A month of NEW…..

God has been so good.

Work continues to be exciting and prosperous. Ola the young boy I was telling you about last month who had been abandoned in the hospital has a NEW home, NEW brothers and sisters and found a NEW kind of life - LOVE. It was a day full of smiles all round. I still get cuddles with Ola, but now in a house at the top of a mountain with beautiful views. I’m often very hot and sweaty by the time I get there, but that does not stop the welcome from all the kids, not just Ola.


Then there has been the NEW President of Sierra Leone. After a long period of campaigning, elections, then repeat elections, SL finally has a new leader, the Honourable Ernest Bai Koroma, and a NEW government. We hope and pray for this NEW hope this brings for SL.


There has been NEW patients being referred. Some from official organisations, some from people who have heard about the work I’m doing and seek me out to help a neighbour, relative, friend, or even stranger on the street they see regularly - it all works by relationships and word of mouth here!


Aminata, is a beautiful baby who is likely deaf and partially sighted. Because of this she is delayed with her development. I’m working with the orphanage (Hopes Promise) which is home for her for now. The staff there have quickly taken up advice and already improvements are being noticed.


At SOS, the boarding -school type home I work at on Thursdays, has seen a return of the children from their families for the start of the NEW school term. All these kids are disabled in some way from amputee, to polio, to cerebral palsy and clubfeet. Their happy faces tell part of the fun we have together on my visits there. Some of the older kids have started asking questions about God and why I’m doing what I’m doing. I’m hoping to start a small bible study / question group there. I love the way these beautiful feet are starting to walk in God’s way.


I could tell you so many stories about Marvin a child born with Erb’s Palsy, Kadiatu a teenager with no legs, Alima who was severly burnt in a fire, Baby Hawinatu born with clubfeet, Musu with severe cerebral palsy….. But there just is not time or space to tell all their stories.
But I will tell you that Michael who we made the special chair for has learnt a new way to communicate. He is unable to speak, but is in fact very clever. He uses cards to answer questions, or communicate his needs and wants. This has made a positive change to how he is seen and interacted with in his orphanage.


The NEW ward aerobics at the Mercy Ships Fistula Hospital is also going well. It’s a point in the week were you can guarantee big smiles and lots of giggles. Not sure if that’s because they think I’m a little crazy, or if it’s actually because they are enjoying themselves! It’s been a great way to get these girls and women moving and breathing deeply both pre and post op.

My Crio lessons have started. So a NEW language to master! Never liked learning languages, but I already have a good grasp of the basics, now for some fine tuning!!

And the last NEW is…. my NEW car! As I write paperwork is finally going through and by the weekend even I might have ‘Bertie’ my new Landrover Defender. I’ve been learning how to drive off-road on some beautiful mountains with the current owner and look forward to getting out and about more easily in the near future.

There have been parts of this month when I have felt totally exhausted. Now the safety and security is much improved in the country, I have been able to get into a bit more of a routine, and do more of the work I want to. I’m encouraged at how it is all coming together.

I am even more blessed in the way people have supported me in this work.
THANK YOU ALL.
I would not be able to do what I’m doing without you, so thanks for playing your part - whether an encouraging email, prayers, financial support or a text or phone call. Great is your faithfulness, even greater is God’s faithfulness and my hope lies in Him, for myself and for these precious treasures I’m finding.

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him!” Lamentations 3:22-24

So please continue to pray for:
~ SAFETY
~ JOY, PEACE and REST
~ Words to support some of these desperate families
~ HEALTH - Praise God for such good health so far
~ Quick knowledge of the Crio language to help me communicate
~ Wisdom as I think further about employing a lady who desperately needs work in order to not have to give her baby away. Very complicated family situation. Her name is Williet, baby is Marvin
~ For more patients - dare I say it!

So THANK YOU and GOOD BYE to you all, I pray for you often.

Love
Vez