The Hard Dirt of 2022

For the last few weeks, I've felt overwhelmed whenever I've considered how to encapsulate all the experiences 2022 brought for me and my loved ones in just one blog post. As a result, I've have several times set aside those thoughts to focus on more manageable pursuits. Life this side has been full of worthy distractions and excuses to keep me from facing my memories of 2022. We have been in the midst of a heatwave, been living with constant load shedding (some days we have had 11+ hours with no power), had a full 72 hours with no power and subsequent loss of water on top of all the gloriously full responsibilities of daily life here at LIV Lanseria. Perhaps the insurmountably of the task ultimately landed on a lack of a workable framework by which to adequately explain the monstrosity of those 365 days.

 

This week while I was searching my bookshelf for the next book I would take my Bible study group through I picked up a book I had read at the end of 2021. Nestled in its pages I found an end of the year journaling activity called YearCompass created to help a person reflect on the past year and plan for the one to come. It’s a journaling exercise that one of my besties introduced me to years ago and it has been a regular part of my entry into each new year. It’s a lovely resource and suggest you check it out here. The one tucked into the book was from 2021 going into 2022 and I can’t remember the last time I read through it. One of the prompts encourages you to select a word for the year and the word I chose for 2022 was embrace (to accept or support a belief, theory or change willingly and enthusiastically). Oof! Little Miss 2021 Nicole had no idea what was coming! The prompts then asked me to craft a few sentences about the year to come to which I wrote: 

    -  This year, I will be bravest when… having to surrender to the will of God the Father in my life and in the lives of those I love. 

    -  This year I will say yes when… You ask me to embrace things that I want to fight.

    -  This year I will advise myself to… listen and obey more fully, with joy and enthusiasm.

   -  This year will be special for me because… I will see the goodness of God in the land of the living… His nearness to me is life! 

 

I wrapped up the journal with my “secret wish” for 2022, to which I wrote:

Joy in obedience. Wisdom for daily choices that will lead to more freedom, peace, strength and growth. To embrace the privilege of “hard dirt”…wherever and however it comes. To walk more confidently in the dance of connection and correction with the One who knows and loves me best. To step into the ring with arms open wide.

 

I didn’t have any clue what was coming but I see now that my loving Father was already planting seeds into my heart and mind that He would water, grow, and harvest in the year ahead. The pruning and uprooting had already begun weeks before things began to unravel in February of 2022. 

 

The basic, biased, ridiculously brief and extremely vague timeline of my recollection of 2022 goes something like this: 

 

January 

 

We had been aware (for months and months) that we were not going to have all of our re-registration ducks in row before our certificate expired. We had been in communication with our local government office and we thought we were walking a clear path to re-registration. We knew of several other CYCCs (Child and Youth Care – the type of registration El Roi Baby Home had) who were also struggling to receive the documents they needed to be compliant with re-reregistration requirements post COVID. All the anecdotal evidence pointed to a scenario where, ,if we were not able to re-register, we would not be able to accept new children but we would be able to continue caring for the children presently in our care. 

 

February  

 

It became clear to us that the governing body in our region had every intention to forcefully remove children from our home if we were unable to meet all the requirements for re-registration. The main bone of contention had (and still has) to do with approved building plans. The property that El Roi sits on does not belong to LIV Lanseria but to the Anglican Church; we are just renters.  Due to all the time passed since the buildings on our property were built, changes of municipality lines, districts and offices, heightened interpretation of the requirements for how and which plans are accepted and as well as a lack of funds we were unable to submit approved building plans. Subsequently and sadly, the Child Protection Organization (CPO) who had placed the 12 babies in our care received court orders demanding their removal from our home. 

 

March – May

 

In the hopes that our children would be able to be returned to our home and in an effort to help reduce the trauma of this abrupt and unexpected move my team and I clicked into survival mode and did the best we could with the cards we had been dealt. We worked with our CPO and were able to locate two places of safety where the majority of our children could move to together (one little man was moved to another trusted CYCC by himself). My team was divided up and transported to two separate locations day and night while I moved to one of the sites to live full time until we could get our kiddos back into our care. The sacrifice was great, the pain was deep and in the end we began to understand and finally accept that these precious babies were not ever coming back to us at El Roi. During these months my team of Aunties bore the burden of working in spaces that were not our own and not always welcoming, adding an hour (at least) commute both ways to their already long working days, dealing with a less-then-her-best boss and the weight of surrendering children we loved to other teams. During this time I was able to participate in three of our children’s adoptions and was able to prepare memory boxes for each of these precious babies, chronicling the story of their time with us at El Roi before we surrendered them fully into their new spaces. 

