All things New...

About three days ago we were able to get Jean Paul out of the Hospital. The Doctors said that he is strong enough to go out but they had great concern to where he was going to go. They informed us that he was not quit strong enough to go back to the village yet but needed to gain some more weight and still be monitored for a couple of weeks.

There was not much choice for us but to keep paying the hospital and bringing all his meals or to take him home with us so we could watch over him. So we chose to bring him home. He was very excited to know that he was going to be out of that place and even more excited to find out that he would be staying with Mama & Papa Nani.
I was made very aware that this poor boy knew nothing of city life but only that of the village. When we got him from the hospital it was about nine o’clock in the evening and very dark, as we took the twenty min ride back to our house the only expression to explain what I saw was that of a deer staring in to the head lights of a car. Jean Paul’s eyes were so big as he looked around at the lights of the city and those off in the distance. He asked in amazement “are those all lights??” It dawned on me that the only light he was used to at night was that of a candle, lantern or flash light.
Before arriving at the house I made sure that it was explained to Jean Paul that the house was very big and very Muzungu (white person). But it was not Mama & Papa Nani’s house. We were renting and living in someone else’s home. I told him that we were just like him and the other kid’s, we did not have our own home. That is why we want to get the land so we can build homes for all of us to live together.
When we got to the house I guess you could say he was shocked and speechless…. We sat him down and went through some rules of the house. The cute little guy could only node his head and stare at every thing.We got him some thing to eat and I sat with him observing as he looked at all the decorations and photo’s on the walls. He looked at the tile floors and the detailed wood work on the ceiling with the fancy lighting.
I know he is really observing us to as he now sees us in our own surroundings eating strange foods, the children running around dragging all these toys every where. He sat yesterday watching Jasmin & Yaida play in a big inflatable swimming pool we have. I thank God for our Rwandan staff who can explain these strange things that he is seeing. Last night he sat down and watched Nani & Zoey as they played with lego after dinner, slowly we watched as he began to also interact and try to build some things.
All in all he is recovering very well and getting a little stronger each day but I wish I could hear and understand what must be going on in that little head of his as all things in his life are so new now.

Thank God for saving him from Satan’s grasp!!!

ORPHAN BUISNESS...

The following is a real life story of a eleven year old boy by the name of Jean Paul.

Hi my name is Jean Paul I am a eleven year old Rwandan boy. I live in a village very near one of the Volcanoes. I have seven brothers and sisters and we live with our mother and father.
One day I was walking on the road near our house and was approached by this nice old Nun. She asked me to help her to carry some things to her place. When we arrived there I saw many other children on the compound. I understood that they were orphans and that the old woman was caring for them. I was asked if I could help out around the place, doing little jobs like fetching water, gathering grass for the animals, etc..
I happily accepted, thinking that if I would work it could help out my very poor family as they could not always feed and care for us. My older brother also got a Job there helping to feed the animals and cultivating the land around.

Little did I know that this was going to change my life for ever!!!

Over a period a time I would see Bazungus (white people) always coming and going. They really loved to visit the place. They would very often bring bags of food like beans, rice, potato’s, and assorted veggies…I don’t know what would happen to the food because the children nor I ever got to eat any of it…
Even on some occasions people would put money into the old woman’s hand. The old woman gave a place for both my bother and I to sleep. I learned later that she had gone and talked to my parents about her caring for me and wanted me to stay there with the other children. My parents accepted as they could not care for me any ways… Life on that place was very hard!!! They would only give us sweet potato’s once per day and if we were lucky twice. When the white people would show up we would all of sudden get special treatment.
On very special occasions we would receive alcohol to drink and some kind of herb to consume which I believe was marijuana…
The children and I were trained in what to say when asked certain questions by the people visiting. If we were to say any thing different we were then later beaten and punished. We were told to tell people we were orphans and had no family at all. Also that there was no one helping us or the old woman in caring for us!We were always supposed to let people know that we ate three times per day and we all went to school. None of which was true.

I had become one of them!! An orphan, a liar… Not by choice!! My family could not care for me nor wanted to in my eyes! I was taken to join the ranks… Trained, abused, and beaten until I submitted to the (way)… I was now part of the orphan business!!!

