FROM “BUSH BUNNY BRENDA” DATE: JUNE 7, 2014
EIGHT MONTHS OLD AND ONLY 6 POUNDS
This baby boy was brought to our door by his mother on Wed., June 4th (names withheld at this time).
The mother told us her breast milk had dried up, and they had little food for her and the other 6 children in the family, so she decided to walk the 10 miles to our mission before they all died of starvation. The Mother, the 10 year old daughter who came with, and this tiny little boy were totally emaciated. I quickly mixed up a bottle of formula, but the baby, suffering from a fever, struggled to swallow and failed to suck properly. A few minutes later they were placed in the hands of the nurse at the Emergency Room at the Balama Hospital. I felt sure they would admit him for severe malnutrition. We prayed for that little one to survive, but knew he needed a miracle. I was totally SHOCKED the next afternoon, when this same mother showed up at my door with her baby boy. She said the hospital gave her some medicine for the little one but did not admit him. She added that he was now taking the bottle and eating a bit of HYPO, the high protein, instant corn cereal for malnourished children. Needless to say, I was THRILLED to see the slight improvement in this baby boy. My staff organized food for the mother and 6 other children at their village home, and gave them a lift to where they were staying. This “saga” will continue next week when they return for their first Thursday weigh-in at our weekly baby clinic. I am truly AMAZED each time I see the fortitude of these babies that present in this condition. God loves these little ones and gives them awesome grace and survival abilities beyond anything I’ve ever seen. Please pray for this little boy, as this week will be critical for him.
CORN BUYING MOVING FORWARD AT RAPID PACE
Want to see a little snippet of what we are doing? Here’s a quick clip about our food storage that Eric posted to YouTube.…
Our corn barn is almost 50 % full, which is the goal for our June corn buying.
The balance of the corn will be bought in JULY when the SUPER DRY CORN is ready. The June corn is for distribution from August to December, as it only stores well for about 6 months. The July corn stores for up to 11 months without problems, and is what keeps our orphans in food from January to May each year. 
All my USA helpers are working well with our 75 man crew at the barns.
We have another 20 men on the weighing and hauling teams who go to the local villages to weigh and haul in these MASSIVE 154 POUND (70Kg) bags of corn. Some of the bags actually weighed in at 167 Pounds! (76kg). Thanks to your prayers, and our team of 3 USA VISITORS, the whole program has run like clockwork, and without any accidents. For that, we PRAISE JESUS! for the orphans of Balama and Meluco counties will once again have food for the year. We should complete the buying of the 300+ tons by Wed. of next week.
AWANA COURT LIGHTS UP THE NIGHT SKY
Eric Dry, Associate Director at Balama, and his electrical crew, have now mounted 4 lights on 15 foot poles, that run from a car battery charged by solar energy, so that the AWANA GAMES can be played at night!
This is a big help for our Teenage Youth Group, who has patiently met in our church each Friday night, playing modified games on a small court inside the building. Now they have access to the regulation court and can play outside! The first meeting last night was a great success! We discovered that WALLS around any program actually deters many non-believers from coming, so that barrier has now been removed. With it in the open, we believe many more teens will feel free to “drop by” as they can easily see how much fun everyone is having. It also allows us to have basketball games after sundown during the really hot months. THANK YOU ERIC for buying and mounting the lights so our programs don’t have to stop at sundown. Blessings, Bush Bunny Brenda Lange Eric Dry George Barkes Katie Polcyn Hannah Gilman