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.