Quarterly Report

The children love rides on food distribution day! The beautiful staff we have come to love!

Greetings from Lesotho South Africa!  We now have 3 months at Beautiful Gate under our belt and this is our first official quarterly newsletter!  In ways it seems like we've been here longer and in ways it seems like we are still so new. It has been 3 wonderful months of learning and blessing. We continue to experience God’s presence in Lesotho and rejoice at seeing His hand at work everyday! We are blessed with wonderful jobs and wonderful opportunities to connect with the people here. We have enjoyed special chapel services, connecting with staff, observing adoptions, receiving new children, reaching out to neighbors, rocket stoves with the maintenance men, staff devotions, praying, singing, and hugging! And without a doubt, enjoying times with adorable children on the playground! We have experienced God’s peace and joy here and we give praise to Him for that. There is a contentedness among the Basotho people and it is so inspiring. Yes, there have been some frustrating times and things that just don’t go as planned (like randomly being without water or electricity, or the car registration office running out of paper so you can't get yours completed for days or more) but these types of things are not unusual here and it seems to work best just to relax and accept it! We hope and pray we can become more content each day like the Basotho!  God has confirmed our call in many ways. One way is that the Bo Mme (housemothers) continue to say how much they love and appreciate having a pastor on campus. Another way that God has confirmed our call is the peace we have in being here.  We continue to praise Him for giving us all that we need. We want to thank all those who have joined in this work and made this calling possible by your generous support. We are deeply grateful!  __________________________

This was the first little boy that was brought to BG soon after we arrived. It's a blessing to watch him with his adjustments and development since he's arrived.  Grace enjoying her time with the kids!

Chaplain's Update Ron has been enjoying getting to know the staff and has been encouraged by how well they seem to be receiving him as their new Chaplain. Many have come to him for prayer and council in God’s word and we have heard them say how much they love having a pastor and how they need instruction in God’s word so desperately. Some of the staff have requested his written sermon and scripture from weeks past so they can study it further. What a blessing to see their hunger for truth! The staff has been praying and asking for a pastor for a long time and it is a joy to see God answering that prayer in Ron. Each morning Ron visits the baby houses to say hello to the Bo Mme and the infants. They all seem to enjoy his visits very much and it gives them opportunity to share concerns and prayer requests. These connections are very helpful in regards to the area of shepherding and getting to know those he serves. Some challenges and areas of growth would be how to best serve the staff in their own language and with their own music and worship style. Ron uses a translator for Wednesday chapel and Sunday services and relies on the Basotho to help lead the singing. This has been going well but still hoping to fine tune these worship services to best serve their needs. Ron has a desire to teach the children the truth of God’s word as well.  With a large percentage of them averaging 2 years of age and understanding very little English, this provides a great challenge. So we are praying for wisdom on how best to serve the spiritual needs of the children.  All in all, having a Chaplain on campus seems to be a blessing to the staff and we pray for leading and further connections to each other and to God’s word. Ron also enjoys connecting with the maintenance guys and sharing some of his rocket stove and heating ideas as well as simple car repairs and maintenance. God has blessed these relationships as well! Karen's Corner Karen’s title is Operation's Manager and she continues to seek to define this role at Beautiful Gate. She has many opportunities to connect with staff and children and to be engaged in a variety of areas on campus. From taking photos when children are united or reunited with their families to helping to plan adoption ceremonies, play group curriculum, corresponding with volunteers, getting them set up for arrival at BG and assisting in management meetings. One addition to the playgroup curriculum that is exciting to Karen is introducing simple Bible verses. The children repeat after their teacher verses like, "A friend loves at all times" and "Be kind to one another" . We pray that hiding God's word in their little hearts will bear fruit some day. Neighborhood outreach is what God seems to be putting on Karen's heart and she is seeking wisdom as to how to proceed with that. She will need a translator to commit to this, one who has a passion for it as well. There are audio Bible's in the Sesotho language available and produced in Holland, Michigan that she is hoping to use in this ministry. We look forward to seeing what God will do with this! Grace's World Grace works tirelessly each day with the children from 8:00 am to 5:30 pm. She prepares meals, does the dishes, hangs laundry, gets the children ready for school, dresses them, disciplines them, works with the babies in a structured time to help them with milestones and give them one on one time and gives them as much love as she can. She has a full day and is understandably tired in the evening. She enjoys participating on the worship team at the church we attend and spending time with that group as well as the volunteers from Beautiful Gate. It's a blessing that Lesotho feels like home for Grace. Our prayer is that the staff and children at BG will grow in their faith and experience God's love, light and grace more and more each day! Thank you again for your support, we appreciate all that you do that allows us to further God's kingdom here in Lesotho!