It's been a whirlwind the last few weeks/months. So much has happened and I will attempt to give you some of the highlights. Forgive me for having such a long time lapse between updates. This will be a slightly longer
message than usual.
For the past few months, I have been visiting back and forth and caring for kids from the orphanage who have been hospitalized for various reasons. So far, we have 3 that have needed blood transfusions. I'm not exactly sure why. The answers from the "Doctors" leave me stumped. How does a 6 month old suddenly develop a shortage of blood? That is just one crazy example. I won't take time to delve into all of their issues but please keep Michael, Paulsen, Cathy Praise and all of the kids lifted up in prayer. The orphanage is having a lot of difficulties in several areas, so keep the staff in your prayers as well.
In March, I resumed having our monthly retreats with the girls from the orphanage. Twice a month a different set of kids come to visit my home for the weekend. There are 20 or so girls from age 13 and up that are allowed to come. The orphanage sets the parameters for who can come and who can't.
Many of the kids in the orphanage have no idea what "real life" outside of the orphanage looks like, so our goals are to model family life, provide Discipleship, mentoring, practical life skills and some "vocational training" that will help them develop skills to get a job and/or become entrepreneurs. The number one goal of all our time together is to show LOVE. The love of Christ is why I'm here and the reason why I can do any of what I do.
The orphanage had made me aware of some serious problems that the girls were struggling with and the staff was at an impasse with how to address their needs. They asked me to see if I could make any headway with the girls. I spent quite a bit of time in prayer asking God what might be the best way to do this and while I was a tad bit overwhelmed with how to tackle this, God came through.
On Saturday night, God gave me a simple question to ask that opened the flood gates for the kids. They shared their hearts. They were brutally honest and we discussed a number of solutions for the things they are dealing with. We talked until late in the evening when I finally called it quits so that we could get up for church in the morning. Throughout the remainder of the weekend, the girls pulled me aside one by one to talk about their individual needs. I was so honored that they chose to trust me.
The girls were pleasantly surprised to see the addition of a new oven,
freezer and projector. My church family surprised me with a generous
gift of $2800 to purchase these items. We were also able to get a new
laptop, and software to use for the ministry. We are using these items
to assist with some of the vocational teaching that we are doing. Last
month the girls learned how to bake brownies, spice cake and bread. Our
next undertaking will be soap and/or deodorant. We are in the process of
gathering supplies and whatever we find the most of is what we will
make. We are also working on locating shops to consign the things we
make until we are able to have our own place. Before the year is over, we hope to teach the following:
How to make liquid and bar soap, how to dye fabric, how to make toothpaste and deodorant and paper bead jewelry.
My absolute highlight of the weekend was when I assigned clean up duty. One of the girls refused to allow anyone to help her with the dishes/kitchen. She is fairly new to the orphanage and this was her first time in my home. I finally went in to see what the issue was. She turned from the sink with tears in her eyes and pulled me into a soapy hug and said, "Mom, Thank you. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for loving us."
My heart was ripped out of my chest.
One semi-urgent need the girls have is for undergarments and feminine hygiene products. We would like to purchase a weeks worth of undergarments and 3 months of feminine hygiene supplies for each girl. This is a CRITICAL need. Imagine being without these items and without water consistently too! SCARY at best. Our goal is to raise $500 to purchase the needed items and hire transportation to take the girls to shop. We don't have a Target or Wal-Mart and the markets don't stock things by size so we may need to go to several places to get everyone sized a few at a time. If you can with gift of any amount, it will be greatly appreciated. You can give online via the donate button at the top of the blog or you can mail a check to:
National Christian Foundation
11625 Rainwater Drive, Suite 500
Alpharetta, GA 30009
please write Fund ID - 721433 on the memo line.
Your gifts are tax deductible.
Please email me to let me know if you are giving for the girls.