 

June 

 

This month was all about triage for my team and trying to heal some of the ruptures that happened between us during that crisis. I am grateful for a team who chose to stick together, forgive one another and who chose to keep their eyes on Jesus, looking to Him for what to do next. We came up with a plan for the rest of the year to train up our Aunties to study to become Child and Youth Care Workers (helping with our compliance regulations, allowing us to protect the investment we had made in our Aunties and honour them by upskilling them and keeping them employed). 

 

July – December 

 

I flew home for a previously planned four month furlough that extended into 6 months when we got to October and El Roi hadn’t been re-registered. I got COVID (for the first and only time) within a week of landing on America soil. I began the painstaking process of letting the Lord stitch up the broken parts of my heart, thinking and believing – a journey that I am still on. I spent hours just sitting in my parent’s pool. I had the privilege of going to weekly counselling sessions that my church helped sponsor. I got to go on fun adventures with my sister, parents and friends. I got re-engage with my home church and got plugged in serving on the worship team, attending prayer meetings and a Bible study. I soaked up American luxuries like uncapped, high-speed internet and streaming services, Amazon prime and copious options for delicious food choices that could be delivered right to my doorstep. I set El Roi and my hope of serving in South Africa before the Lord and in His kindness He gave me peace to return and pursue the direction for the next season of service at LIV Lanseria. 

 

There is much, much more to unpack from 2022 than these one thousand six hundred thirty six words can say – some things which I am still processing and just beginning to have right perspective on. But this feels like a good place to stop for now. I know now, more than ever, that learning to truly embrace God’s will for my story, willingly and enthusiastically, is a daily and lifelong calling and pursuit. And as much as I dislike and would choose to typically avoid the hard and difficult “dirt” that 2022 held, I can say with grace and humility, just like the Hunter Brothers that: 

 

I grow better in hard dirt

I dig deeper when the river runs dry

Struggle makes me stronger

Keeps me reaching for the sky

You don't know what the rain's worth

‘til it finds you out in the desert

Learning how my heart works

I grow better in hard dirt

I grow better in hard, hard dirt

 

If you made it this far, thanks for reading! I appreciate you love and support. I wouldn’t be able to make it through any difficult season in this call without the camaraderie and prayer from my brothers and sisters in Christ. Thank you for helping me process and providing a safe place for me to land in all my hard seasons. Love you!

Sticking Together June 2022

Friends of El Roi

Happy New Year, dear ones! 

I am in process of trying to revamp my blog and SO MUCH has happened since I was regularly updating this blog. Honestly, I don't currently have the mental capacity to rehash ALL that has happened between 2020 and 2023 just quite yet but I do want to try and begin telling the story of the last few years of my hopeful adventure. Today, when I was scrolling through Instagram Stories, I was encouraged by @etst to "break it down". The idea being that when something feels utterly overwhelming and you are tempted to abandon the idea altogether, break it down into manageable pieces so  you can get, whatever it is, done!

In the hopes of closing the gap between 2020 and 2022 I am going to attempt to "break the down" the timeline a bit by giving you a chance to review newsletters that were created and shared with our team of monthly supporters at El Roi during that time. Think: cute photos, happy stories and updated statistics. 

We called them "Friends of El Roi" and here are links to the newsletters for you to take a look at some of the good stuff that went down during 2020 and 2021:

October 2020 

January 2021

April 2021

July 2021

October 2021

 Here's a peek into what they look like!

My next "break it down" step will be to revisit some of my supporter emails that I sent out during the heartbreaking disassembling that 2022 held. Then to take a stab about summarizing the rebuilding and refocusing journey that 2023 entailed. Here's to breaking it down! It's all a part of my hopeful journey and I want to commemorate even the the darkest and perilous parts of this narrow and winding road. I pray that our Father will help you figure out any next steps for you to take, any ideas or dreams to break down into sizeable chunks, so that your 2024 can be exactly what He has designed it to be. 

Thanks for sticking together with me -- I am all the better for you playing a part in my story. 

A Fine Mingling

Welcome to this wild April!

I am always encouraged when I remember that there is no where I can go that God hasn't already been. In everything, He is there, waiting for me to meet Him. Last April very few people would have been able to predict where we find ourselves this unprecidented April of 2020. But God was already here a year ago, He was here 200 years ago. Our God exists outside our temporal understanding of time and is simultaneously every where and every time at once! But before I get too deep too fast, Hi!!! I hope that you and your family are well and safe, sheltering not only in your homes but in the peace and love that Christ offers us. 

