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This week we have an update from Jonathan's House in CAR. It is a bit longer than some, but it is well worth the time as it shares the ways God is clearly using this ministry to impact lives. Please pray for this ministry and the wonderful people who minister through it.
A New Season of Life The spring of 2022 has been nothing short of eventful at Jonathan's House to say the least. Particularly in this update, we are eager to share with you the ways in which God has blessed Jonathan's House with beautiful babies who were in need of refuge. Heavy on all of our hearts has been the calling to partner with what God is doing in rescuing children from dire situations, while providing them with the hope and healing through the Gospel. In the past few months, God has done nothing short of exceeding any preconceived expectations we may have had for the spring of 2022. God has paved a way for us to partner with the people in several communities, also spreading our mission across the country of the Central African Republic. We are blown away at how He has perfectly orchestrated the story of each child who has come to Jonathan's House.
We hope as you read through our spring update, you are encouraged not only by the work that God is doing at Jonathan's House, but in the ways He is showing His faithfulness every day. May your heart be open in joining God in the ways that He rescues and redeems His people every day.
We had heard about a child-birth death of a pastor’s wife located in a semi-remote area. The only option for care for the baby was a less than desirable and healthy situation, so that family requested we take the baby until she is weaned. We joyfully welcomed a healthy newborn, Phoebe Ella to our home in late January.
Less than a month later after taking in Phoebe Ella, two women showed up at our door with a baby who had just been born that morning.
Annie-Lynes mother is not mentally capable of caring for her child and the father was unknown. The mother had already been the cause of death of two previous children, and the family did not want this baby to be lost as well. Our hearts overflowing with love for a child that would most likely succumb to death, we increased our ranks to five precious little ones.
Late at the end of 2021, there were twins born in a remote village, and their mother had died just hours later. Because there was no one that could adequately feed the babies, the health center there was going to give them liquid IV’s so that “ they would die more comfortably". God in His great mercy allowed us to get wind of this one week after their birth. We immediately set to work on a rescue mission as these babies were deep inland where travel by vehicle is nearly impossible during rainy season, and it is also in rebel-controlled territory. The “moto-ambulance” chauffeur from that area agreed to pickup the babies for us. His motorbike broke down, causing him to lose time, but within two days he was returning with three other adults and four babies on one motorbike (the two women that accompanied the two babies had children of their own, and another man came with them as well). God’s merciful hand was upon that exit in granting them safety. Those babies were ten days old when they came into our care. Today they are a healthy five months old and thriving. We love Christian and Christine and are thankful for God’s protective hand on their lives.
We had received word about a three week old baby boy whose mother was no longer able to nurse him due to her poor health. When our team arrived, both the mother and baby were in much worse condition than anticipated. The mother was taken to the local hospital, but they refused to take the baby as they had "no means to help him". He was brought to Jonathan's House, where we began care for him. Sadly, his mother succumbed to tuberculosis just hours after being taken to the hospital.
As soon as the mother was buried, the baby, Emmanuel, was taken to the pediatric center in Bangui, where he spent the next three weeks. The receiving doctor shared that had the team not intervened, Emmanuel would have died within 48 hours.
Today Emmanuel is healthy, happy, and thriving. We are incredibly grateful that God allowed us to be a part of saving this baby, and we look forward to how God is going to use him in the future!
Just a couple of days after taking in Annie Lyne, we received a call from our local authorities about a child who was facing death at the hands of his intellectually disabled mother. Meshak was 2.5 years old, weighing in at less than 14lbs and unable to roll over, sit up, or do anything beyond what one would expect of a two-month old. While he is older than all the others, he is physically younger. Meshak has been a real challenge, but we are excited to see him smiling, observing life around him, eating baby food, and growing daily. He will need intense therapy once he has gained sufficient weight. He is struggling to gain weight, and we have not been able to get to the root cause of that, so please pray that we can truly help this little one to thrive. With the addition of Meshak, we now have 6 little ones at Jonathan’s House. We can assure you, this means a LOT of work, but we praise the Lord for our amazing staff of aunties that the Lord has sent us to help meet these needs. We are daily grateful for each of these babies and each of the wonderful ladies helping with their care.