| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: DECEMBER 23, 2023 CHRISTMAS FEAST A YUMMY AFFAIR The entire 160 family members of widows and orphans met at our Food Center for a great feast this week. Bertino, our Children’s Pastor, led several songs followed by a prayer before the meal was served.  Bertino leads the children in singing I LOVE YOU JESUS in several languages. https://youtube.com/shorts/hIKylBFQ1Wo The menu was very tasty “fancy rice” which is a chicken and beans sauce over the rice. It took 21 Chickens and 64 pounds (29kg) of Pinto Beans and 220 pounds (100kg) of rice to feed everyone. The little ones were served where they sat, but the school age children lined up with their plates in 2 serving lines.  The 2 serving lines for the school age children. With 160 people to serve, this was the obvious way to get everyone eating in a timely manner. It worked great! In 20 minutes everyone was seated and enjoying their plate full of goodies. The program wrapped up with our cookie and yogurt sucker give out. It was fun watching the little ones who had never been to one of our feast parties before.  Our under 3‑year-olds receiving cookies and candy.  Our twins, Crecencia in pink followed by twin brother, Crecencio. Some of them were not quite sure what the treats were, but were quickly convinced by foster mothers that they were tasty.  Juma in the foreground hustling out after getting his treats. Little Joshua, far left, in in total surprise mode as he waits for his treats. MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS!  Our large family of 160. Biggest party to date. https://youtube.com/shorts/AXuafS7dZjA THANKS TO CHRIST’S LOVE IN YOU, OUR HUGE FAMILY IS HEALTHY AND GROWING FAST! BLESSINGS UNTIL NEXT WEEK! BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
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BUSH BUNNY BRENDA BLOG: DECEMBER 16, 2023
| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: DECEMBER 16, 2023 STORIES THAT TOUCH THE HEART MIRACLE BABY RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL On Wednesday, our “Miracle Baby Boy” (Milagre) was released from the hospital. His happy, healthy look was heartwarming after the scare he gave us a week ago when malaria hit him at 4 weeks of age! Malaria is tough on everyone, but to have it at 4 weeks of age is very dangerous. Milagre handled it like the tough little boy he is, and even gained weight during his hospital stay (not normal). On the 14th, he weighed in at 3.9kg/8.5 lbs. at 5.5 weeks of age. It is so much easier on the baby and our mothers if we receive the infant before it gets into a severely malnourished state. It is nice to have our whole family back together again!  Milagre, the Miracle, home after 7 days in the hospital for malaria. He’s a sweetheart THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR PRAYERS FOR MILAGRE AND OUR STAFF. OVERWHELMED BY YOUR HELPING HAND Late last week, Aunt Julieta, came to our door with the 3‑month-old orphaned boy, Ramos. His mother, (Julieta’s sister) had passed away with postpartum problems, and Aunt Julieta desperately needed milk to feed Ramos. Our staff immediately taught her all she needed to know about bottle feeding, and gave her a baby bottle and infant formula. Upon reading her Social Service document, I noted that Aunt Julieta had 3 other orphans living with her from this same sister. We quickly prepared a gift sack of a week’s worth of food that included the Aunt and these 3 children, even though we had no proof these children really existed. Sadly, many have lied in the past, making this request mandatory. To register an orphan into our program requires that the family bring in these children with their birth certificate for official registration. On Wednesday, December 13th, Julieta walked the 14km/8.4 miles from her village to Balama where she stayed overnight with friends. On Thursday, after verifying the children and their documents, we presented Aunt Julieta with a week’s food, milk formula, and 2 cooking pans along with some smaller pans to use as bowls. Right after I snapped their photo with these gifts, Julieta broke out in tears, and ran behind our baby weighing building. After we got her to calm down, she told us that these gifts were much needed. She couldn’t believe that we just gave them to her for free! We all patted her on the back, and then Pastor Whitey, our Assistant Administrator, told her how much Jesus loves and cares for her and these children. Her total shock and gratefullness at receiving these gifts had us all in tears before it was all over.  Aunt Julieta in purple with her 4 orphaned children SHOWING THE LOVE OF JESUS TO THIS KIND WOMAN WHO SO GENEROUSLY OPENED HER HOME TO HER SISTER’S CHILDREN, TRULY WARMED THE HEARTS OF ALL OF US. YOUR LOVE GIFTS MAKE THIS POSSIBLE. THANK YOU, THANK YOU FOR YOUR KINDNESS TO THOSE WHO CARE FOR ORPHANS IN THIS PART OF THE WORLD. BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
