We just passed Mothers' Day, a terrific tribute to the ladies who brought us into the world and raised us. Like many of you, I took my mom for granted and have come to a deeper appreciation for the impact she made on my life as I have grown older. Last week, one of my middle school players lost her wonderful mother after a very short illness and I wonder how I would have endured when I was twelve. This afternoon, I read my niece Meagan's FACEBOOK post about this little girl she is now caring for in Zambia and it seemed particularly poignant to me. Please respond to Meagan's pleas and pray for this innocent little one she speaks about below.
When a baby's mother dies, our desire is for the baby to stay with their family, usually with a grandparent, aunt, or older sibling. We have a feeding program that provides formula for any of these babies whose families are able to keep them, but just need help while the baby still needs milk. The program also provides milk for many HIV positive mothers who are encouraged not to breast feed to reduce the risk of HIV exposure to their babies. Right now there are about 50 "milk babies" in the program. The babies who actually live at the Haven are those who don't have anyone able to care for them, even if we provide the formula. Wendy has been one of our milk babies since her birth. Her mom was alive but couldn't breastfeed due to her health conditions. The mother died this week, leaving Wendy with no one to care for her, so we took her in today. Her transition will be tough because she was with her mother for her first four months of life and she'll continue to mourn that loss. Pray for sweet Wendy and her family that's just lost her mother.
Applicable quote of the day:
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