And…my brownies may have helped as well!
After a particularly stressful month in which I was not the nicest of people (hard to believe…I know), I was repenting and praying in church. I asked God to show me whom I needed to love more. I was expecting to hear “Your husband” but instead I felt Him say, “Social Action”. I literally looked up in astonishment and asked, “Social Action?” And again I heard, “Social Action”. And then… “Bake for them”. I thought to myself, “You have got to be kidding me!” But again the words “Bake for them” entered my head. So I thought, “Okay, I’ll bake for them!”
Instead of doing the baking myself, I got the great idea to ask our teen girls to bake brownies for them. I felt it would be more impactful if the brownies we would give to them were made by the children that they assisted. We did the baking on a Thursday morning. The girls knew the brownies were not for them but would be a gift of appreciation to the people who work in the Social Action office. Using my recipe, they mixed and baked and prepared pans of brownies for me to take to the office the next day. I also prepared a little note of thanks and added in photos of the girls baking.
Delcio and I took the brownies to two of their offices the next day. The social workers were amazed and gushed with enthusiastic gratitude, telling us that no one had ever before brought them a gift. The brownies were very well received. It also gave me the opportunity to tell them about the beautiful new Sunshine House 9 that had just been completed and was in need of children to fill the beds.
In less than a week, we received four new children, two pairs of siblings! A friend of mine exclaimed, “Those brownies really did work!”
This left only two empty beds in the house. And we knew exactly for whom these beds were reserved.
Way, way back in February, we were approached by a local foster program asking if we had space for two little girls. The girls were only two and three years old. Each one had a different father, who never fulfilled his role in their lives. Their mother was mentally unstable and incapable of caring for children. She abandoned the girls with the grandmother and left to another province.
At that time, we were just starting the construction of the new house and knew the space for the girls would soon become available. In the meantime, we could place them with one of our existing families while the house was being constructed. So we met with the grandmother, and it was decided that the girls would come to live in our Sunshine family. Yet, when we went to collect the girls to bring them home, Grandmother was not there. We found the girls in the care of a neighbor. The neighbor said Grandmother had gone out and would be soon back. We waited. After about an hour, we called Grandmother. She said she was on her way and would be there soon. We waited. Two more hours passed by. Now when we called Grandmother, she did not answer her phone. We could not take the girls without her signature on the document, so we finally had to leave the girls behind and return to Matola.
The next day, the grandmother came to our office in Matola to speak with us. She apologized profusely for not being there the day before. She then went on to explain that all of her sons had agreed at a family meeting to place the girls in our care. But one son, who lived in a far-off province, was not in attendance at this meeting. When he heard, he declared that he would come in April and take the girls with him. The grandmother shared that she had no doubts this uncle did not have the best interests of the girls in his mind, but that in fact, she strongly felt that he intended to benefit financially from the sale of the girls. According to culture, she had no voice in this decision and could not stand in his way. Delcio and I prayed with her for the wellbeing of the girls and left it in God’s hands.
April came and went; we did not hear anything from Grandmother. We assumed that the girls were gone, lost in the ugliness that poverty brings to the people held captive by it. In June, she contacted us…the uncle never came for the girls!!! We moved into action to complete the necessary documents and prepare for the girls’ arrival.
Part of these preparations involved finances. We did not have the money in our budget to add on more children. I knew of some people who might be interested in supporting the girls and sent off a note to them. Each person did not even hesitate to accept sponsorship for the monthly expenses of the girls. We also needed a bed for them to sleep in. A local businessman unknowingly came through just in time. His daughter had outgrown her beautiful bunkbed, and we were more than happy to help him get it out of the house! The bed was delivered and set up the day before the girls arrived! It even came with the mattresses. Everything we needed was provided just when we needed it!
A happy, smiling Gabriela and a timid Miracel arrived last week. It was our joy to welcome them to our Sunshine family.
The Sunshine House 9 family is now complete…and in record time! Mother Gloria and sisters Tiara, Percina, Zeneide, and Juscelina have joyfully accepted the girls into their little family. Our hope now is that they will live happily ever after.
So now I am left with just one question...what should I bake for Social Action next???
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