We are safe and hunkered down here at the Village. We have been blessed with ample room and were able to offer housing (simple accommodations, to be sure) to any Auntie and her family members that would be willing to move onsite and continue caring for the babies. Amazingly, every single one of my wonderful staff members chose to move on site. Some came with family members and some family members chose to stay home and release their moms/wives to stay with us. One of my Aunties, when discussing with her children whether or not she should come stay with us or stay home with them, one of her sons said, "Mom, you have to go! I have a dad who can take care of me but you are like these babies' mom. They need you." Admittedly, I teared up on the spot! I am humbled and honored to serve alongside such wonderful women who have laid down their rights and comforts to love these precious babies. Please keep them in your prayers as they live and serve together -- I am trusting Jesus for even more growth and team bonding to be birthed after this season of sacrifice. 

I came across the quote above a week or two ago and it perfectly sums up how I am experiencing this tumultuous season we find ourselves in. I am working hard to let go of anxiety, fear and the desire to feel more in control of life while I cling as tightly as I can to the truth that I have found in Jesus Christ. I am trying to heed Paul's instructions in 2 Corinthians 10:5 and take my thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ. To confess and set aside my worried thoughts about what tomorrow may contain and focus on the good that God has set before me today. Each day surely has enough trouble, joy, peace, mercies and tasks of its own -- especially if you are helping to care for a gaggle of kiddos like I get to! As my heart begins to sink when I hear the stories of lost lives, overworked health systems and staff and the injustices highlighted by COVID-19 I am working to remind myself of who Jesus is and what only He can do. He can and will use what Satan has meant for evil for His glory and our good. I started the week immersed in melancholy, missing my family and community in California in an intense way and generally despondent about my life and the state of our hurting world. But as I have kept my eyes on things above I have found myself on a steady, albeit slow climb, into happy heartedness and joy. I pray the same for you, dear ones. May we hold tightly onto Jesus, His Word and His love and release the things we were never really in control of in the first place! 

I am excited for and hopefully anticipating all the stories of God's faithfulness, goodness and provision that this season of life is producing in and through your lives. Thank you for praying for me and the precious people here at LIV Lanseria. Please let me know if there is any specific what I can be praying for you -- my nights and weekend are currently wide open! 

Love you so ~ Nicole and all the babies at El Roi 

The Greatest Thing

Happy March! 

As things usually go, I've blinked and February has flown by... even with the added bonus of an extra day! February brought to us our very first baby of 2020. A precious newborn baby girl was placed in our safe early in February and for the past few weeks she has been the center focus of my busy days and l-o-n-g nights. She came to us fairly frantic and it was a particularly loud first few days but by the grace of God, little Miss R, seems to be settling in. We think she is going to have MANY words and have fairly intense feelings but she is eating well and her happy moments are elongating and increasing daily. I hope to transition her into the home over the next week or so. 

I know Valentine's Day was a few weeks ago now but we took some really adorable photos that I couldn't help but share. Parenting these precious people has introduced me to a kind of learning about love that I hadn't experienced before stepping into this calling. This kind of learning has bent, broken, scarred  and bettered me far more than words can tell. I am sure most who have parented someone else can say the same. To love someone is to give them the power to injure you. Yet the pain of parenting is marked with such treasure and such joy that makes it worthy of the pain. I am so grateful for the opportunity to love these precious, wild and priceless souls. Despite the fact that, Lord willing, they will leave me one day to find love in a Forever Family. 

One of the questions I am most frequently asked is, "Do you have any children of your own?". No, I don't have any biological children nor think that i ever will  have any babies I get to keep. But truthfully, I can't fathom these kiddos being any more "my own" than a biological child would. I would just get to keep them a bit longer (the Lord would have to really help know how to parent a 5th grader, haha). Thankfully, I know what my role is in the lives of these little people. My call is to introduce them to the love of Christ that lives in me. I know I won't be remembered -- my smell, my voice, my face will surely be forgotten. But the love of Christ that they meet in me will remain in their hearts forever. Then one day, maybe in Sunday School when they are five or when they are 50 and sitting on a bus, they will hear about the love of Christ and something inside them will rise up and say, "I've known this love before". 