This weekend, I will be hosting the older boys from the orphanage for their first retreat. For more than 3 years, they have asked for their own retreats/Bible Study and they will finally get it. One of the gentleman from Bethel Cameroon has graciously agreed to assist . The boys will come early on Saturday morning and go back in the evening. The verdict is still out on whether I will teach them to cook something while they are here. :-) The following weekend, the girls will be back in their regular rotation.
Bethel Cameroon and His Body Ministries has formed an official partnership and with that comes lots of teamwork in the form of visiting teams! Bethel Cameroon had a team come from Bethel Atlanta and what a joy and delight they were. They were here for 2 weeks and we had an awesome time ministering all over the city and loving on each other. The Bethel Atlanta team really poured their hearts out to the people of Cameroon. They were the first team ever to have their luggage lost. 10 out of 14 bags were missing for almost their first week here. That didn't stop them at all. They borrowed things, braved the African Markets and washed and re-washed various items by hand. There was prayer walking, hospital visits, village visits and some serious worship. Our outreach in the village of Tole alone served: 145 widows, 72 single moms, more than 100 orphans and another hundred or so various children that came out. I couldn't keep up with all of people there and the only reason I was counting was to be sure that we had enough food to serve all those that came out. I was so blessed by the team's presence as was the nation of Cameroon! I don't think any of us will ever be the same. I'm so grateful to be a part of what God is doing through Bethel. I will continue working with the single mom's in Tole on the 2nd Friday of every month and various Bethel students will be assisting. After we finish our relationship building, the single mom's in Tole will be learning many of the skills that we are teaching the older girls at the orphanage so that they can also be empowered with tools to help them have a brighter future.
I can't express to you what working with all of these groups has done FOR ME. I know that they are growing and the staff at the orphanage gives me feedback about how things are changing there for the good.
I have only just begun to realize how much working with them has been changing me. God is so very faithful. There are many days when the obstacles seem too overwhelming and it feels like there isn't a way to make any real changes. I am constantly reminded, that Toya can't do anything on her own. One plants, one waters and God gives the increase. I'm eternally grateful to each and every one of you who give, who pray and who take the time to listen to me talk about what is happening here. You are a part of all of this. YOU are making a difference with your gifts and your prayers.
Next month I will be heading to Kenya for 3 weeks. I will go back to my beloved Maasai land to work with a group I met in 2011. They are "newbies" to the gospel having just been introduced to the word of God in 1993. They are in a remote area and many of their people don't read or speak English. I have 2 audio Bibles that are solar powered in their language and can't wait to deliver this precious gift. I will also be visiting an orphanage that is doing so much of the work that I am doing and long to do here in Cameroon. I hope to gain knowledge of how it's best to impact orphans in Africa. They are doing a marvelous job of impacting the lives of the children holistically and I trust that the staff there will be able to impart some of their wisdom. I'm still prayerful about what else God wants to show me during this trip and who He wants me to pour into. I am looking to raise an additional $750 to cover lodging and transportation during this trip. You can donate online via the donate button on the blog or mail a check to the address mentioned above. Please email me if you are giving specifically for this trip.
Many of you have asked for a Toya update... This is one of my least favorite things to do but here goes...
The last few months have been a bit up and down for me emotionally. I am still grieving the death of my sweet baby Elliott and grief has brought other issues to light. I have been forced to look at my life and deal with some issues that I thought were long gone. I have also tried to balance taking care of others while I take care of myself. This isn't one of my strong suits. It's so much easier for me to take care of everyone else and bury my own needs. I'm sure this is why some of these issues are coming up. Fortunately, I have wonderful friends who can speak truth and love me enough to do so. I am also working with a counselor to deal with some of the more difficult issues. Grief has changed me in some ways (both good and bad) but I refuse to allow it to derail me. Elliott's life was a gift to me in so many ways and even his death has brought growth. I recognize that the enemy would love for his death to take me out, but I refuse. So, I ask you for your prayers. I want to grow in every area that the Lord is asking me to come up higher and I want to come out on the other side of this more victorious.
Thank you for loving me and the people I minister to on a daily basis. Blessings to you and yours!