BUSH BUNNY BRENDA BLOG: DECEMBER 9, 2023
| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: DECEMBER 9, 2023 INFANT MOZZY NETS COME TOO LATE On Wednesday (Dec. 6), I went to weigh 4‑week-old Milagre, and he had a distinct fever. I contacted our Doctor, who told us to bring him right over for a malaria test. The test was positive, and he was admitted right away to the pediatric ward at the Balama Hospital. Milagre has been in his Mozzy net ever since we received him on November 25th.  Milagre in his Mozzy net It only takes one mosquito bite while he is having a diaper change, or taking a bath to begin the 2 to 3 week incubation period this disease requires before it manifests symptoms. Milagre is inside his net even at the hospital to provide him extra protection. PLEASE PRAY FOR HIS QUICK RECOVERY! CHURCHES GROWING ALL OVER BALAMA Despite the October election period that curtailed our BBC groups for 4 weeks, many came to Christ via our 30 churches. In October, our Pastors reported 890 salvations, which is amazing! In Total, our BBC teams in November, and our churches in October/November, ministered to an estimated 31,670 people! Salvations from these groups totaled 3,463 for the 60 day period! JESUS IS MOVING AND WE THANK THE LORD, FOR THE HARVEST IS GREAT! REALIZE THIS IS ALL BEING DONE BY 28 MEN!  STATE PASTOR GITO shows off our new evangelism teaching books for our Evangelists CONSTRUCTION MOVING AT MAXIMUM SPEED On Monday and Tuesday (4th and 5th of December) The carpenter team attacked the bathroom roofing job at the toddler house, completing it in record time on Tuesday. That roof had to be completed before the finishing touches of the cement work could be done.  Bathroom roof completed on Tuesday The Bricklayer team put in 2 major sidewalks to the bathing areas while waiting on the roof to be completed. This means no one has to walk through mud to the new bathing houses under renovation.  Sidewalks to bathing areas completed on Tuesday On Wednesday and Thursday, (6th and 7th of December) All cement work on the bathroom walls was completed, PTL!  Bathroom walls get finishing touches on Thursday The carpenters have the 3 bathroom door frames ready to mount next week, as they must wait for the cement to completely “cure” before they can be mounted. After the doors are mounted, then the bathroom floor can be poured. Since we had a dry day on Thursday, our Painter, Vicente, started rolling out the water based paint on the toddler house walls. On Friday, the first coat of blue oil paint was applied to the outside of the house, making it look really nice.  First coat of blue oil paint on 3‑bedroom toddler house I am very proud of our construction teams, as they have risen to the challenge to complete this home before Christmas. The health department’s inspection won’t take place till early January, 2024. That is when we hope to officially move multiple toddlers along with 2 House Mothers from Houses 6 and 7 into this new addition. We still have several small, but time consuming building projects to complete to officially finish the toddler house construction. I’ll explain those in the near future as we do them. Keep us in your prayers that the rainy season will allow us the sunny mornings we need to complete these programs. BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
BUSH BUNNY BRENDA BLOG: DECEMBER 2, 2023
| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: DECEMBER 2, 2023 INFANTS KEEP COMING — BABY # 29 JOINED US THIS WEEK Sadly, the mother of 6‑week-old infant Marcelina passed away from postpartum complications 5 weeks after the little girl’s birth. The elderly Granny (mother of the deceased) tried to care for Marcelina, but at the mandatory check in at our baby weigh-in on Thursday our staff found the bottle unwashed and caked in old formula. By a miracle, the infant didn’t have diarrhea. The elderly Granny just couldn’t handle a bottle-fed infant. With 4 orphaned sisters and brothers from the deceased mother now living with the elderly Granny, Social Services agreed to place the 6‑week-old infant in our care. The father abandoned the mother and the 4 children shortly before the birth of Marcelina, fleeing this State to avoid problems. Pray for these children, as the elderly Granny and the orphaned 10-year-old girl are the only females in this family who can care for her brothers. The remaining family is all male and very young, as the 2 uncles in the family are just teenagers themselves. What matters is that this beautiful little girl is now safe with us, PTL!  