I pray that the Father Himself will strengthen and encourage you to better love those He has placed in your life. The hard ones, the ugly ones, the sweet ones, the bitter ones, the snotty ones, the ones who will leave you, the ones who stay a bit too long, the ones reclining by your side and the ones sitting on the other side of the world. To even love the one He loves that stares back at you from your bathroom mirror. As your heart learns to better love may you also be better able to receive the love that has been yours all along. The love of God demonstrated to you on the Cross of Jesus Christ. There has never been a day when you have been unloved. May not one day pass any of us where we have not actively chosen to love those God has given to us. 

Love y'all so!!! - Nicole and all the babies at El Roi

p.s. this is my favorite poem that I put in each of the scrapbooks I make for my babies. And it seems perfect to share today:

Like a Chapter Waiting To Be Written

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2020! I know it’s kind of a late greeting but I feel like I have only really entered 2020 this past week. I had the privilege of being in the US for Christmas and New Years and only got back to South Africa last week. I am finishing my first week back in the office and feel like I am almost adjusted back on this time zone. 

I feel like I crawled into this new year on bloodied hands and knees (2019 kicked my butt on many levels) but after a few weeks of being home with family and friends recounting all the hard, good, gory and glorious parts of 2019 I feel refreshed and thankful for my time away. Thank you for everyone who made allowances for me and showered me with grace, love and kindness during my time in the US. Thank you for letting me invade your lives for a few weeks and giving me space to rest, share and recover amid the ebb and flow your regular lives, schedules and routines. I am still learning how to do this missionary thing in a way that makes me feel like I am being the friend, sister and daughter God has called me to be. Thank you for forgiving my missteps and being gracious with me in my weaknesses. For those of you who I missed this time around I look forward to catching you the next time I am in town! 

It would take thousands of words to recount all the goodness that God gifted with me while I was Stateside. I loved being with my precious family and am praising God for the journey of learning to know and love my siblings as adults and getting to step in as “Auntie Colie” with my nieces and nephews. I adore my parents and every day I get to chill in the oasis of a home they have created in Modesto is a blessing and joy. I got to reconnect with sweet friends in face-to-face conversations over cups of coffee and with the gift of video chat technology. I got to fly to Wisconsin and spend time loving on and living life with sweet Jaren and his family. Talk about more than I could ever ask or imagine!!! I spent time with my sister Ashlee and our fun friends exploring Austin and all the family fun to found over good drinks and food. I got to know the small group that have “adopted” me as one of VBC’s global mission partners. I had the honor of sharing life and ministry at both of VBC’s campuses. I got to sing with my brother, Daniel. I drank lots of coffee. I ate at In-n-Out. I replenished supplies via Amazon. I wandered through Target. I visited the Pacific Ocean. I slept on all kinds of beds. I had a wonderful time and am thrilled to be back in South Africa. 

Trips to my California home have this unique ability to be too long and too short all at once. I love being there but miss the babies but when I am in South Africa loving on my babies, I miss being in California. Having more than one “home base” can feel like there is a dichotomy in my life that is so utterly complex and painful to look at too closely or too often. To always be missing people I love dearly, no matter where I find myself in the world. But maybe that’s the key – eternity has been hidden in my heart. I was not created for the impermanent reality called life on earth. Through belief in Christ and His sacrifice on the cross I have been adopted into God’s eternal family. My life is hidden with Christ in God and He is my life. Heaven is my home. All this loving, living, serving and giving on earth is bonus – even if it is complicated because my “home bases” are on different continents. My prayer is that I will continue to do what Paul instructs us to do in Colossians 3 -- to set my mind of things above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God remembering that my life is hidden with Christ in God and that one day when Christ, who is my life appears that I will also appear with Him in glory. 

Thank you for your continued love and support of my hopeful adventure here in South Africa. Remember to like our El Roi Baby Home FB Page or follow me on Instagram for more peeks into what God is doing in this corner of the world. 

Lord willing, I will be seeing you more in this space this year! 

Lots of love and joy from Nicole and her babies at El Roi

Nicole's New Digs

Hello, friends! We have officially entered our summer months here in Lanseria and that means temperatures hanging out around 90 degrees and (prayerfully) some rainy weather heading our way more regularly. Per usual, it has been several months since I’ve checked in blog-wise and I wanted to update you on life!

Dining Room table -- Rachel matching my newly painted door

When I last wrote, I shared with you my desire to move out into a new place and asked you to pray about joining me in that new venture. God’s kindness through YOU showed up and in July I moved into my new “hobbit hole” just across the river from the Baby House. By June God provided the money needed to start the renovation of my new space and He showed up in His perfect timing and could wrap up the renovation by July. I moved in on 16 July and have spent the last few months working on making it cozy and functional. It has been fun learning how to live in a smaller space (with limited cupboard space) and have enjoyed waking up each morning to a different kind of noisy neighbors. Instead of 16 little voices waking me before my alarm I now am greeted with rooster calls and school transport horn hoots. It is a different kind of wonderful – and have mostly enjoyed carving out my new normal of life outside of the Baby Home. 

