Zambia and Moffat

This is Moffat and he is an orphan living in Zambia. A friend of mine named Larry and his family traveled to Zambia last summer with Campus Crusade. They became connected with the orphanage that Moffat lives in and started a partnership with them to help assist their needs. The children of this orphanage are so precious and have captured my heart.

Here is a bit of Moffat's story (written by Larry).

Moffat was born in slums of Lusaka. When he was one week old, a film developed over his right eye and without access to proper medical care, the eye became blind. When he was 8 years old, his father left the family and abandoned him. His mother is ill. I have never met her, and I’m not sure what her illness is, but everyone has described her to me as “sickly”. Moffat’s mother was unable to care for him and he was brought to the orphanage last year. In recent months, it has become evident that Moffat is rapidly losing vision in his left eye. He can barely see, and it is to the point where he cannot read.

In this society, if Moffat goes completely blind, he will have no future. He will have no hope of employment, and will not be able to do anything by himself. The dirt roads in his neighborhood are uneven and full of holes. He won’t be able to walk anywhere and won’t have a seeing eye dog. His education will be over. This may not be avoidable, and this may be God’s plan for Moffat, however, if there is any chance that we can help him, I want to try. We are hoping to bring Moffat to the U.S. for possible eye surgery.

One of the hurdles with this is getting a clear diagnosis to even understand if surgery can possibly correct his problem. Another hurdle is getting the Zambian government’s permission to bring Moffat here. This week has been full for Elina (the director of the orphanage) as she has tried to move the process along. She has taken Moffat to several doctor appointments and tried to get doctors to sign letters giving their approval. Approval must also be received from the Commissioner of Health, the Commissioner of Oaths, and the Commissioner of Foreign Affairs (and probably others). Each of these have been met with various roadblocks and fees (bribes).
If all of this could be worked out, we would like to consider having Moffat return with us at the end of this summer.

Please pray for Moffat!

Egg stand

Last weekend, the boys and I were painting Easter eggs and Alex came up with a unique idea. He enthusiastically said, “Mom I’m going to have an egg stand and sell all these eggs!”. My immediate response, which I kept to myself was, “No one is going to buy those eggs”. I mean, to me they were beautiful because Alex and Jensen painted them, but the average person probably wouldn’t think they were all that special (let alone pay money for them). I’m glad I kept my thoughts to myself.

There was something inside of me that said, DO NOT squelch his ideas. Encourage him and let him do this. So, we made a sign saying, Easter eggs .25 cents. (Alex wanted to sell each egg for $10, but I convinced him to drop the price significantly.)

As soon as we were all set up, someone immediately drove by and stopped. I couldn’t believe it. We had been outside for a mere 30 seconds. He took two eggs and gave the boys a dollar. You should have seen the look on Alex and Jensen’s faces. Absolute delight!

One woman who drove by bought two of the eggs that were cracked and broken. Unbelievable! It made her day to buy two cracked eggs made by a six and four year old. I foresee many an egg stand in our future.

When all was said and done, they sold every single egg and made $6.50. What a precious memory to make! What a reminder to me that God loves us even if we feel like there’s nothing special about us. It is the ordinary, the messy, and the broken to whom He pours out His love!

Homeless?

It looks like the Steffens could possibly be moving by the end of April. I received a really good offer on our house last week. I know it’s not official until closing, but if everything goes as planned, we could be moving soon. That said, we might be homeless for a little while. We still haven’t found a house for us to move into. I have looked at what seems like a million homes, but for one reason or another they haven’t been the right fit for us. Will you pray that the Lord will give wisdom regarding a house for us close to Butler and that He will make it clear?

Speaking of Butler, how about those Dawgs!