Please God, not Africa!

Maybe you'll remember this sweet baby boy that I've talked about.  He came into the hospital very ill and undernourished. Because his eyes were so big in his head, we called him Baby Bird. He was skinny and scrawny and miserable. This is the earliest photo I have of Baby Bird. Many of us have had the joy of holding and feeding and loving on this little guy.  Because he was sick, he had to be fed by NG tube slowly.  It took a lot of time. Which meant a lot of holding and snuggling and singing and squeezing. And praying. Sleeping though a feed just before Christmas. Shortly after this feed, Baby Bird was "Baby Jesus" in a Christmas play.  He performed perfectly. Baby Bird was improving, albeit at a snail's pace.  The doctors wondered if he had a problem with his lungs and so an amazing visiting surgeon took him to the OR to fix the issue.  But the problem wasn't THAT problem and we all continued to wonder at why he just wouldn't

Things have been going well over on this side of the ocean and we're thrilled to let you know the many ways that God has been working and answering our prayers! In the mornings, the kids and I do a short Bible study and keep a journal of all the people and situations we're praying for, including space to see when and how each request is answered.  In the past 2 weeks, we've been filling in that "ANSWERED" column multiple times.  God is at work and we are so grateful to watch Him working in the lives of the Togolese people. You might remember a story I told of Little "G" and his grandmother who is from a dark and evil village.  Here's a photo of him that I posted a ways back. If you don't recall his story, he was living in his village (about 2 hours away from Mango) and fell out of a tree and was paralyzed.  That was a year ago.  He arrived at our hospital after suffering for a couple of months, just lying of the floor of his home.  

This week's Mango Moment is brought to you by Pottery Barn. Mango is a small town that sits in a bowl. Because it sits lower than surrounding towns and cities, it's  very dry and very hot. We get far less rain than the surrounding towns and there are times in the year when Mango is actually the hottest place on earth. Today feels like one of those days. But Mango has much to offer.  And if you'll take the time to visit us, we'll happily tour you around.  But since that isn't likely to happen, I'll bring Mango to YOU! The downtown of Mango is made up of a central market with small boutiques on the surrounding "streets" - I put the word "streets" in quotes like that because I'm kind of afraid that you're picturing a street.  Like paved and wide and smooth and clearly marked out.  That would be the wrong thing to picture.  For example: A street in town. Its hard to see the pot holes from this angle. Because a lot of the bo