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"I Am the Child of Somebody"
A Message From the BCHFS Executive Director

HOPE means to want, to desire, to expect that what is envisioned might indeed happen. It is to believe that things could be better tomorrow than they are today. It is to envision a brighter future. FAITH is trusting in the unseen. It is trusting in God no matter how impossible the odds are. Paul writes in Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hope and faith go hand in hand.

Hope and Faith are also sisters at the Arise Africa Babies' Home in Bukaleba, Uganda. They are two of fifty three children in care. Hope, age three, and Faith, age six, were orphaned in 2010 when both of their parents died of Aids related illnesses. Both girls had tuberculosis when they were placed at the Babies' Home and both are HIV- positive. Cured of tuberculosis and taking regular medication to combat HIV, they are responding well with relatively few side effects. They are happy and blissfully unaware of the seriousness of their condition.

On a recent work trip to the Babies' Home with seven other IL Baptists, I got to know Hope and Faith a little better, and my life is richer as a result. The 12 day trip was sponsored by Baptist Children's Home and Family Services as part of our partnership with Arise Africa.The group loved on the children, supported the staff, painted the interior of the Babies' Home and taught Bible School to the children of the orphanage and children from the surrounding community.

I got to know Faith during playtime. She is a very bright, funny little girl who speaks English well and works hard in school. She is very affectionate, has an engaging smile and bonds easily with adults. Faith is a wonderful big sister and a great help with Hope.

I got to know Hope while I was working. She was too young to play with the older children so she would drift in out of the rooms while we were painting. During the week, as we got to know each other better, Hope and I began to bond. I moved from a "Mazunga"- Swahili for "white man", to her friend. By the end of the trip, this beautiful three year old would sit beside me while I painted. With her thumb in her mouth and one hand on my knee, she would scoot on the floor as I painted, not making a sound but never losing touch. As you can imagine with a three year old child who knows little English, our conversation was limited, but not our communication. I will never forget those big brown eyes as she studied my every move. At one point Arise Africa Director, Godfrey Wanamitsa, walked by and said, "Careful Doug, you will become a daddy!" How right he was. It is amazing how a three year old can steal your heart with just a look.

Hope and Faith's HIV-positive condition is a heartbreaking diagnosis, but with today's medication, it is no longer a death sentence. Both girls will require lifelong treatment, but have the opportunity to live reasonably normal lives. Being HIV- positive does not define these beautiful girls. They are defined by their love for each other, their innocence, their sweet smiles, their affectionate response to others, their ability to trust others in a world that has not been reliable and their desire to have a human connection.

In the early days of our trip we were constantly asking the children to tell us their names. When one older child was asked her name she replied, "My name is Martha, I am the child of somebody." Her mother worked at the Babies' Home and she wanted us to know that she was different from the children who lived there. What a powerful statement that became during the week—"I am a child of somebody!"

It is my prayer that we continue to develop our partnership with Arise Africa's Babies' Home. One day Hope and Faith and hundreds of children like them will be able to say, "I am the child of somebody," either because they were adopted into a loving Christian family or because they were adopted into the family of God. John 1:12-13 states, "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, children born not of natural descent nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God."

We are just beginning this wonderful partnership in Uganda. We have a group of nineteen scheduled to go this August and are already scheduling trips for March and August of 2013. If you are interested in joining us in our orphan ministry, Latreia International, please contact
us at www.BCHFS.com.

Standing for God's children,
Doug Devore
BCHFS Executive Director

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