God is Gracious

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On April 16, 2011

In Other

Stella got her stitches out today, and was discharged to go home.  So we went over to pay the final bill and take William and Stella home. 

Their baby’s name is Janet, and she is one week old today.  Baby and Mama are both doing great, and exceedingly beautiful.  Enjoy!

About a dozen different people/families gave money to make sure Stella got good medical care, and I’m sure hundreds of people prayed.  William and Stella have told me repeatedly to thank everyone who stood beside them through this.  But don’t stop praying!  1 in 9 children in Tanzania don’t make it to their 5th birthday. 

Janet M. is a very good friend of William and Stella’s whom William has known for over 10 (15?) years.  She and her husband were deeply involved in William’s life and ministry.  If she had been in Tanzania this year, I know she would have been the one making sure Stella got good medical care.  It’s a perfect name for their baby. 

Then I looked up the meaning of ‘Janet’:  God is Gracious.

Definitely perfect.

Orphans and Former Orphans

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On April 15, 2011

In Adoption

Service Emphasis Week (SEW) has got to be one of the very best things about HOPAC.  This year secondary students spread out all over Tanzania on 17 different teams…to build water filters, run kids’ camps, teach English, serve disabled people, teach computer classes…and the list goes on. 

Gil led the team that went to Agape Children’s Village in Morogoro, a city about 3 hours from here.  So the kids and I joined him, and we took 12 HOPAC students to serve the 28 kids there for 5 days. 

Love these trips.  The students step up.  In leadership.  In love.  In service.  The kids shower their adoration on these teenagers who are willing to give of themselves to them.  It’s beautiful to watch.

Visiting orphanages is not a new thing for me.  But visiting them with my two children, who were once orphans, was quite a profound experience.  In each child’s face, I saw the faces of my children.  Neither of my children came from this orphanage, but if they had not been adopted, they would have grown up much the same way.

I often imagined Grace there, as a resident, not a visitor.   Her head shaved, instead of full of braids and beads.  Eating ugali with her hands instead of a spoon.  Her eyes with a yellow tinge from malnutrition or too many bouts of malaria.  Speaking only Swahili.  Helping to wash her clothes by hand, making her little bed in the morning, and putting away her meager possessions. 

Would she still be as full of life?  As confident as she is now?  As gregarious?  Would she love to laugh as much as she does in our family?  How different would she be without a mama, her Daddy, her brother?  How would her mind be different without the plethora of experiences she has had…if her whole life revolved around three buildings and a nearby school?  

She would be such a different person that I don’t know if I would recognize her.  Yet that person could have been, if not for the sovereign hand of God in her life.  And millions of children in Tanzania are living that life.  The differences are stark. 

And yet….what would I be like, had I not been adopted into His family?

Weeping May Remain for a Night, But Rejoicing Comes in the Morning

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On April 9, 2011

In Other

There she is.  Beautiful, beautiful sight.  Born around 11:30 this morning, 2.6 kg.  I took this picture about two hours after she was born.  No epidurals at this hospital, so Stella was put completely under.  When I saw her, she was still too groggy to really stay awake or even hold her baby.  Only awoke enough to say “Asante” when Dr. Carolyn and I gave her our congratulations, both of us in tears. 

 5:30 pm update:

(by the way, no name yet.  In Tanzanian culture that can come days or even weeks later.)

Almost

By

On April 8, 2011

In Other

C-Section Scheduled for Tomorrow (Saturday)

Ultrasound revealed baby is 2.9 kg/6.4 pounds, 35 gestational weeks.

Pray!  More news to come soon!

Eternal Investments

By

On April 5, 2011

In Other

Remember Maggie?  She is a part of our family this year.  Grace still insists on calling Maggie her big sister, though today she said worriedly, “Mommy, is Maggie going to leave us soon?” 

Now why would she say a thing like that?

Maybe because I just happened to hyperventilate today when I saw the package Maggie got.  FedExed.  From Stanford University.  Yeah.  I’m from California, and grew up 40 minutes away from Stanford, yet they never FedExed me anything. 

We knew a couple of weeks ago that Maggie got accepted to Stanford and MIT, but she didn’t receive her financial aid package until today.  (FedExed–did I mention that?)  It says:  Parent contribution:  $0.  Student contribution:  $0.  They even gave her money for books.  And airfare. 

Oh my word.  Do you think they want her to come?

My best friend in high school was valedictorian.  I wasn’t too far behind.  Where did we go to college?  San Jose State University.  Not sayin’ there’s really that much difference, of course, between Stanford and SJSU.  Oh–you haven’t heard of it?  Well, your loss.

When I went to high school, everyone pretty much talked about their three college choices:  SJSU, West Valley Community College or De Anza Community College.  Here, at HOPAC, so far this year students have been accepted to Princeton, Dartmouth, and Yale.  And MIT and Stanford, of course.  Among others.  And there’s only 25 students in the class.  Um, yeah.  Did anyone from my graduating class go to any of those schools? 

I just kept staring at that piece of paper.  Never seen anything like it. 

And you know what else?  She’s probably going to turn it down.  She hasn’t received her MIT package yet, but that’s her first choice, and we’re all guessing it will be just as good. 

We’ve always known, teaching at HOPAC, that we would be impacting students who have the capability of changing the world.  Since this is only HOPAC’s third graduating class, we haven’t been able to really see the fruit of that investment yet. 

But now we are.  Maggie wants to return to Tanzania and help change her country.  After she majors in aerospace engineering at MIT, of course.  To God be the glory.

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