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!