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FLORENTIN IN CRITICAL CONDITION

Just over three years ago Florentin was operated in Austria which saved his life. He needed a new heart valve - an operation that could not be done in Mali. It was amazing how God orchestrated everything for him to get that life-saving operation, and he was doing great until a few months ago.

We have not had a car for over a year, and so the children have had to walk to the main road and then take two public transportation buses to school, then return home for lunch, and do it all over again in the afternoon. It's especially been hard on the little children - and on Florentin. A few months ago he started having problems, taking tests, getting all kinds of medications prescribed, but a few weeks ago he took a turn for the worse.

He had to be hospitalized and stayed in the hospital for 10 days, until he was stable enough to return home. He decided he wanted to go home to see his widowed Mom for two weeks, and while we had reservations about it, we let him go. Two days later Paul had to go get him and take him back to the hospital - less than a week after he was released the first time. Today is the fifth day he is back in the hospital, and we don't know when he can come back home yet. They're trying to stabilize him to the point that he can.

picture from 2013

In Mali, asking questions is against the culture. In addition, doctors do not tell you anything, and so we have not known all this time what is wrong with him. We have also tried to get test results, but they are treated like top secret documents. FINALLY, Flo's cardiologist gave us some information a few days ago.

She told us that two of Flo's heart valves are not closing properly which has caused his heart to be enlarged. She said that he needs to have another operation - that cannot be done in Mali - and that even with that risky operation, she does not have much hope that Flo will have much longer to live. BUT GOD!

We do not accept this negative report but HAVE FAITH in our God! We have been praying for Flo's healing, and we're also pursuing getting him this second operation that he needs to fix what is wrong. Our friend in Austria who arranged everything last time is already working on getting him this follow-up operation. Please pray for favor with those in power who can make this happen. Pray for finances for a plane ticket and for all the medical expenses we've already had for his tests, medications and hospitalization. And most of all, pray for Florentin's complete healing to the glory of God!

NEW CHILDREN

In the last few weeks we have added five new children to our family. Three of them are street children, and they all still need sponsors for $60 or 50€ per month. You can also do a half-sponsorship for half that amount. These are their stories:

Arouna (13)

Arouna was born somewhere in Côte d'Ivoire, he doesn't know where. When he is six years old, his parents send him and his younger brother to an uncle in Bamako where they both start going to school. In sixth grade - around April or May 2015 - Arouna gets kicked out of school because he skips classes all the time. So his uncle signs him up as an apprentice to a motorbike mechanic. However, his aunt sends him out every morning to sell her merchandise, so that he can't go to the mechanic's. Every night when his uncle gets back home, he beats him up for not having shown up, not knowing that his wife was sending him out to do her business. After two weeks Arouna has enough and runs away. He ends up at the bus station, where he begs for money to survive. He hears about us, but decides to make his way north to Mopti where he ends up working for a fisherman. After a couple months, he wants to return to Bamako, and the fisherman pays his bus ticket to do so. Arriving in Bamako, he decides to find us as he had heard that we treat children well. All he knows is that we are near the hill and that we have a water tower. So he asks around until he shows up at our base on March 29 of 2016. His faithfulness and sweet spirit gets him noticed, and so two days before our primary school started he became part of our family, just in time to also be in our school.

Moussa (11)

Moussa was born in Diarradougou in Burkina Faso in 2004. Fulfulde is his mother tongue. At 4 or 5 years old he is sent to a Marabout in Bobo Dioulasso where he spends the next five years. He then decides to run away because of the beatings and goes to Sikasso where he spends the next five months making bricks and earning money. However, the Marabout has a relative there who recognizes Moussa and tells him about his whereabouts. The Marabout then informs Moussa’s father who comes to Sikasso to get his son and take him back to the Marabout. He then stays another two years with the Marabout who does not beat him during that time. Then one day the Marabout’s wife sends him out to go get water. When he doesn’t do it, the Marabout beats him up for it, and so he runs away again, with one other kid. They decide to go to Bamako. On the way there they meet another street kid (Tidiane) in Bougouni who tells them about us. Together the three of them make their way to Bamako and straight to our center. Moussa stays, while his friend continues on his journey to another town. On November 11th, 2015, he first comes to our center and starts cleaning in a pharmacy during the day while spending the nights with us. In the summer of 2016 he starts staying at our center regularly and gets noticed, leading to him moving in in August.

Oumar (16)

Oumar was born in Maraka-Kungo (Fana) in maybe 2000. Fulfulde is the language he spoke with his parents. When he’s about 7 years old he’s sent to a Marabout in Kumantou (Bougouni). He spends five months there, but is just keeping animals. Because he doesn’t want to do that and because he’s beaten, he runs away. He goes home where his Dad tells him that he wants him to keep cattle. Because he does not want to do that, he runs away after only 3 days home. He goes to Bamako where he ends up at the bus station. After only two days there a street kid (Dramane) tells him about our center, and in November of 2010 he comes for the first time. However, in the years to come he would spend few nights at our center, instead living on the street and begging for money. One time he went home to his family to pick up his clothes, but only his Mom knew about it, not his Dad. All those six years on the street all he ever did was beg for money to survive. In the summer of 2016 he starts staying at our base every night which eventually led to his moving in in August.

