Baby J:
Gloria & Cletus (pronounced
Clay-toos) arrived with their son to the doorsteps of our missionaries, Dave
& Ellen Bartlett, this past December.
The head of their community had gone to the Soothsayer about their son,
who deemed him a “spirit” child. The
head of the community asked them to leave the child, go away for a few days,
and when they return they will have done away with him. Christians, who love their son and knew this
was wrong, went seeking help and advice.
Someone in their town had heard about the two rescued children – Baby GN
and Baby Y. They heard about the older
white couple in Bolgatanga helping these children. They traveled quite a distance, until they
arrived at their doorstep. The smile
here is (besides the fact that – THESE TWO Baby GN and Baby Y already showed
purpose by having their story save Baby J’s life) but OSIF had said we are not
actively seeking more children to help, we need more sponsors. But, if a child comes knocking at the door,
of course we won’t turn them away – God has a plan! Well, the smile…they were literally KNOCKING
at their door! J God is AWESOME! I love it!
Baby J is almost 2 years old, has two clubbed feet, and an associated
disorder of his thumbs folded in. I’ll
tell you, Eric started calling him a little bird and it has stuck with all of
us here. He is ABSOLUTELY
precious!!! His deformity does not allow
for him to walk. Although he is
cognitively not like the other two babies, he still needs to be assessed to
know what other issues he may have with learning. But, walking, that is the priority. Dave & Ellen helped to setup an official
OSIF safe house, where the family is now living (although the idea is for them
to have a safe place temporarily, while looking for work or means themselves).
Baby J has met with a surgeon in a town
almost 2 hours away, and was scheduled for surgery last week, unfortunately no surgery.
The doctor was scheduled to travel and be out of town as of Sunday. There were many
emergencies prioritized before the non-emergency case, like Jordan's. The
doctor was even performing emergency surgeries on Saturday, which is not
common. Also, Dave/Ellen had learned, Gloria’s father had passed away a little
while ago, and the family postponed the funeral until enough money was raised
to have one, which is common in Ghana. The funeral was while they were at the
hospital. So, after discussion with charge nurse, it was decided to leave the
hospital and go to the funeral. Dave
& Ellen traveled the couple hours to Bawku (hospital) to pick them up from
the hospital and then traveled from there to their village for the
funeral. The surgeon won't return until
24th, so the charge nurse at requested Baby J return the week prior to ensure
he is in queue and prioritized for when the surgeon returns and begins non-emergency
cases (after the emergency cases). Pray for speedy prioritization!! Pray for
his surgery, his healing, and all that is to come.
There is a lot also going on with the
family, and the isolation they feel being away from their home. Ghanaians are all about community. In America, it is normal to hold up in your home
alone for several days and not communicate with family, neighbors, friends for
days. But, in Ghana, they do everything
together. They communicate, follow-up, fellowship,
etc etc etc – together. Right now, they
are living in a community with others, but they are not family. It is very lonely, and while Gloria and Baby
J were at the hospital, Cletus was really missing his community! More info to come!
No comments:
Post a Comment