Missionary update

From: "Brenda Lange"


Subject: Blog, April 13, 2013

Date: April 13, 2013 8:27:25 AM CDT
BUNNY IS BACK, AND OUR CONSTRUCTION TEAM WERE EAGERLY WAITING

First, let me say it is GREAT TO BE BACK! Africa is home!

We have our 3rd orphan compound to build and no time to waste doing it!

The rains have stopped and no time to waste as the Bible Schools are gearing up and the food harvest is close at hand.

Monday was a holiday, so I spent it meeting with my construction team leaders and setting up 4 different Bible schools in 2 counties with our Evangelist/Teacher, Pastor Alberto.

On Tuesday, the carpenters went to work removing the roofs from the children’s homes.

The tractor crew moved Assia’s (Ah-si-ah’s) house of orphans to the substitute quarters just down the street from where they were living.

Before the final furniture was completely moved, our carpenters set an all-time record getting the roof off the boy’s house, and had started on the girl’s house by the time their 8 hours were up.

On Wed., the brick layers tore down the boy’s home and made short work of the girl’s home on Thursday morning.
By Friday the entire area, including the old foundations, had been removed and the area was ready for the new construction.

As I watched the dust and dirt flying as this awesome team of men loaded the tractor, I thought back to Jacksonville, Florida, where a prayer partner prophesied over me that this year’s work was going to move at an accelerated rate.

No one had to tell me that this was God’s hand at work. I’ve never seen our work crews move at such a fast pace.
On Monday, we will mark the new 60 foot home to be built with a large girl’s bedroom on one side and the boys new room on the other end.

Their lunch room sits between the 2 bedrooms with doors to all the rooms opening only to the outside.

I couldn’t be happier as the experience we gained from last year’s construction is making it much easier to plan and execute this year’s project.
TWO BABIES NEEDING PRAYER

(We weigh and provide formula and high protein baby food each week to orphaned babies being cared for by their grandmothers or aunts, as well as the babies of mothers who failed to make breast milk.)

Checking in on the baby clinic this week, I was shown 2 babies who were stagnant in weight gain (both about 10 lbs. (4.4kg) at 9 months of age). This is starvation level with their sagging skin laying limp on their little bones.

With several months of high protein baby cereal and baby formula behind them, this is NOT NORMAL. A call to Social Services organized them an immediate medical evaluation at the Balama hospital.

Whisking them off to the hospital in my pick up, the Dr. took them right in and confirmed my diagnosis of extreme anemia in one baby, but the other child is a mystery. Both mothers are suspected of possible neglect (not giving all the food to the infants, but eating part of it themselves).

This has happened before, and is a hard case to prove.

The 2 mothers were told to bring their babies back to the hospital this Monday for further evaluation.

I’ll keep you informed on what is going on. Our hope is that this firm counselling and “hands on treatments” will be a wake-up call to the mothers and show them they must do better by their children.

It is very sad when a mother neglects a baby so they can stay longer in our program.

I never expected to be doing “social work”, but when you run a baby clinic or orphan program, the abuse problems come with the territory.
The Lord gave me a “rescuer” personality, and you can ask any of the bullies from my 3rd grade neighbourhood in Houston, cause this Bunny is a DEFENDER OF THE INNOCENT. (I would escort the 1st and 2nd graders home so that the local bullies couldn’t swipe their lunch boxes.) The bullies only confronted me once, before realizing they were outmatched. Comes from growing up a Tomboy that wanted to be a secret agent. (Smile, cause I know some of you dreamed of the same thing.)
NEW FORMAT FOR THE 2013 BLOG

I’ll be writing each week’s happenings every Saturday, so you can have the news to take to your churches on Sunday morning.

If there are great miracles or other happenings at our Sunday services, I’ll quickly send you the story so you can share that also.
ERIC HEADED TO RSA THIS WEEK

Linda and I will be running the whole show this Wed. to Saturday, as Eric has a broken filling and must fly to S. Africa (RSA) as no dental work short of pulling a tooth is done in our area.

Don’t worry, we made up a whole list of little goodies he can stuff in his luggage that will supplement our “African cuisine”.

Love and Hugs,

Bush Bunny Brenda and the Balama gang