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October 2006
To all our friends
Without you, we
could not have got through another year!
Thankyou all, for
carrying us in prayer, your phone calls and letters and e-mails of
encouragement, your compassion and concern for the ministry of
Shepherd’s keep.
We appreciate you
all!
During the coarse of
this year , we have realised how really wicked,sordid and hard the
world has become, in the way the babies are brought in to us
lately—they are like little derelict buildings, just void little
frames, void of all emotion—given up on life—placenta’s plus cords
still attached, often the brain damage is only seen after a few months,
when one little leg or one little arm fails to move, or a little blank
look remains forever on the tiniest face ever---sometimes a little eye
is crooked and hardly opens---tiny weeny ears are set low low, so
low---so abnormal—a sure sign of fetal alcohol syndrome---soemtimes so
tired , a suck cannot even be coerced with a warm bottle of formula,
and a syringe has to take the place of teat—so strange, so just not
like mom, where oh where is her voice I heard for the last 9 months or
so……………….gone forever—replaced by a surrogate mom in the form of one of
our dear care-givers, ready to take over with excitement at yet another
little soul rescued form a dreaded death of fear, cold, starvation,
abuse, neglect, and oh—just pure abandonement!
This is what we are
all about—24 hours round the clock of every single day of the
year—ready and willing and able to help abandoned starving abused
neglected HIV positive or not, sick babies—they are aborted and found
in toilets upside down, covered with toilet paper—alive!! moving—how
horrific—can you imagine entering this world like that?
To find something
like that and have the adrenaline to pull it out, ever so gently—its
little legs and arms as thick as one of our fingers, or
thinner……………..wrap it up and hurry it somewhere—a police station, a
hospital—where it is transferred to SHEPHERD’S KEEP for HI-CARE !
And so the fight
begins for that little life—we pray, oh how we pray over that little
life, believing with all our hearts , that God has rescued one out of
perhaps 100 that day—to bring to us, for a purpose He already
knows-------we begin our love work right away---strong loving arms,
warm feeds , warm cots, warm baths, warm voices cooing and calling back
from the dead—a litlle scrap so worthy of all our love and attention!
This is how we have
been operating this year, with one after another, each with a sadder
and traumatic entrance into the world, but seeing a transformed baby
leaving to be a blessed, normal, beautiful child with every opportunity
given it! How can we ever doubt adoption??
But bliss!! When
they leave us –into a family so dear, a family waiting and expectant,
with all the love in the world to share with their new babe!!
We have seen this
happiness over 40 times this year, and this is what makes the fight for
a life, so worthy of all of us we have to give—to see a changed,
beautiful, smiling and adorable chubby babe off to its new home!!
MARK 9:36-37 “Taking
a child, He set Him before them, and taking him in His arms, He said to
them, “Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives me, and
whoever receives Me, does not receive Me, but Him who sent me.”
We have 4 full
nurseries operating now, at a huge cost financially—but strangely, God
always meets us at D-Day and gives us enough to carry on------
Among our short term
stay babies, we have 3 cerebral Palsied babies who we are trusting God
for specialised treatment, namely Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. Hot is not
experimental, but does fall under alternative medicine. It is used for
strokes, gangrene and babies with brain damage.
The therapy is given
under the supervision of a medical doctor.Hot works by increasing the
amount of oxygen available to damaged tissue.
The concentration of
pure oxygen dissolved into the bloodstream are increased by up to
2000%. The baby then breathes 100% pure oxygen, which red blood cells
can carry
The oxygen therapy
is most beneficial to to the damaged cells, enabling them to become
healthy—which increases the childs potential. It may never make a child
“normal” but can make a remarkable diference to the child. These
children may, one day, be able to feed themselves, dress themselves, to
walk and communicate. This is why I believe, if we all join in prayer
for this miracle of finance to come in—it will!
Occupational, speech
and physio therapy are long term treatments, but HOT is given one for
one hour a day for 5 days for 4 weeks, making 20 sessions per
treatment. It is recommended that 5-6 treatments be given per year at a
cost of R5000-00 per treatment—or R25—30,000 per year. The costs
involved are high but the results are so impressive.
HOT, if worked out
to a 30 minute session, is R125-00per 30 minutes-!
We are therefore
asking anyone and everyone to help raise ithis money for these 3
babies, this Christmas season.—can you help please??This will be their
Christmas present.
We now have
administrator, receptionist, matron, Housemother, 2 trained nurses and
a head caregiver in charge with 30 caregives as the help for the
babies. We feel confident that we have the very best of care and all
work in excellence together.
We have thanks a
plenty to say to our wonderful funders, donors, sponsors, friends
knitters, quilters,shoppers-for-us, students , volunteers, and most of
all—our adoptive parents, who so, by faith, have trusted God to give
them the perfect baby—and he sure has honoured them!
THANKYOU EVERYONE,
INVOLVED WITH SHEPHERD’S KEEP. EVEN IN THE VERY SMALLEST WAY—you are
all immensely appreciated and loved.
We have had visitors
from near and afar this past year—bringing good tidings and great joy
to the babes—we have had overseas volunteers having a marvellous time,
blessing the babies with their love and attention—you are all so much
needed and appreciated—thankyou!
We draw nearer to
Christmastime, and as life becomes more and more busy—we realise we
have to stop sometimes and just enjoy God’s grace and His marvellous
wonder and celebrate life itself—we will be having special days for our
babies to spoil them, with adopted babies coming back to share in the
fun.
During this time,
Colin, my husband and co-founder—is recording a wonderful album of
music, we hope we will soon be travelling around with!
We still have a lot
on our wish list—items needed plus the regulars—if anyone would like a
wish list, please feel free to e-mail or telephone to numbers above.
May God bless you
all and keep you
Cheryl
 |
Most
Dynamisante Woman Award 2006 |
Cheryl Pratley is
the winner of the Clarins/Fairlady Most Dynamisante Woman for 2006. Read more here.
Most Dynamisante
Woman Award 2006—AFRIKAANSE REPORT
 Om
jou lewe, soos ’n Moeder Theresa, aan die koestering en versorging van
babas te wy wat deur hul ma’s in die steek gelaat is, sit nie in elke
vrou se rok nie. Veral nie as jou eie vier kinders uiteindelik die nes
verlaat het en van jou hande af is nie.
Maar vir Cheryl
Pratley van Durban was die keuse maklik: toe sy eendag as verpleegster
met die ongewenste, sterwende baba van ’n 13-jarige meisie in haar arms
staan, het sy eenvoudig geweet sy móés iets doen. Lees meer...
Colin and Cheryl
Pratley — custodians of Shepherd's Keep
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2004 |
2003 |
2002
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