrible shape. I have honestly never seen a kid so sick. He smelled like a dead animal (not even kidding) and just laid on my chest nearly the whole day. In the car I kept my hand on his chest to be sure I could still feel him breathing, that is how sick he was. He is also HIV positive so his immune system was just having a really hard time fighting off the sickness. In America, this boy probably would have stayed overnight in the hospital for a few days. But, In Lesotho they have so many sick people from HIV/AIDS that they don't have room to offer that option to everybody. We were able to leave with some medicine for him which is good. Today (Monday) I went to go check on him in his bed and when he saw me he smiled at me. It seems he is on the right track to get better which is very encouraging since he has been staying in bed all day for over a week now. I was talking to the nurse and she said that if he did not have the proper medication and care he could have very easily died from the flu he caught just because he was HIV positive. That still just shocks me. That a child could die from the flu because maybe his mother could afford the medicine for the child or the transportation to get him to the hospital. I don't think I will ever take for granted the wonderful doctors and facilities we have in the US again. Please pray for this boy to be able to return to full health soon

Today I met Beautiful Gate's nurse at the hospital with the oldest boy at Beautiful Gate. He has been placed to be adopted along with his brother and now they are just waiting to be picked up. When you ask either one of them about their new home they get so excited they can hardly contain themselves! Its rather adorable. It was just me and him today so I spoiled him a bit with some snacks and I brought a notebook and markers for him to color with. When I took out the notebook he immediately started writing and drawing. First, he wrote the numbers 0-10, and then he wrote his name, then he drew a snake. He surprised me when he gave me the paper and pen and asked me to draw and mother and a father and a baby. I took the paper and drew some pretty sad looking stick people. He then excitedly said, "Now a brother and a sister!!" After I had finished I showed him and he put fists in the air and yelled, "YES!" That moment stuck with me through the rest of my day. That was what a family was supposed to look like in that boy's head. A mother, father, brother, and sister. I was so excited for him and that he would get a mom and dad very soon and seeing his enthusiasm made my heart melt. It also made me think of how rare it is in Lesotho to have both of your parents and all of your siblings alive due to HIV/AIDS. I am not going to spit out statistics at you because it is depressing and until you see the faces of these people and children it won't really become real. The place I have been seeing the Lord the most lately is through these adoptions and the hope and joy that go along with that. Every adoption ceremony I witness is like a little bit of heaven in a world filled with chaos.

Friday night there was a CRAZY hail storm. It only lasted about 15 minutes, but after those 15 minutes it looked like a Michigan winter out my window. The hail was so loud on my metal roof that I could hardly hear myself think. Through my window I could see the Beautiful Gate kids watch the storm through their window. They watched with awe and laughter while I was pretty much freaking out in my house. After the storm there was water everywhere. Most of the campus with flooded with water. There was a little stream out my back door from the water that was draining in from the community. Thankfully there was no major damage. After the storm hit, Bryan came over to make sure I didn't have any flooding or anything. He mentioned that he wondered how many kids that were abandon yesterday and died from the pelting of the hail or from the cold. We decided that we just can't think about things like that but instead be thankful for the 55 kids the Lord brought here that have shelter over their heads and people loving them. When I skype people from home and talk about parents abandoning their children, they often just default into thinking that the Basotho are terrible people. So, I am going to try to help you understand their situations and the choices they are forced to make. ....Let's say you are a young mother. Your husband gave you HIV and he has recently passed away because of it. You recently found out that you are pregnant. You live in a 15ft by 15ft tin shack. You don't have running water or plumbing but sometimes you can get electricity if you have left over money. You have three children that are in school so you are able to work in the factories during the day. You walk two hours to and from the factory everyday since you can't afford to take a taxi. You know you can't work full time and raise a baby, but if you quit your job at the factory you have no income to raise and feed your soon to be 4 children. When this baby is born you have a choice to make. You can quit your job and starve your whole family so you can stay home and care for the baby. You can pull one of your kids out of school to care for the baby.  You can take your child to a care center but that means a lot of paperwork, complications, guilt trips, and taking time off of work. Or, you can abandon your baby and keep getting by like you are now. Can you even imagine having to make that choice? The Basotho aren't bad or mean people....they are just forced to make some nasty decisions. I hope this gives you at least a little bit more of an understanding.

out my back door

                 

                                                                   out my front door

I will leave you with these beautiful words of Jesus from John 16:33

"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

"TAKE HEART" FRIENDS, JESUS HAS OVERCOME THE WORLD!!!!!!!!

peace and love.