The Baby Who Became Benaiah

One of the things I love most about living here at Ethiopia Guest Home (EGH) is meeting new people just about every day. We love coming down for breakfast and seeing a new face at the common table. You just never know who will show up. Today, a darling couple from Australia walked into our lives. They simply said 2 words when we asked them what they wanted to do for the day … Fistula Hospital. How could they refuse us tagging along when they saw the smiles on our faces! I told them if they wanted us, we’d love to join them. We didn’t have an appointment or an agenda, but Fistula Hospital is one of my favorite places in the world to visit. I’ve encourage you many times to watch the documentary film, A Walk To Beautiful.

Have you watched the film and what impact did it make on your heart?

Typically, I have a big team with me when I go to Fistula Hospital. They split us up in small groups so we don’t overwhelm the women. Today our team included: Dovie, Hannah, Zoie, Hubby, Reg, Aliza and me. We arrived and told them we were friends with management staff, Feven and Sisay, so they let us have the golden ticket (a red pass with the words- no photography allowed) to go inside. Zoie has tackled every new day like a pro missionary … march in and smile, melting everyone’s hearts! The women are wrapped in their colorful blankets, so excited to greet new visitors. Hannah and I had just been there a week ago with our Visiting Orphans team. We recognized many of the beautiful faces.

I “guided” our tiny team, pretending I was their tour guide, around the grounds that were stunning with flowers of every single kind in full bloom. It’s a peaceful sanctuary. Reg mentioned that even the air at Fistula Hospital was fresh and clean. It makes you feel renewed, healed, and spiritually energized. I have no idea how to describe this beautiful place, but encourage you to visit in person. The real guide was still having her tea when we arrived, but I told her “no rush” I would share the highlights until she could join us. I think I found my new calling … guide extraordinaire at Fistula Hospital. The stories are heartbreaking how each individual women made the long journey (most by walking) to receive surgery and healing. But, there is big hope here too, reminding us how Jesus heals His children and cares deeply about each one of us.

We visited the new baby ward and had no idea God was preparing us for a special surprise. One of the women I hugged last week, JUST had her baby boy. She has previously lost 2 babies due to traumatic pregnancies and this newborn was her first to survive. She walked in with her nurse and husband (amazing miracle!) and beautiful baby … all we could do was cheer!!!!!! She felt like a movie star. We clapped and congratulated the new parents, even the staff was crying. The baby was absolutely stunning, so we gushed over him, too. I noticed my hubby walked over to another bed greeting a very young girl holding her baby.

He was talking to her with the help of one of the staff and he was beaming with joy. He motioned for me to join him. He was drawn in completely. The guide asked her if she wanted to go home, but the new mom adamantly said no. Her life was complicated back in her village. She was only 16 years old, so her husband had married her illegally. She had no family, no husband, no village, no future. My husband held her in his arms and she was responsive. The staff said this was the first time she allowed someone to hear her story. Roger asked her what she dreamed of being in the future. She smiled and said she wanted to finish her education. Hope. She told him she wanted to start a new life in Addis and take care of her baby boy. Hope. She declared her hopes and dreams and fears. With the help of the staff, Roger told her gently to stop worrying about her future and start dreaming about your future. It was so emotional for all of us. We went into the social worker’s office and made the decision of faith to help raise her support for the future. The miracle happened when they told us her name … Senait!!!!!!!!! She had the name of our daughter. We were blown away! Later, we went to say goodbye to Senait and they told us she had not named her baby boy yet and asked Roger to give him a name. He mentioned our son, Michael’s name was from the Bible and what his name meant. She didn’t show any emotion. Then Roger mentioned the name we chose for our African son so many years ago. Do you remember that story? Benaiah was a warrior and one of King David’s top 3 bodyguards. Senait looked up at Roger and smiled the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen. She chose Benaiah. We were so happy for this precious baby boy. I decided she needed a marker for her miracle day and gave her a special ring to some day give to her son, Benaiah. Please read, 2 Samuel 23:20-23 for the Bible story of Benaiah. Also, run go buy the fantastic book, In A Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day by Mark Batterson!!!!! I’m hoping next week to beg my friends at Fistula Hospital to allow us to take one photograph of Senait and Benaiah!!

We ended the day with a visit to Mission Ethiopia and helped poke holes in the clay beads. We had fun learning a few more Amharic words. Dovie even knows how to count to 10 in Amharic… she has put us to shame! Why do they think we are sooo funny speaking their language? Hannah insisted we go to the new cupcake bakery, Cupcake Delights (2 of my favorite words) and to the movies with Emily and Berhanu! The movie was in English with Amharic subtitles, so we were in luck!

After the movies, we dropped off our friends and they brought out their new baby puppy we met the day before. I had begged suggested they should name him Simba, of course with no pressure. We were THRILLED to hear we had our second successful naming in one day and loved on puppy, Simba! Oh what a day!

Our super-hero nanny, 18 year old, Dovie White has a blog called What Rhymes with Dovie and you can read her perspective of our time here in Addis Ababa.

Will you pray for our family of 5 that we can be unity, blessing, and joy to the new friends we make at the guest house? Please pray for Mercy TODAY …. Monday, June 25^th for her US Embassy appointment. We want to celebrate, with you, God’s miracle of her medical visa together!!