Click here to see all the pictures of our resident children.

NEW TEAM MEMBER ADAME

Last time I presented our new team member David to you; a wonderful young Christian man who did an amazing job with our children for the week he was with us. Unfortunately he left us after that week - against his will. His denomination did not want him to live on our base and work for us full-time, therefore not being able to participate in their activities and work for them. Even though he loved being with us, he submitted to his leadership and left. It was hard seeing him go after the excitement of having such a gifted young man as part of our team.

A few weeks ago we took in Adame, a Christian lady who's been beaten by her husband and fled that abusive situation. She needed a place to stay for herself and her two children. Then she lost her little shop a few weeks ago when the government destroyed all the road side shops. She's now looking for a new location to set up a new shop.

Now that her children are with us around the clock, and that she wants to give back to us, she has just started watching our kids on the weekend. We really needed someone during that time, and are still looking for someone to watch the kids during the week.

Our only girl so far - Sarata - is really happy to have two other girls around. Habibatou (11) is her age, while her sister Musokura is about 4 years old. Since they now live with us, sleep and eat here, we will be sending them to school and pay for it all. Therefore they are both looking for sponsors who are willing to invest into them with $60 or 50€ per month.

Habibatou (11) and her sister Musokura (4)

OUR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Our elementary school has now been going for 5 weeks, and we have one more week before we leave on our trip. We started with 10 children - 6 of ours, and 4 from the outside - and are now down to 5 that will hopefully all continue; two of them struggle, while three are doing a great job. We've covered a lot in those few weeks, and they've made great progress. We do Math, French, Science, Music, Civil & Moral Education and English, and have really found our groove.

While we are gone, they'll have pages and pages of exercises to do that will cement what we've done so far. Please pray for them, and especially for the two struggling. Pray also we find another person to watch the kids during the day, which would help with their homework time.

Pray also for divine connections as we travel in Europe and particularly France, as we are looking for an elementary school teacher to come to Mali and start a first grade in our school.

QUICK NEWS

•        Our Health - Four months after the fire we still have healing wounds and raw scars that hurt (at least I do - picture from today). We both have several doctor's appointments in the Western world coming up to get several things checked out.

•        Kids Moving Out - We've had some issues with our older teenagers for a while who really wanted to have their freedom and have wanted to leave before, and this summer they all returned to their families to be with them. We've decided it's the best for them to stay with their families and continue their schooling there. That means that Karim (20), Jérémie (19), and André (17) are now non-resident kids, though we hope to see them often on our base.

•        Repairs & renovation - Repairs and renovations are finally all done since our carpenter finished putting all the shelves and doors in. We also got new, bright couch covers to protect them from the dozens of kids hopping on them every day. Our new palm trees along the wall are growing slowly, even though it's rainy season. However everything was flooded around us just a few days ago, so there might just be a little bit too much water.

•        Construction - We're still waiting for the estimate of how much the next building will cost that our new construction manager is working on. We need those rooms as dorms as well as for our elementary school.

•        Government Papers - Paul is visiting government offices nearly every day to try to speed up the papers for our three entities. Our church papers burned in the fire, and we'll need them at the time our new car arrives in Mali in a few weeks. Please pray for favor, and for us to get all papers soon.

•        New Car - Our new 13-seat Toyota Landcruiser is supposedly on the way to us via Dakar, and is supposed to arrive some time in September, just in time before school starts in October. Please pray we get it out of customs easily and quickly.

•        New Church Plant - Our new church plant in Sebeli is doing great, even though we cannot go there ourselves right now (rainy season). We were able to hear a report from there, and to send them a solar audio Bible. Please pray we can get a hold of a lot more solar audio Bibles to distribute.

•        Randy's Trip - The first two and a half weeks of our elementary school I was alone, as Randy was in the USA for his youngest daughter's wedding. I'm glad he's back - he had a tough time returning as he was stuck in Paris for 24 hours because of an Air France strike, and then one of his suitcases didn't make it and only arrived two days after him. However, he had a great time, and his daughter was a beautiful bride. All his children are married now, so it's about time there was a new sibling for them. Please pray with us to that end.

•        Sept-Nov - While our US schedule is full (see on the left) we still have some openings in Europe (also on the left). We're looking forward to seeing many of you again and making new friends and connections. Please pray for open doors and divine apppointments, and especially for God to send teachers to our school in Mali.

•        Partners - We're looking for monthly financial partners as we only have 41% of our budget covered by regular monthly donations.

•       Volunteers - Do you want to come change an orphan's life? Do you want to heal the sick? Preach the gospel to those who've never heard? Come to Mali for a season and let God change your life. No language skills needed, but French skills are helpful.

Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security. (Jer 33:6)

Trusting HIM,

Claudia (& Randy)