Sweetie # 29, Marcelina, 6‑weeks-old never had clothes until we received her on Thursday TODDLER HOUSE GETS 20-YEAR-TOILET Digging a “20-year-toilet” or “long drop” as the South Africans call it, is a big job! The septic hole had to be 3 meters wide, 4 meters long, and 3 meters deep! (10 feet wide, 13 feet long, and 10 feet deep).  Digging the pit for the 20-year-toilets That is a HUGE DEEP HOLE that took 5 days for 8 men to dig. We were in a hurry, so when 1 team of men got tired, the 2nd team took over, so the work never stopped. Hauling off the dirt took another team of men plus one of our trucks. BUT WE DID IT IN RECORD TIME TO BEAT THE RAINS! After the hole was dug, the pit was divided in six sections and then the tops were put on each section.  The big pit that makes the foundation of our new bathroom at toddler house  Putting the tops on each of the 6 pits https://youtube.com/shorts/RM10zPBNmgY JESUS HOLDS OFF THE RAINS FOR THE ROOFING WORK TO BEGIN. On Wednesday, I had no plans to try and put in the 6 concrete “pillars” that would secure the bathroom roof to the ground because a large amount of rain was due the next day. BUT GOD HAD OTHER IDEAS! I awoke in the wee hours of Wednesday night with a definite message from the Lord. He showed me I must put in the concrete pillars the next morning, and HE would hold off the rains. Sure enough HE did, as the rain clouds formed over our heads at 6 a.m., but a strong wind high up in the cloud level moved them away from us at hurricane speed! Everyone saw the fast moving clouds and marveled at what was going on. It was not something we have ever seen before in our area. The day remained dry until 3pm, giving the concrete good drying time. The rains started slowly without the huge thunderstorm that was predicted. PTL for that! The carpenters are now busy with the roofing beams that will start going up on Monday if the rains hold off.  Bathroom as of this week with 6 posts to hold the roof Our construction work for the next 4 months is mainly determined by those massive rain clouds that dearly love Balama. There are days we receive 2 inches or 50 mm of rain in 12 hours! MANY BLESSINGS TO YOU ALL FOR HELPING US WITH THIS LIFE-SAVING PROGRAM. It is estimated that our food and orphan programs over the last 23 years have saved more than 20,000 children. The Lord is smiling because those 20,000 little spirits have a great future thanks to all of you. BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
BUSH BUNNY BRENDA BLOG: NOVEMBER 25, 2023
| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: NOVEMBER 25, 2023 ESTALESIA HOME, BUT CHALLENGES REMAIN Estalesia was finally released on Wednesday this week when all her lab tests returned normal. After her 3rd transfusion, her Hemoglobin was up to a safe 10.3 from 7 (pre-transfusion). Her malaria smear at the lab was negative. Her remaining problem is her distended abdomen, which is causing pressure on her lungs. It will take time to resolve this complication of severe malnutrition. We have cut a wedge pillow from foam to help decrease the abdominal pressure on her lungs when she is sleeping. On Friday, we finally located the portable baby mosquito nets for both Estalesia and 3 week old baby boy, Milagre (the Miracle). This allows these 2 fragile infants and their Foster Mothers to be outside under the cool shade tree at House #7 in the afternoons, but remain protected from mosquitos. Temperatures are averaging 97°F/36°C daily right now, making a large shade tree the coolest place around.  Estalesia foreground and Milagre in the background. Both are enjoying the cooler outdoors and without bugs! PLEASE KEEP ESTALESIA IN YOUR PRAYERS, AS SHE HAS A LONG ROAD AHEAD TO COMPLETE RECOVERY. BBC TAKES ADVANTAGE OF DRY WEEK Reaching children for Christ is a challenge during the rainy season. Thankfully the weather held for the first part of the week and programs were held in 2 remote villages. These videos show teaching as well as enthusiastic games.  Village Bible School lesson for children https://youtu.be/xvULFEK4H4s  Girls gave a great effort, but… https://youtu.be/GEBd1acrlv8  And the girls show their speed. https://youtu.be/_QPzA2f3w7Y Thursday night’s 3‑hour rain put the BBC out of business on Friday. Carlitos and Daniel, the 2 motorbike drivers for the BBC, returned from the mountainous region with bikes covered in mud. They did manage to deliver the food to the 9 orphans living in that remote area, PTL! Keep us all in your prayers, as many challenges lay ahead with the rains coming in full force next week (4 days of rain expected). BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
BUSH BUNNY BRENDA BLOG: NOVEMBER 18, 2023
| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: NOVEMBER 18, 2023 ESTALESIA FACING MORE CHALLENGES Due to a reaction to a vaccine, Estalesia’s left thigh became very swollen and hot, requiring hospitalization for IV antibiotic treatment. She was unable to move her painful leg for 3 days. The video shows how improved she is on her 4th day, as this is the first she has moved her leg voluntarily.  Estralesia moving her left leg for the first time since the reaction https://youtube.com/shorts/mT6rzZXRbYg We were expecting her release on Thursday morning but received bad news instead. MALARIA HAD RAISED IT’S HEAD AGAIN! Thursday a.m., Estalesia tested POSITIVE FOR MALARIA . Her red blood cell count was already down to 7 (from 10), meaning she needed a blood transfusion immediately! This is her third transfusion in 4 weeks! She is only 6 months and 3 weeks old as her birthday is April 22, 2023. PLEASE KEEP HER IN YOUR PRAYERS, AS THIS IS VERY SERIOUS WHEN ANYONE HAS TO FIGHT MALARIA TWICE IN ONE MONTH WITH 3 TRANSFUSIONS! Note: The hospital staff explained that this 2nd malaria is not a new case, but the same case as before. Seems it wasn’t totally eradicated after the last 5‑day-treatment, even though it didn’t show up on the malaria test. Round 2 of treatment is a must! That means another week in the hospital at least. HEAVY RAINS CAUSE FLASH FLOOD DAMAGE TO OUR WIDOW’S HOMES November 15 is officially the beginning of the rainy season in northern Mozambique. On November 13th, the first heavy rains were predicted, but few took it seriously, since it is usually a light rain. SURPRISE! IT CAUSED A FLASH FLOOD! (Gully washer to my fellow Texans.) Our orphan homes were prepared, but several of our widow’s homes were damaged, and needed emergency repairs as soon as the 2 days of rain had passed.  Foundation repairs done with cement to protect the mud brick house foundation of blind widow, Madelina The road in front of our church, which was rendered useless last year by flash floods, was unharmed because of a large ditch we dug the week before this 2 day rain. The large ditch extended across the road, and redirected the river of water that wants to use the road as a river bed. A road engineer taught me many years ago that a dirt road is only as good as the ditch next to it. So I learned to dig ditches BEFORE the rainy season begins. He was right, and our road is unharmed as you can see in the photo. We have filled the ditch portion crossing the road with large rocks so that our pick-up trucks can use it during the rainy season.  Church road ditch on our 40 acre mission station All construction on the 3 meter/10 foot deep septic system for the new 3 bedroom toddler home is on hold, as the hole must dry out before it is safe to go down into it. I was thrilled that the men finished digging the tank just a few hours before the heavy rains began! Rainy season and outdoor construction don’t mix. BBC SLOWS DOWN BUT NEVER STOPS! Both the motorbike and bicycle teams had to curb their village teaching programs until Thursday of this week. But were the kids ready when they did go out! Enthusiastic games and loud shout outs at devotions reveals how happy the children were to see our BBC Teams when the mud had dried up!  Short but shows the children’s excitement https://youtu.be/xS-WUcuLk_E KEEP YOUR PRAYERS COMING, FOR THE RAINS MAY DAMPEN OUR PLANS, BUT WILL NEVER STOP THEM. BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
BUSH BUNNY BRENDA BLOG: NOVEMBER 11, 2023
| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: NOVEMBER 11, 2023 PTL! EVERYONE’S HOME! It has been a super busy week, but thanks to your prayers, both 6‑month-old baby Estalesia and 5‑year-old Santos were released from the hospital this week. Santos regained his mental health from the severe malaria case he suffered last week and was released on Monday afternoon to continue his treatment at home.  Santos back to his sweet self, PTL! Estalesia was found to have a soft skull due to her severe malnutrition (not receiving milk, thus lacking in calcium). She was finally released after all doctors agreed that with good nutrition and careful handling, the skull should harden. This little girl is making a remarkable recovery as she gained from 2.5kg/5.5lbs. to 3.6kg/7.9 lbs. in the 10 days that she was in the hospital. Keep your prayers coming for her as she has a long way to go to reach a normal weight for her age.  Estalecia, after getting to her new home yesterday THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR FERVENT PRAYERS FOR OUR 2 LITTLE ONES WHO WERE ILL. BABY #28, “THE LITTLE MIRACLE BOY”, JOINS OUR FAMILY On the 4th of November, Milagre (means Miracle) was brought into this world. In severe distress, Milagre’s mother was transferred to 2 different hospitals to try and save her and her unborn baby. Only Milagre, the infant, survived. Milagre’s mother was the only daughter of a very ancient Granny, who was deemed by hospital staff to be unable to care for a newborn. There is one Uncle, but his wife has 3 little ones already, and can’t handle a newborn. The father abandoned the mother during pregnancy. So Milagre will be in our care for the next few years. Our hope is that he can be reintegrated into his family once he reaches 2 to 3 years of age. Coming to us as a 2‑day old infant, he was placed with Foster Mother Clara, who is excellent with fragile newborns. We PTL that Milagre is healthy, and eating and sleeping like all newborns do.  