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FLORENTIN (1995-2016)

Florentin left his earthly body on September 11. He had already spent the whole month of August in the hospital in Bamako, and we were working on getting him back to Austria for another heart operation. When he received a new heart valve in Austria 3.5 years ago, we certainly thought his life had been saved and would be long. In September his health continued deteriorating, and the hospital just tried to stabilize him. When he once again returned to the hospital after a few days at home, they refused to take him back in, saying they could not help him anymore. Flo decided he wanted to go to his Mother's house which is only about half an hour away from our center. That is where he died Sunday night around 10 pm.

I arrived in Mali exactly 13 years ago, a little girl with a big God and big vision. I'm blown away at how one laid-down life was able to make a difference in so many other lives. I'm so thankful that because I took that step of faith, today Florentin gets to be in eternal bliss with Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

In the spring of 2006 I took in the first 3 street children. In 2008 we moved to the land we were given by the government. In September of that year the second building's roof was finally finished so that we could start opening our gates every night and let the street children come in to sleep in a safe place, receive food and hear about Jesus. On September 12, 2008, we went to the bus station where all the street children gathered at the time, distributed food, and invited them to come sleep in our center. Many hopped on to the back of our pickup truck to give it a try. Florentin was one of them. In November of that year we baptized him, and in April of 2009 he moved in and became a member of our family. This is his life story as written back then:

Florentin was born in Bamako (Nyamakoro). He attended school and stuck out as a very smart kid. While in third grade, his Dad died. So his mother took her three kids and moved to Sadiola (Bougouni) where her husband had built a home. Florentin did not return to school there but was watching his little brother while her mother went to the market as a seller to support the family. Sometime later they left and moved to Kayes where a friend of Florentin's father lived. They didn't stay for long but returned to Bamako. Once in Bamako, Florentin's mother got remarried - she's her husband's third wife. Instead of going to school, Florentin started an apprenticeship at a mechanic's. He didn't get along with his step-father who he describes as mean since he was encouraging his three big sons to beat Florentin up all the time. So in spring of 2008 Florentin left and went begging on the street. He was on the street for half a year before hearing of us, and then spent another half year on the street but sleeping at our place.

In the summer of 2012 - when he was 16 years old - he was doing a YWAM summer outreach with a few of our other older boys. He got really sick and was sent home. We took him to the hospital, and after some tests in better clinics, they finally figured out that he had a deteriorated heart valve (probably from an untreated sickness he had as a child). He needed an operation, but that operation could not be done in Mali.

In April of 2013 I took him with me to Austria where he would receive his life-saving operation - all paid for by the government of Upper Austria. I wanted him to have the best time of his life, so I showed him around Vienna and took him with me on preaching tours, even all the way to Paris - before and after his heart operation. We had so much fun.... like when he got to play in snow, or when we went to the amusement park together. It was like watching a little kid, and Flo had always been the clown in our family, acting younger than his age, but cheering everyone up. School was not his thing, and this would have been his 9th and last year in school. But he loved God and credited Him with showing him the designs of the little vehicles made of sardine cans and bottle caps that I would take with me on my preaching tours and sell. If you have own one of them, it is one of only a few on this earth.

A year and a half ago our last working vehicle died for good, and so the children had to start walking to the main street and then take two public transportation buses to go to school - and that twice a day. Our hot season is March through May, and it was during that time that Flo started having issues with his health. He had been doing so well, finally able to play soccer with the other children which he had not been able to do before! But the long walk in the intense heat was seemingly taking its toll. After weeks of tests and not being told anything, his cardiologist finally told us in August that his heart was enlarged because two of his heart valves were not closing properly. Even then she had little hope for Flo to live, but we refused that diagnosis and chose to believe in our all-powerful, all-loving God! Even after Flo had breathed his last breath, we all continued praying for him to come back to life - Paul doing so in the morgue. But Flo chose to stay in heavenly bliss and glory.

Two days after his death he was buried in Bamako with rain pouring down from heaven, and all our children, team members and his family got to be there (except for us as we're in Europe). Different people spoke a few words, and I was told how very thankful Flo's family was for everything we had done to help him.

I have asked different people who knew Flo to write a few words about him to be included in this email dedicated to him.

WE KNEW FLORENTIN

From our Malian director Paul who was like a Dad for Florentin and was with him to the end, including praying for his resurrection:

Florentin was one of the most disciplined children, the most respectful at our center, with a very special good heart. It is rare to see a heart like his was, loving God, and he was also very attached to me. He told me before his death that he was ready to meet the Lord his creator, ready to die.

All the children loved him because he was mean with no one. Every day I cry because of him, even though I know exactly where he is. May God comfort us.

Paul Traoré

From a volunteer who was in Mali with us for a year:

When I think about Florentin the first thing that always comes to my mind is the word “humor” for the way how he made people laugh. He carried a unique kind of joy in him that would often find expression in a smile both a little cheeky but yet drenched in a God given good heartedness that often had me spontaneously smile back at him and give him biiig bear hugs (not always to his pleasure ??). Flo knew how to make up funny stories and also showed a lot of talent in sharing them with us while we were all sitting around big bowls of food for lunch or dinner. He had all of us laughing when he would list all the infinite numbers of foods he could easily eat in one go if he only got his hands on them and quite often these stories were accompanied by the most hilarious facial expressions. As long as I live his special sense of humor surely won't be forgotten.

