October 2006

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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

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