My new life as a village wife: New Arrivals

“This happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him”

-John 9:3

Aiden and his cousin

How Aiden washes clothes/diapers

Another busy week has come and gone. The house update is that we are hopefully going to finish this week if the rains will hold off. Sadly the rains have already come, good for crops, bad for house building! So pray the rains stay away at least long enough to place the roof!!

Sifeli and I had to go to a meeting with his aunt. (when his parents died she became his mother figure, she would be Aiden’s grandma) She told us that we need to make a bigger announcement about our marriage and baby (meaning another family meeting with more family). So that is what we will do.

standing on dad!

We have added two new kids to Sunrise; before they came one of the girls, Ziada said, “They will play with Aiden too!: They are not from Uhekule, they are from another village about an hour and a half away. Their father is an alcoholic who beats them when he is drunk. Their mother ran away, and Kay went to go see the place, she said a pig would not even want to live there. They have a younger brother, he is 5, but sadly due to all the abuse he can no longer walk or talk he just lays in the fetal position. He is being taken to a doctor tomorrow to see if there is anything that can be done for him. The oldest boy has been taking care of the other children. We can’t take the 5 year old in, he needs a lot more care than we can give, if he is even going to live. (Please be praying for him.) My heart just breaks. This is the reality for so many children all over, it just makes me sick to my stomach.

Their father came with the children to drop them off at site. It’s hard to look at a man and know that he has done such horrible things to these children and not be filled with anger, but at the same time you want to love him too. The couple that contacted Bibi Kay, live in the same village as these children. The husband is a white man originally from Belguim, (he has been to 35 countries) he lived in Oregon at one point and finally settled in Tanzania. He married a Tanzanian woman and they have a 6 month old baby. An oreo baby, like Aiden! He found Jesus at one point in his life and while we were talking he said something that struck me as a “what would Jesus do situation”. He said that he would like to help their father too. Yes the man has done some horrible things, he has hurt his children and his wife to the point where his wife runs away and one of his kids may not live, and yes we can all point fingers and we can all condemn this man, but at the end of the day he is no better or worse than we are. Is this situation bigger than God? Can God not turn these beautiful children’s lives around? Can his grace and forgiveness not reach this father? God is already at work here, his plan is beautiful, his plan is perfect, God is bigger than this,

Our kids took these kids in no problem. They showed them to their rooms, their beds, their cabinets. They took them around, and instantly started to play like they have been there all along. The older girls took the youngest one, Atukuzwe, to take a shower and put her in clean clothes. The boys took Niki the older boy, to the dining room to color, and read, and work on school books. Out beautiful family is growing.