Bedroom -- Living Room

Ever since my first walkthrough of my new place I kept referring to the space as my “hobbit hole”. Mostly because I was losing some square footage and it was a bit musty from unused. My first weekend home I spent some time journaling the journey and asking Jesus to use the space as His own. I decided to look up the bit of The Hobbit where Tolkien described a hobbit hole and this is what he wrote, “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.” I believe the Lord allowed me to move into this space with the desire for it to be a place of comfort – for others and for me! I pray that if you ever find yourself in my neck of the woods that you will be able to sneak over for a cup of coffee and a snack in a place where you can rest and meet the comfort of the One who loves and knows you best. 

The toddlers breaking in the couch -- New washing machine!

I spent my first two months working hard to carve out a routine that had me up at the Baby Home at varied times and then promptly had it upended with the arrival of our newest little, baby boy M. Baby M came to us via our Baby Safe and was the first little to spend his first weeks with us sharing his time with us and in my new home during the nights and on weekends. Baby M is proving to be a relaxed and happy little man who was happy to go with the flow. We bonded easily and even with 3-hourly feeds it was a joy to have him as my first official house guest! September also brought my first grown up guests when I had the privilege of hosting two Dutchies over a long weekend. It was a jammed packed weekend full of catching up over tasty breakfasts and dinners out. We busted out the air mattress and shared my space in funny and creative ways. It was such a joy to have them over and look forward to having them again (2021, right girls?!). 

Sweet friends -- Baby M enjoying an afternoon stretch 

One of the fun parts of my new space is having a kitchen to cook with and a living room to host people in. One of our new weekly events is a Bible Study for all the female residential volunteers. We meet on Thursday nights and have coined our gathering “The Garden” because saying we are meeting up for “The Garden” somehow sounds more apropos than meeting up for a mere Bible study. My new kitchen is tiny (but mighty) with open shelving and a newly donated washing machine that arrived last week! My friend, Megan, had told me about another expat blogger who was running a fun series in October called This Global Kitchen and my little kitchen was invited to participate! We will be featured on the blog on the 27^thof this month alongside 30 other perfectly imperfect kitchens from all over the world. Check out the amazing list here. 

My little kitchen -- my first dinner in my new digs

Thank you for everyone who helped make my moving into a new place a reality! I continued to be blown away with the Lord’s kindness and love exhibited to me through you. I will be in California this Christmas and hope to connect with many of you then! I am also going to be sending out another update via email with some info that I feel needs to be shared in a less “public” arena. If you are not receiving those emails (and would like to) please drop me a line at nicolegillette@gmail.com and I will happily add you to the list. I pray that whatever season you find yourself into today that you will look for and be able to easily see the deep love that the Father has for you. 

Hope to have you over for coffee soon -- An encouraging word

P.S. One fun thing that happened since we last spoke is that our Mr. T met his Forever Family last week! He has been with us since he was 5 days old and it has been a joy watching him learn, grow and love these past 3 years together. It was an honor and a privilege to introduce him to his Forever family and I am happy to share that they are all doing incredibly well and are enjoying their time in South Africa as a family before they head home to Sweden. Please join us in praying that more of our kiddos will be able to celebrate Christmas with their Forever Families. Mr. T’s adoption is only our second adoption this year. We are asking God for at least four more adoptions this year because we have four kiddos who are matched with families and we are just waiting for all the legal things (like court dates) to go through. Adoption is under attack here is South Africa – to learn more about this hard reality you can read about it here. 

 Kisses with Baby B -- Looking so very dapper!

All my love! Xoxoxoxo ~ Nicole and all the babies at El Roi 

LIV-ing It Up in Lanseria!

Greetings from beautiful South Africa! We are currently enjoying the very first days of what I would deem “Fall” weather… grey skies, scattered showers and adding blankets to the babies’ cots. Even after living here in Johannesburg for 7+ years my brain still struggles to reconcile this hemisphere’s weather patterns to days on the calendar. This week has felt like Thanksgiving is around the corner rather than Easter! Maybe my brain will reprogram its weather system some day?! 

