Fundraiser Money

The money that was raise for TLC before I left is being spent like hotcakes at the moment! Its awesome! 

The money has bought a LOAD of nappies! We where in real need of nappies the other week, we where completely out of nappies except for newborn nappies (its hard to put a 3 year old or a 6 year old in newborn nappies!!). So the money was amazing to help for that.

The money was also used to buy the kids medicine. The medicine cabinet seemed to be running low over Christmas, so it was extremely helpful to be able to buy vital medicines for the babies.

The money has also been going towards food for the nursery. We make all of our own baby food here, cause its cheaper and healthier. So the money has been buying ingredients for the baby food.

So I just want to see a big thanks to all the people who have helped make all of these great things possible!

My Favourite Place

My favourite place at TLC has quickly become The Nest.

The Nest is where the newborn babies, 3 months and under, live. Its a quiet room filled with baby cots and lots of little ones.

At the moment there are 7 little ones in The Nest. A couple of weeks ago there was 9 little ones in there.

Most of the time there is only 1 volunteer in The Nest, so it can get pretty crazy in there! When 1 baby starts crying it often sets off the rest. There are also a few little prem babies in there as well, which can make it a little more challenging cause they need lots of extra attention.

A typical few hours in The Nest is filled with lots of feeds, lots of nappy changes, lots of sleep and especially lots of baby cuddles. I love to just sit and hold one of the Nesties in my arms and rock them to sleep.

Bible Study

Here at TLC we start work each morning at 6am and don't finish till 7pm, everyday. Including Sunday. I was finding it hard, not just because its a lot of work, but also because it means that we don't really get the opportunity to go to church on a Sunday. 

Church and fellowship is so important to the christian life. Jesus calls us to “not give up meeting with one another”, cause it is extremely important.

For that reason I have started up a little bible study here at TLC. Its nothing fancy, anyone is welcome, its just a group of us who gather around to read Gods word and pray. 

Usually we have around 8 girls who come. Last night we had 20. It was pretty exciting! 

We have been reading through Mark’s Gospel. Its been really good to read about Jesus. I am also really excited we chose a Gospel because there are a few non-christian girls who come along from time to time and its really exciting that we can share the good news of Jesus with them. 

If you are a praying person I would love for pray. Because at the moment I am the person who has been leading it and organising it and buying food for it. But I only have 3 more Sundays left here. So pray that it will continue when I leave. That God will work through the people who are coming to not give up meeting with each other, and rather that they will be excited to gather with Gods word and spur each other on. 

The days are long and the nights are longer

I have recently just finished my week of night shift. I really didn't enjoy it (thats probably putting it nicely). It wasn't the people I was working with, or the babies or the jobs. It was simply because I am really really not a night person. 

At around 9 or 10pm I usually switch off and go into sleep mode. I have never been able to do Uni work at night and I would much prefer hanging and socalising with people during the day. I would just really prefer to be sleeping rather than doing anything else! 

No matter how much sleep I got during the day on night shift I always felt tired and wanted to be in bed. I was actually getting more sleep on night shift than I did when I was on day shift. But sleeping at day just doesn't feel the same as sleeping in the night. 

It was so bad I would get jealous when I saw the kids sleeping. 

Night shift did however teach me many things. No matter how tired or frustrated I was because I wanted to be in bed, I had to be there. There was 2 of us on night shift and we were caring for all 38 babies. Around 20 babies needed to fed every 3-8 hours. And if any of the children where upset we had to be by their side comforting them. On top of all of that we had lots of cleaning to do.

I learnt lots about patience, as I comforted a little boy who woke up screaming “mummy” every 15-20 minutes, because he was having nightmares. I learnt a lot about putting others first, as I had to carry a prem baby literally all night because she would scream if she was put down. I learnt a lot about putting my trust in God alone, as I gave a screaming toddler a lukewarm bath at 3am in the morning in an attempt to break her 42 degree fever because medication wasn't an option. Or when a 3 week old baby had a seizure in my arms, while I was feeding it.

Night shift isnt easy, but it is needed.

Jesus and Justice

I feel like Jesus is the ultimate prime example of Justice. Classic, but so true.

He sets pretty high standards, especially when you take in the context of the day.

He lived with the poor. He ate with, hung with and lived with social outcasts. He spoke to women in public, which was something that men with social standing would not have done back in his day. He made a socially hated person the hero of his parable (Luke 10;26). He LOVED children, who even the disciples didn't think were worth his time. He loved Gentiles as equally as he loved Jews (God's chosen people). He loved and hung with lepers, who were the outcasts of society.

Jesus had serious love and concern for the vulnerable people in his society. He showed us what it really means to love everyone! Irregardless of race, gender, ethnicity, social ranking...

I have this thought when I think of this. I am like, I am pretty good then. I am not really racist and I dont discriminate at all about gender and there are others who are much more obsessed about their social ranking than me.

But the truth is, I fall so short. Although I may not make heaps of racist comments I some times get a little bit of pride from being Australian. Sometimes I find myself thinking things like, I am glad I live in Australia and not (insert developing country here).

Although I may not be making heaps of sexist comments I do turn a blind eye to sexism that is still going out in the world. The many women who have their bodies exploited for money. Or worse, the many young girls who have their bodies exploited.

I may not be as concerned about my social ranking as others may be, but how often am I hanging with people who are socially vulnerable in our society.

Although I give money away, how much more do I have then others! How much do I buy because I want it, when there are millions living with less than $2 a day.

If we are looking to model and grow ourselves to look more and more like Jesus, loving the vulnerable is a huge part.

When I'm Gone

The count down has begun.

I only have 3 weeks on schedule left.

That may sound like a long time to some, but here at TLC 3 weeks is gone in the blink of an eye!