Another word I see over his life is “creativity”. This boy often struck me with his ability, not only to make up stories out of the blue, but also to create the coolest toys out of the most random trash. Often he came up to me asking if I could increase my consumption of sardines because he loved to make little toy cars out of the cans. His farewell gift to me - one of his “trash-toy-car”-masterpieces - will always have its place of honor on our living room shelf.

One more aspect of Flo’s nature, I felt God was reminding me of, was how whenever I asked him to help out with things, he could always be counted on. One thing I will always be especially grateful for are the many occasions when he would sacrifice a significant amount of his free time just to prepare some special Mali-style tea for me, a drink that turned out to be quintessential in order for me to keep up my energy level in the African heat...

There are still so many more of these little moments that kept popping up in my memory this past week and of course not all of these moments were as easy and positive as the few I picked out here - after all one year is a long time, especially if you live as close to each other as we did. But in the end all these many moments are the puzzle pieces of a beautiful picture and deep down in my heart there is a wall of honor where his picture will always have its special place framed in gold. The picture of Florentin, a great young man and beloved child of God that I had the privilege to walk with on a little part of his earthly journey. I know that we will meet again and laugh together even more than we ever could have on this earth, because with Jesus, death is not the end but the real beginning. K'an bè, Flo!

Christian Spindler

From the family Florentin stayed with in Austria for a few weeks to recover from his heart operation:

When Florentin had his heart operation in Linz over three years ago, we became his host family thanks to the Holy Spirit speaking to us. After his release from the hospital Claudia brought him to us so he could recover for a few weeks before returning to Mali. Even though we did not speak the same language, it did not take long before we understood each other well - we communicated with hands and feet and a Bambara dictionary (his mother tongue). Since he was doing better really fast, he opened up more and more and was having more and more fun with our three children - especially with our son Samuel who was then nearly 8 years old. They loved watching Asterix movies, played soccer on the Wii and just played around having fun. Florentin would have loved to play soccer with Samuel, but at that time he was not allowed to do so yet. Instead we loved playing UNO together, which he enjoyed.

There were no issues whatsoever with food. He ate pretty much everything set before him. What he loved most was homemade smoothies that I made for him using fresh fruit and herbs.

Of course he missed his home, his friends and brothers & sisters in Mali, Claudia (who was traveling in Europe at that time) and Paul. He was able to talk on the phone with Claudia, and he had a regular Skype call with Paul, which certainly was the highlight of Flo's stay with us. When he was skyping with Paul, you could tell how his heart was overflowing and how much he valued that man and how much he loved his home.

But he also enjoyed being in Europe very much. He enjoyed riding along in the car when we ran errands. He was even allowed to visit our children's school, and he loved it! You could easily read his face to know how he was doing at any given time, whether he was happy or sad, whether he was in pain or doing well. Florentin loved to laugh and was a very warm-hearted young man.

For us as a family it was a huge enrichment and a privilege to have known Flo and have had him in our home for a few weeks. It was not easy to say good-bye, when it was time for him to return to Mali. So the news of his early death hit us very hard. But as we know that he went to be with Jesus, who he loved, we know that he is doing better now and that we will see him again!

Gerhard & Elfriede Egger

From Florentin's sponsor, who lives in the town where Flo was operated:

I'm thankful that I got to know Florentin personally. After his heart operation he also spent one week with me and one week with my daughter to recover. I remember his joyful manner and his bright smile. He was always in a good mood. He was also very good with his hands. He designed and built a little car for my grand-daughter. My husband Reinhard taught him to drive in a big carpark. He enjoyed it so very much. Every morning he read his Bible and prayed. I remember the spicy Chili sauce that he even had for breakfast. My family and I will always have Florentin in our hearts.

Anita Dopplinger

QUICK NEWS

•        Our Health - Six months after the fire, we're still healing. Claudia still has pain on her arm, but the dermatologist said it's gonna get better. However, her dentist told her that she needs work that costs 3000€ ($3400) - money we don't have.

•        Return To School - We have had a lot of medical expenses for Flo, and then for his funeral. Not only that, it's also the most challenging time of year for us financially as we have to pay school fees, school uniforms and school supplies for our 40 children we send to school. Please pray for provision, and consider helping us out.

•        David - David ended up returning to work for us every morning during the week. It's challenging for him to have to be at our base at 5 am, without having a vehicle. Paul is also about to start interviewing people who can live and work for us full-time. Please pray we find the right person.

•        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 to get the tax exemption for the car. Please pray for favor, and for us to get all papers soon.

•        New Car - Our new 13-seat Toyota Landcruiser has arrived in Mali and been taken off the container. We have had to hire a professional to deal with customs, and things are getting more and more complicated, threatening to take lots of time and cost a lot of money. Please pray for favor so that we can take possession of our car soon.

•        Malian leader Paul - Please pray for our Malian leader Paul! He's an amazing young man, and he has a lot on his shoulders. This past half year has been really intense for him, and he's dealing with so many things, keeping him very busy, trying to get it all done. He needs prayer!

•        Building #4 - We'd like to start building our next building that will service as dorms and classrooms for our elementary school in the beginning, and will be our business and workshop section later. Cost: $94,000 or 84.000€.

•        France Tour - We've just returned from an amazing three weeks traveling and ministering in France, and our next email newsletter will be all about it. We thank God for all the new connections we've made, and are excited about what God is going to do in the future! Let's pray for a bridge to be built between the colonist and the former colony, for the glory of God! And let's pray for the French believers to be compelled to come to 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.

The devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death. (Isa 57:1b-2)

Loving HIM,

Claudia (& Randy)