A New Beginning for Julie

In my third blog, I shared a story about a little 10 year old girl named Julie that my new friend Katie picks up each week on Friday.  The little girl’s mother allows Katie to take to her daughter to the center for the weekend to keep her away and safe from the men who frequent her home for prostitution.  She only keeps Julie around because she needs Julie to care for her and her home.   I went with Katie tonight to pick Julie up for the weekend.  Many of you have responded that you are praying for this little girl.  Tonight I learned that God has heard and answered our prayers for Julie.  Her mom told Katie that she is moving to South Africa and so Julie can move to the center and live full time!!  The big smile on Julie’s face showed her joy despite her attempts to cover her mouth with her hands.  She was so happy.  Praise God for His goodness to this little girl.

Speaking of God’s goodness...  We spent a good bit of time at the center with the children.  Right now they live in a small structure made of grasses. The dirt floors are covered with cardboard.  They do have electricity, but no plumbing.  A beautiful new center that has been under construction for the past year sits on the corner of the lot and will soon be ready for them to move into. It has big, bright rooms for them to live in as well as a bathroom that is so nice - it is referred to as a “hotel bathroom”.  Katie’s vision is to have the mothers who have left prostitution behind (she calls these women Princesses) and graduated from her program come and live at the center with their children until they can afford to live independently. 

Right now, the children live there with educators (hired Mozambican women) who care for them.  Katie’s little one year old boy, Nathan, is a big hit with the children.  All eyes were on him while we were there.  It was clear that they adore him.  We were watching from the side as the children formed a circle around him.  They all began singing and clapping to get him to clap along.  They were singing, “God is so good.  God is so good.  God is so good.  He’s so good to me.”  I could not help but to cry as I observed these little ones singing of God’s goodness to them.  These are children of prostitutes.  Several of them are orphaned because their mothers have died.  Several have mothers who do not bother to come see them at all. They live in the dirt.  They do not have one possession to call their own.  These children are the poorest of the poor, yet they sang of God’s goodness to them.  Humbling.  Very humbling.  This is why we have come here.