And it is already looking like it is going to be a busy 3 weeks. 1 week I shall be spending on night shift.  Night shift is pretty full on, and I am not going to lie, I really don't like it. We do 7 days in a row on night shift. There is 2 people on, and we work from 7pm till 6am straight. There are around 20 babies who need feeding every 3-8 hours during the night and on top of that we have to all the cleaning that doesn't get done during the day, including the laundry. Its going to be a full on week, especially because I am going to be the night shift leader, which means all the responsibility is on me.

There are heaps of things that I would like to do before I go. I would like to take some of the kids to the Zoo. I would like to go to an African Church. I would love to help with the outreach mission we have started to the local slums.

On top of that I just want to spend some quality time with the babies who have become like my own. I want to spend lots of cuddles, lots of laughs and lots of fun.

I have started singing a new song to the kids, its the cup song from Pitch Perfect. The main line in it goes "Your going to miss me when I am gone", but instead I sing to the kids "I am going to miss you when I am gone". Because I am. I am going to miss them so so much.

Date Days

My days off have turned into date days with the kids. We try to give the kids as much one to one time as possible, but with the number of kids we care for we dont get to give as much individual time to the kids as we would like. So I have taken the opportunity on all of my days off so far to have some one on one time with a child. 

It has been so great! The child absolutely loves it! And I have also found that its good for them developmentally, most of the kids I have taken out have been noticably more talkative while we are out. I also love it! It makes me feel like a real mum. And I just like being able to give the quality time to the little ones here.

This week I took a little 17 month old girl out to the shops. She has had some pretty traumatic things happen to her when she was younger which has made her very scared of people she doesnt know, so I knew it was going to be an interesting trip! 

She did so well though! As long as I was holding her, she was so happy and content (she had the scariest high pitch scream if I tried to put her down. So I had to carry her the whole time. It was an extreme workout!). When we had been at the shops for a while she warmed up and started to wave at people and blow them kisses. It was so sweet.

We stopped for a coffee. She had a babychino, which was a BIG hit! Milk went everywhere, but she enjoyed it!

She also helped me a lot with my shopping. I got her to pick out things, like a present for my mum (well by pick out I held 2 things up to her and got her to point at one of the 2 things. It was still her choice though, which she loved!). 

Towards the end of the trip we where looking in a shoe store and I noticed that there was no one in it except the sales assistant. So I tried putting her on the floor again, and she let me. She was wondering around, looking at things when she caught a glimpse of herself in a floor length mirror. She went over to the mirror cautiously and then started to give her reflection kisses. It was the sweetest thing ever!! 

All in all the shopping trip was a success! It was lots of fun, and only involved a few toddler tantrums. I cant wait for another date next week with another little one. 

Twentytwo

Today is my birthday.

It has been a pretty great day. Filled especially with lots of baby hugs! 

Just because its my birthday, doesn't mean the babies don't need care, so like usual I started my day at 6am (well 5am cause I was up getting ready and bible reading). One of the girls I am working with made a happy birthday sign outside my bedroom! And the girls on night shift had put up a few decorations in the nursery, so it felt really special! I spent my morning with the Lions getting them ready for preschool. They where so so excited!! They kept singing “happy birthday to Emily”. It was very sweet!

Once they where at school I got my break, which was spent having exciting times skyping Julian and my parents. Then like usual I spent the afternoon caring for the kids, changing nappies, giving baths, feeding, cleaning, burping and of course lots of hugs. Tonight, the other volunteers and I are heading to a Mexican restaurant for dinner, which I am EXTREMELY excited about because I haven't been out for dinner in a very long time! 

Rather than getting presents for my birthday this year I wanted to give presents. So I had a stuffed toy (half where made by some AWESOME people, the other half where bought) for each child to have as their own. I put their names on the toy and put it in their cot, so as they go to sleep each night they have something of their own to hold on to. 

As much as I would have loved to be home for my birthday, I am really glad to be here. I will admit, there are moments where I feel like I am making a sacrifice being here for so long. Moments where I just wish I was home. Moments where I wonder why I choose to come to a place where I have to work on my birthday, when I could be at home hanging with my friends instead. 

We have a kids bible here that we read to the older kids each day. There is a chapter in it that I absolutely love and I read it to the kids each and every day. Its the story of the hidden treasure and I think it speaks a lot of truth as to why I am here. It goes like this:

“Jesus said “Gods kingdom is like a hidden treasure” and then he told this story... 

Once upon a time, there was a man working in a field, digging. So there he is digging, but what he doesn't know is that in that field there is buried treasure. So dig Dig, Dig, Klink, Klank, Klonk. UH-OH! His shovel bumps into something hard. Hello, whats this? He picks it up, dusts it off- its a chest. Its rusted and locked but he pries it open. What he sees inside takes his breath away, beautiful glittering, gleaming, twinkling, sparkling, precious jewels! Its a treasure chest! 

He wants the treasure! He needs to get that treasure! He must have that treasure, somehow. Even if he has to sell everything he has to pay for it. He quickly buries the treasure again, runs home and sells everything he has. He takes the money from the sale and goes and buys that field. Now he owns the field- and the treasure that is buried in it! He runs back and digs up the treasure again.

Jesus said, “Coming home to God is as wonderful as finding a treasure! You might have to dig before you find it. You may have to look before you see it. You might even have to give up all you have to get it. But being where God is- being in His Kingdom- thats more important than anything else in all the world. Its worth anything you have to give up! Because God is the real treasure”

For me God is my treasure that I would do anything for. So giving up 3 months of my life to serve him in South Africa by loving the kids here is totally worth it, even if it means being away from my family and friends for special occasions. 

My question to you is, have you ever given thought to the treasure that is in Jesus. Have you spent time looking and digging for it. Because, I promise, it will be the best thing you ever find.