Baby Girl G on Valentine's Day -- Kisses for Baby Boy A -- Baby Boy N catching up on his reading

It would take ages for me to update you (via this blog) on all that has happened over the last 8 months but I want to take a few moments to try and update you on what is newest and most exciting on the horizon for me and our crew at El Roi. 

In August of last year our parent organization, Refilwe Community Project, decided to merge with a national organization called LIV. LIV is an international family that has several villages here in South Africa and we’ve even just started the process of starting a village in San Antonio, TX! Our merger is a wild and beautiful story and we are still just figuring out what it means to be a part of the greater LIV family but long story short: our hearts are in alignment and we feel like this merger is the best way to expand the Kingdom of God in our community. You can learn more about LIV here!

Each LIV village is serving a different community and while we are unified in core values, mission and vision, each village has its own story, strengths and programs. Currently, our village is the only village that has a specific Baby Home program that focuses on responding to the abandonment crisis in our country by connecting abandoned babies to forever families through the process of adoption. As we’ve been getting to know the LIV family and beginning the process of praying, hoping and planning for what God has for LIV Lanseria we have been dreaming of how we can care for not just dozens of but hundreds of babies through the program that God has created at El Roi. Full disclosure: just typing out that sentence is equal parts thrilling and terrifying.Truth is, the societal problems that lead to baby abandonment in this country are not decreasing, if anything they are on the rise. The need for safe and love homes for orphaned and vulnerable babies is growing and we would like to be a part of the solution. We are asking the Lord to help us purchase land that will let us expand our village to be able to care for more children here in Lanseria. 

Pictures of sweet Baby Girl C, the second baby to come to us through our Baby Safe 

I have spent considerable time in the last few months asking (okay, begging) God for divine wisdom about how to begin moving forward with the ginormous and overwhelming vision of caring for hundreds of babies. I believe that Jesus has created something unique at El Roi and part of my job is trying to discern how we can replicate what we’ve created in a sustainable way. I don’t want to build a huge building to house hundreds of babies but I would love to be able to build a “baby sanctuary” with smaller homes individually managed and settled in beside one another. Our current home is relatively replicable except one key component: I live in the Baby Home! To find managers who are able and willing to live in the Baby Home seems like a stretch but I am confident we could find managers who would be willing to live on the village (with their families). I would like to move out of the Baby Home to see if we can sustain the culture we’ve created without a manager living in the home. That way we know what we want to build when we are given the opportunity to expand onto whatever new land God has planned for LIV Lanseria.

My potential new digs

I am hoping to be able to move out sometime in 2019 but for that to happen there are few ducks we need to get in to a row. Firstly, I need to be able to have somewhere to move out to! We have identified a little one bedroom/one bathroom flat on the other side of the river (where most the village lives) that I can move into once it has been renovated. It has been sitting unoccupied for a few years and needs quite a few things done to make it inhabitable and home. The flat needs new plumbing and electrical systems, new flooring and paint and a kitchen overhaul. I also need to purchase or find donations of the living items I will need for my new place. New kitchen appliances like an oven and a refrigerator, living room items like a couch and curtains as well as little items like a shower curtain or spoons. We’ve had a contractor come and quote for the renovation and I have put together a short list of items that I will need to secure. As it currently sits with the exchange rate I need to raise a total of $12,500 to cover the renovation costs as well as all the other anticipated set up costs. If you would like to join my renovation team you can send your tax-deductible gift to a few different ways through Valley Bible Church by visiting their website here! 

Baby Boy N with his teddy -- A timely reminder -- One of my DOH babies all grown up and in town for a visit

Secondly, we need to be able to get Board approval to hire another Auntie on to our team so that we can schedule two Aunties to cover each night shift. Right now, one Auntie covers the house at night with me filling in the gaps where needed with new, sick or fussy babies and I won’t feel comfortable moving out of the Baby Home until we are able to schedule two Aunties per night shift. We recently launched a new fundraising campaign called LIV4Babies which invites people to support individual babies at R5,000 per month which we are praying will bring in the extra funds needed to hire a new Auntie. If you would like to join our LIV4Babies support team you can find out more here! 

Baby Boy K hanging out -- I love these little feet -- Snuggles with Baby Boy B

If you have any questions or want to more specific details about all the new stuff going down, please let me know! Admittedly, I am not very faithful about updating my blog but I do update my Facebook account and the El Roi Facebook account regularly as well as my Instagram. Come find us there for more up-to-date info! I am beyond blessed with my beautiful and encouraging team of supporters. I would not, could not, be here without your faithful love, support and prayers. I love you!