A Difficult Day

Reflecting at the Beautiful Gate Memorial Wall

 We experienced something very difficult at Beautiful Gate last month. The death of one of our little babies. This child came to us days after birth and had difficulty breathing from the start. This little one was in and out of the hospital and at just a few months old, passed away while asleep.

There was much mourning in the baby houses that day. The housemothers were in obvious grief and pain over the loss of this precious child.

Singing and walking to the cemetery 

We shared a special chapel service together to pray and talk about how we as Christians deal with death and pain. Then the following week we held a funeral service for the baby.

Since the child had no parents, Beautiful Gate made a request to the neighborhood chief for a burial plot. It was granted and we held a small funeral nearby on a warm, sunny afternoon. The Bo Me, Bo Ntate (the men and women) and some of the volunteers attended the ceremony.

The men dug the hole early in the morning and we walked to the site as a group around 10:00 am. We sang along the road as we walked.
A housemother spoke, the nurse spoke, the chief spoke and then Ron who was officiating, gave the message.

Ron's first funeral

He spoke of the preciousness and value of life and the comfort we have in Christ. Among many scripture passages, he read Psalm 23. He concluded with prayer, they lowered the child in the ground and then the women were each given a flower to place on the little casket in the grave.
Of course there was a lot of singing, crying and praying throughout.





As sad as that day was, we knew without a doubt that God loved this little one, that He had a purpose for her life and the truth that He is our comforter in times of trouble.

Karen placing flowers on the casket

The neighborhood chief on the right in the red jacket

We ended our day with a meal together as staff and friends.
Praising God for His comfort and grace.

Released!

Back home with her housemother!

Our little one has been released! 

We had asked for prayer a week ago on our facebook page for a little baby who was very sick. This child was admitted to the hospital on June 11 for diarrhea and dehydration. The child was sick for a week prior to being admitted to the hospital. 

When we asked you for prayer for the child, our nurse had just visited her and was quite concerned that she was not getting better. At that point she had been in the hospital for 5 days. She was still experiencing diarrhea, had lost a lot of weight and was still dehydrated. She was so tired and weak that moving or even crying took too much effort.

Praise God for answered prayer! With the proper IV and feeding tube, the child gained strength and all of her symptoms improved. Today she came back home to Beautiful Gate!

We never take a normal childhood sickness like the stomach flu lightly. Especially here in this country. Especially since we recently lost a child, our anxiety about any sick child is definitely heightened. 

Thank you for praying. And most of all, we thank God for His healing hand of mercy on this precious child.

Psalm 91:15   When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.

April Newsletter (posted a little late)

April 2016 Quarterly Newsletter  View this email in your browser

Warm greetings from the Boersema's! God is a God full of love, provision and blessing and we give Him all praise and glory for all that has been happening during this last quarter at Beautiful Gate. The picture above is a precious reminder of why we are serving in Lesotho. These beautiful, innocent, vulnerable children need love and care. And their caregivers need encouragement and spiritual refreshment so they can pour into the children they care for each day. Praise God we have the privilege and call to love, support and encourage the staff and children at this beautiful place called Beautiful Gate. Our temporary role as directors was uneventful and went well but are happy to have Bryan and Anita Geurink back from their furlough to resume their positions as directors. Our son Ryan had a once in a lifetime opportunity to visit us in Lesotho for about 8 days. This visit was such a blessing for him and for us. We enjoyed some family time in South Africa on a safari and then spent some time with the staff and children and showed him what we do at Beautiful Gate. Ryan easily engaged the culture and our wonderful staff, they loved him! As a chef, he offered to sharpen the housemother's knives to make their cooking duties easier. This was a great time of connecting for everyone! At the end of February, we came to Michigan on furlough for a little more than 5 weeks. We came to meet our new grandson, to continue to bond with our 5 year old grandson and to connect with family and friends. We are so thankful to God for a healthy baby boy, Samuel James! Congratulations Rachael and Adam!   We enjoyed our time in Michigan with family and friends and had the privilege to speak at a few supporting churches. This was a wonderful opportunity for us to give an update and share what God has been doing this past year. Ron and I had the privilege of presenting in our son in law's classroom about Lesotho and Beautiful Gate for their unit on Africa. This was a joy to see the children's interest in our ministry and country. We have one year to go in our two year commitment. We are praying for what is next after that year. We have the option to stay longer at Beautiful Gate but are open to following God's call wherever He leads. Grace's time at Beautiful Gate has come to a close. She went home April 11 with our church mission team.  She did not have the same two year commitment they we did and her care giving in the baby house is finished. She is feeling led to come back to Michigan, start a whole new mission field and put down roots. She will look for work and will hopefully be able to share an apartment with some friends.  We see God at work in so many ways at Beautiful Gate and now that we have been home on furlough, we can see God at work in so many ways right in our hometown. We have been encouraged by all of our loved ones! Each year the children at Beautiful Gate receive a pair of new shoes for Christmas. My parents happily agreed to head up a shoe drive for our children through their church, Ridgewood CRC in Michigan. We asked for approximately 50 shoes with specific sizes for boys and girls. The response was overwhelming and the Ridgewood congregation gave over 100 pairs of shoes!!! We now have enough shoes for next Christmas! On behalf of Beautiful Gate, we thank you Ridgewood for your generous gift and thank you Mom and Dad for your work in putting this shoe drive together!

Christmas Day visit to BG. Bouncy House play wore him out! While we were acting directors for 10 weeks we were also privileged to conduct two adoption ceremonies and host our Annual Staff Christmas Braai. This little girl was being reunified with her parent. A sad goodbye for us all. Prayer items: For the staff at Beautiful Gate and the unique needs that they have. For the emotional health of the children of Beautiful Gate and the current adoption process which has been quite slow. For wisdom as we hear from God as to where we serve next. For our specific jobs as we set goals for the next year. For Grace as she transitions back home to Michigan and as we live apart from one another.

Copyright © *2015* *Beautiful Gate Lesotho* All rights reserved. Our emails: kkboersema5@gmail.com (Karen) pastorboersema@gmail.com (Ron) Our mailing address: Beautiful Gate c/o Ron or Karen Boersema PO Box 339 Lady Brand 9745 South Africa Donations: Please visit our blog page for donation details. Our blog page: http://boersemablog.blogspot.com/ Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list

Unsettled

Word: Unsettled
Definition: Not yet resolved

That would be how I would describe some of my feelings since coming back from furlough on the second of April. Just to clarify, it is not how I always feel but it seems to be more and more frequent.

Why is there an unsettled feeling this time around when the first year here at Beautiful Gate was one of great peace?

Is it because I was home with family and had to say goodbye again?
Is it because Grace is now back in Michigan instead of with us?
Is it because there have been some difficulties in recent months?
Is it because there is a decision hanging over us that needs to be made in regards to our future plans?
Is it because God wants to bring me to a closer dependance on Him each day?
Is it because God is stirring in me to show me His direction?

I am sensing that the unsettled feelings are a combination of all that I listed above. But maybe mainly because of the very definition of the word...."not yet resolved". We are not yet resolved in where God wants us next. Do we extend at Beautiful Gate (and for how long) or do we come home or go elsewhere?
We are praying for wisdom and open hearts and ears. For right now, we haven't heard anything.
Another prayer of mine is that I am not so distracted by the decision that is ahead that I miss what He has for me now.

But we have hope. We trust that God will lead and speak as He always has...in His time.

In the midst of all of our ups and downs in life........God is trustworthy and He calls us to rest in Him.

Karen

"I am restless until I rest in you, O God"  Song by Audrey Assad Restless https://youtu.be/wJzYa7INaGk