Baby boy, Milagre signaled that all his traveling has him tired. Time to nap.  Milagre went right off to sleep after getting to his new home. As you can imagine, this week has flown by with all this activity, but our staff has done an excellent job seeing that all the infants’ needs were met. Our thanks go out to the hospital staff for the excellent care they provide for our children. THANK YOU FOR COVERING US WITH YOUR FAITHFUL PRAYERS. IT MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE AS ONLY JESUS CAN TRULY HEAL. THE LORD JESUS NAMED US “ORPHANS UNLIMITED”. NO MATTER HOW MANY CHILDREN THE LORD SENDS OUR WAY, HE WILL ALWAYS HELP US MAKE ROOM FOR ADDITIONAL LITTLE ONES IN NEED. BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
BUSH BUNNY BRENDA BLOG: NOVEMBER 4, 2023
| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: NOVEMBER 4, 2023 BUNNY IS BACK IN BALAMA! Minus 1 chomper of course, as my troublesome tooth was broken and had started to abscess. The dentist said if I hadn’t gotten it pulled within 48 hours from my appointment date October 31, it would have caused me a world of hurt. Thank you, JESUS, for favor in getting an appointment so quickly! ESTALESIA, 27th INFANT TO JOIN OUR FAMILY Six-month-old, Estalesia (Es-sta-lee-sha), has a twin sister. Sadly, the mother rejected Estalesia. It is customary here to reject 1 twin when the mother cannot support 2 infants with her limited breastmilk, so she chooses which one will starve and which one will live. That is why our milk formula program assists mothers with twins. This mother refused to feed Estalesia even though we provided her with baby food and milk. No way to know why she rejected such a sweet little girl. Estalesia’s twin sister weighs 5 kgs/11 lbs. and is very healthy. Estalesia only weighed 2.6 kg/5.7 lbs. at 6 months of age when admitted to the hospital last Thursday. Literally starved to death, she also had a serious case of malaria with a Hemoglobin of 4! That is death’s door for anyone! We immediately organized an A+ blood donor and she was transfused twice over the next 4 days. Estalesia is very fragile, so the hospital staff refuses to release her into our care as they prefer to give her further IV medications. We have 2 foster mothers looking after her in the hospital.  ESTELESIA deemed too fragile by malnutrition staff to leave the hospital. She is doing well, just needs to gain weight PLEASE PRAY FOR ESTELESIA, AS SHE IS NOT STABLE YET, AND NEEDS THE LORD TO STRENGTHEN HER LITTLE BODY. OCTOBER 28 PROTEIN PARTY FROM CIS COMPANY IS A YUMMY SUCCESS!  CIS staff serving the children A new team of servers came from CIS including the Head Chef, who wanted to meet the children. The menu for the children included a huge chicken leg, a hotdog, rice with vegetables, coleslaw, and a cream filled cupcake for dessert with Kool Aid and bottled water to drink.  Reggie loves the drumstick the best! YUMMY was the reaction of the children! Never having a hotdog before, it opened their eyes to another new treat. THE MASTER’S TABLE MINISTRY GIFTING THE CHILDREN WITH CHICKENS Saturday is High Protein Meat Day each week! The Master’s Table, a USA based ministry, provides our children with frozen chickens every other Saturday between the CIS meals. That means that EVERY SATURDAY is High Protein Meat Day for all 56 of our children. Praise the Lord! I gave out frozen chickens today to each of our 7 homes, putting smiles on the Foster Mother’s faces. They so enjoy treating the children to meat!  Handing out the chickens from The Masters’ Table  Chickens Galore! GOD PROVIDES IN DIFFERENT WAYS, AND OUR CHILDREN ARE BLESSED TO BE THE RECEIVERS!  Please pray for Santos, 5‑years-old. Rapid onset malaria caused him to become delirious and confused. We had to drop everything to get him admitted to the hospital on Saturday afternoon BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
BUSH BUNNY BRENDA BLOG: OCTOBER 28, 2023
| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: OCTOBER 28, 2023 BABY AFUSA IS HOME WITH US!  Baby Afusa is now in her new home with Foster Mother Gilda of House # 6, the Zebra House Thanks to your wonderful prayers, the little girl in last week’s blog, Afusa, has recovered from her malaria, diarrhea, and sinus infection. It was a miracle for sure, as she was super sick when taken to the hospital. Afusa was released from the hospital on Tuesday, and is adjusting well to her new home. Even though she was neglected, she still cries at times for the family who didn’t treat her well. Afusa’s only remaining problem is anemia, which we are correcting with vitamins and iron supplements. What this little girl needs most is love and good nutrition which she will get plenty of from our staff. Her weight increased in the hospital to 7kg/15.4 lbs., so that tells us that good food and care is her main need. THANK YOU FOR YOUR FAITHFUL LOVE GIFTS AND PRAYERS THAT MAKE THIS PROGRAM POSSIBLE. TOGETHER, WE ARE SAVING LIVES. BUNNY’S CHOMPERS NOT EATING CARROTS TOO WELL THESE DAYS. Sorry this letter must be so short. I am pressed for time if I am to leave this Sunday to see a dentist in South Africa. I developed a nasty tooth ache this week, leaving me no choice but to seek help from my dentist in RSA. I’m only staying 2 days, so will be back in Balama shortly to continue the work. Keep us all in prayer, as Capena, our Office Manager and my right hand man, will be watching over the children and keeping the programs operating in my absence. BLESSINGS, BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA STAFF |
BUSH BUNNY BRENDA BLOG: OCTOBER 21, 2023
| FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA“ DATE: OCTOBER 21, 2023 PROTEIN PARTY GIVEN BY CIS COMPANY Last Saturday our 55 resident children were treated to a fabulous high protein meal, thanks to the CIS Company of Balama District. CIS representatives visited our office several months ago to ask how they could help our children. Their company provides the meals for the local graphite mine, just 6 miles from our base. We explained that increasing the protein via meat was our biggest concern. We expected a 1 time gift of meat, but instead their leader agreed to providing a high protein meal for the children twice monthly! WHAT A SURPRISE! The CIS people brought a spread of goodies including beef, chicken, rice with veggies, and salad plus tiny cupcakes for dessert. It was a great party and really lifted the spirits of the children!  CIS team preparing to serve food to our children  Our BIG FAMILY singing as they wait for their high protein lunch from CIS https://youtube.com/shorts/cGoEBGIIDkA?feature=share How long this will continue is uncertain. But our great thanks goes out to the CIS Company for making this meal a feast for our children. BABY #26 NOW IN OUR CARE On Thursday, baby girl AFUSA (ah-foo-sah), barely 1‑year-old, was removed by Social Services from her Aunt’s care due to severe neglect. This little girl has consistently lost weight over the last 8 weeks at our baby weigh-in, and developed severe diarrhea 7 days ago. The hospital staff discovered that the Aunt had neglected to buy the medication needed to treat Afusa’s diarrhea after a Balama MD had prescribed it for her at the hospital last week. The Aunt was given the money to pay the 5 meticais (3 cents American) for the medication. After a week of no diarrhea treatment, the little girl presented on the 19th at our INFANT MILK FORMULA PROGRAM in very poor health. She is in the severely malnourished category as she only weighs 6.5 kg/14.3 lbs. at one year of age AND HAS 3 ILLNESSES.  An unhappy Baby Afusa held by Mariamo in hospital Needless to say, I took her directly to the Emergency Room for treatment. A finger stick test showed she had malaria, on top of her severe diarrhea with dehydration, and a sinus infection as well. Social Services placed the infant into our care, and the Aunt was dismissed. IV medications and fluids were immediately given, but this little one is not out of danger yet. Malaria and severe diarrhea together are a lethal combination to an infant. Please pray for her to recover quickly and completely. I will update you next week on her progress. PEMBA INSPECTORS LOVE PLAYING WITH OUR CHILDREN A surprise inspection found us hosting 3 separate teams of wonderful people from the Pemba Social Service office this last week. Talking and playing with the children, it was easy to see that each team enjoyed the children very much.  Provincial (state) Director of Social Services in red and white dress talking with the foster mothers and the children  One of the inspectors interacting with our toddlers The 3 teams came on different days this last week to inspect our orphan homes and to make sure all our orphan records were complete. Each team had a special task to do.  Our visitors really enjoyed the babies Seems a National Team of Inspectors will be coming soon to check our orphan homes and records as well. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR MAKING THIS PROGRAM POSSIBLE THROUGH YOUR FAITHFUL LOVE GIFTS! BUSH BUNNY BRENDA LANGE AND THE BALAMA TEAM |