A very special Christmas present….

Since Christmas, the lives of our good friends, Jan and Bonny have been turned upside down. This is not just because of the whole situation with the church, but because they received a very special Christmas present a few weeks ago…Jan and Bonny, decided to adopt and they received a 6 week old baby named Jessie on 21 Dec 07.


Bonny and Jessie

I really admire them for taking this step – they are 57 and 47 respectively, and their main motivation was to give a child a chance for a good life that they otherwise would not have had. Jessie was conceived from a rape. Her mother is Zimbabwean and illegally entered into SA to flee the economic crisis in Zim. Unfortunately, the people who they paid to take them across got aggressive and raped Grace, Jessie’s mother. Apparently this happens quite often and is part and parcel of what you can expect if you put your trust in these people who take you across the border. After Grace gave birth, she immediately left Jessie in the hospital, not wanting anything else to do with her. Only 2 people in her family know that she was pregnant.

Although the circumstances surrounding Jessie’s conception are really sad, I can’t help but think of God’s sovereignty in these times. Despite all the good and bad things that happen, all I can do is trust that God is in control of everything and that it all works according to His good purposes. Now that I see Jessie with her new family, I can see how God has once again used tragic circumstances for His glory - if Grace had known of her pregnancy earlier, it was certain that she would have aborted Jessie. Looking at Jessie’s precious face, I feel so glad that she is with us and has this chance of life. She is absolutely the cutest baby I have ever seen – so gorgeously chubby, just the way I like it!


Little Michelin girl (look at those arms!); Jan and Jessie

Many were worried about Jan and Bonny adopting as they were ‘not young’ anymore and Bonn gets really bad debilitating migraines. One (white) woman even said – ‘if we keep adopting these children, then they (the black people) will just keep having them’. How ignorant!

But seeing how Jan and Bonny are coping with raising Jessie has really challenged me to think that no matter at what age or stage of life, God will give you the capacity to nurture and love his children. They aren’t getting much sleep at all, but thank God that he has kept Bon’s migraines away and have kept them energetic and in good spirits. I know that they would never trade it for anything and they are even thinking of adopting another child!


Me feeding Jessie (yes, she loves to eat!)

In the holidays, we also went to visit an amazing lady called Karin, who looks after AIDS babies. At first, she was a ‘kangaroo mum’ – she would take premature babies and nurture them, putting them in a pouch sling across her body until they were healthy enough to be adopted out. However, it was getting harder and harder for her to give the babies back as she would bond with them all. So instead, she decided to make her ministry in looking after AIDS babies. At the moment, she has adopted 2 babies who are HIV+, Andrew and Hannah. We baby sat them a couple of times and were also so encouraged by the amazing work she is doing. AIDS babies don’t fare very well in the orphanage as the nurses are ignorant and don’t want to touch them. Many develop hernias from crying non stop, bed sores, nappy rash etc from being neglected. One baby, Emma, doesn’t have hair on the back of her head as she was never picked up or turned over. Even though it is such a hard job, I can see the true joy and love she has for those babies and how rewarding it must be to raise them in a Christian home.


Me playing with Hannah and Emma; Chester with Andrew

They’ve all really inspired me to think more about adoption as well. For us, I think adoption is definitely an option. Just seeing how Jan and Bonny have taken an orphaned child and provided her with a loving Christian home has really inspired me. When Jessie first came back from the orphanage, she would cry and cry and her whole body was scrunched up from stress and not being loved and cuddled. Over the next few days, it was really apparent how much more relaxed Jessie was becoming – she was being truly loved by Jan and Bonny – her body started relaxing, her fists unclenched, she no longer had to wail the loudest to get the attention of the nurses, but knows that she can trust her parents to look after her.

So I guess I just wanted to challenge everyone else as well into opening their minds to the possibility of adoption if it be God’s will for your life. I have seen first hand how it can make an amazing difference to the lives of the child and also the parents!


Emma with Jessie; Andrew once again!


The proud mums - Bonny and Jessie with Jill and Emma; And the proud dads - Jan and Jessie and Trevor and Emma