The old woman would always tell the whites all these crazy stories of how she picked the children from the dead bodies from the genocide victims, running with them, hiding and then finally settling here. She would talk about how she would find us abandoned under bushes or that others from the community would find us and bring us to her. She would tell them how she never receives any help from the Government or the church. The white people would always leave there contact info with her and her big girls (those secondary age kids she used to help her care for us.) The big girls knew how to speak some English so they would always help in communicating with the whites.

I learned that they to were telling the same stories that we were told to tell and had been doing it for a long time. One day one of the big girls left to go see her family in Kibuye (the east of the country). When she returned she had her little sister with her. It did not take long until her little sister also was one of us!!

When any of us got sick, more often than not the old woman would use traditional medicine on us.
When we got very scared some times at night the old woman would come around burning some thing in our room and saying some strange things. She would many times invite one of the community witch doctors to come around to say things to us and scare us.
Every time some one would come and begin to ask strange or pressing questions the old woman would chase them from the compound.

When Mama and Papa Nani (Astrid & Travis/ SoZo Ministries Africa) started to come around we (the children) saw that they were not like every one else… they seem to really care. We slowly started to share more of the truth with them. We saw that they were fighting for us, they were trying to give us a voice. Some thing we have never had. Finally some one we could trust!! Some one who really loves us!! After a while they put one of there staff up here to help us, her name was Stella. She is also Rwandan but not like any one I know. Just like Mama and Papa Nani she really loves us, she fights for us and has now been trying to care for us in this very difficult place.

Mama & Papa Nani have now brought our case to the Rwandan Government which now know the truth about our situation and our trying to stop this orphan business…

About a1 ½ months ago the Gov. came here to visit us with Mama & papa Nani they had a 7to8 hour long meeting with the old woman. After every one left many of us were beaten very badly with sticks and told that it was because of us that the truth was known.

Shortly after that I got very sick!! Days went by and I continued to get worse and worse. Stella took me to the clinic but they could not help me. Finally my family showed up, but it was obvious they couldn’t do any thing for me nor did I want any part of them. They transferred me to the hospital in town. There my bother and sister came to watch me because Stella had to stay with all the other kids. they were given money to help me but my sister bought her self food with it and my bother used it for prostitutes.
I had to have two surgeries on my stomach. They found maggots and little black things in my lower intestine. After the operations I was sent to recovery but due to no money there was no medicine for me and I had not eaten in 6 days.

Some point in time Mama & Papa Nani found me and said that I needed to be transferred to Kigali. They told my brother and sister that if I stayed there I would probably die. So they worked on transferring me.When arriving in Kigali the doctors confirmed that I would have most likely died in a few days. My sister came also to Kigali to watch and care for me while my brother went back home.
The doctors confirmed that the problem was most likely related to witch craft!!!
My sister never did anything to really help me and after a few days had come down with Malaria so mama & Papa Nani got her some medicine and sent her back home to rest and recover.

I have been in the Kigali hospital now for 11days and each day I’m getting a bit stronger. I can finally get up to use the toilet my self and walk for some short distances. Mama & Papa Nani have given me some one else to care for me they also bring me all my food.

I thank God for saving my life, I know that Satan was trying to kill me but the Lord has got other plans for my life… I think quit often about my friends up there in the village with Stella and pray that one day the orphan business will be put to a stop and that Justice will be served!!!

This is one Story out of hundreds if not thousands or millions in the world!!!

There are people out there that prey on the weak and needy! People with cold hearts and corrupt minds!!People who are in it for only fast cash and personal gain…It’s big, it’s nasty, it’s wrong!!! To exploit the least of these…

BEWARE OF THE ORPHAN BUISNESS!!!

Things that you can do to be careful and cautious so that this type of corruption is severely limited…

1. Never just dump money!
2. Only give after doing lots of home work on what and who you’re giving to!
3. Always check on your donation! Follow up is essential!! Accountability!!
4. Ask lots of questions!!
5. Is what your giving to creditable??
6. It sounds bad, but don’t trust so easily!!!

1ti 6:10 = For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil: which some reaching after have been led astray from the faith, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Jean Paul is getting better each day and we hope to have him out of the hospital soon! As well as getting Stella and the other children out of that place and into a safe location.