This is Baby Joshua. If you are one of our Prayer Partners and receive urgent and ministry related prayer requests to your inbox, then you have been following Joshua’s story for a few weeks now.
Joshua was born on March 3, 2021 to a young mother with two other small children, ages two and seven. myLIFEspeaks supported and empowered Joshua’s mom throughout her unexpected pregnancy by providing nutrition, prayers, and prenatal care at LIFE Clinic.
Joshua’s mom lived in a neighboring village to Neply, called Anba Pê, but came to myLIFEspeaks daily and soon became a key part of our village commUNITY.
She had gone from initially begging us to take her baby to making progress and feeling more empowered with the help of the myLIFEspeaks family. Tragically, when it came time to give birth she delivered Joshua and then started hemorrhaging and passed away: leaving behind a newborn and two other young children with no immediate family nearby.
The wife of one of the pastors here in Neply is apparently a distant family member and we took her to the hospital to get the baby. She brought Baby Joshua to LIFE Clinic for assessment and we began to see what family (if we could locate any, because mom had always said she had no one) could help with the kids.
At the time, the seven-year-old daughter was with mom’s cousin in nearby Anba Pê and the little boy was here in the office with us. We grieved for the loss of our friend and member of our commUNITY but also for her three young children who lost their mother.
The little boy kept asking about and wanting his mom. We kept him occupied with Tom & Jerry cartoons and crackers as we waited for more details and prayed through what to do next.
Eventually the father of the baby showed up at myLIFEspeaks along with Mom’s uncle and two of her cousins. We tried to get all the information to ensure the children would be going with family members who would love them and take care of them.
As the afternoon unfolded, Dad continued to ask us to take the baby. We explained to him this wasn’t possible and tried to talk to him about his responsibility as a dad. He continued to say he could take his older son but he could not take the baby.
After a lot of talk and some anger from some of our Haitian staff, one of our employees, Lentiny, who was also a friend of the mom and the only person to accompany her to the hospital last night, said she would take the baby. She said she was already agreed upon to be the baby’s Godmother so she would take Joshua into her home and raise him.
CommUNITY once again coming together!
It was decided that the little girl would stay with Mom’s cousin in Anba Pè and she would raise her. She also agreed to raise the two-year-old boy if Dad would not. Initially, Dad took the little boy agreeing to care for him but shortly after gave his son over to Mom’s cousin as well. We all felt this would be the case but continued to hope and pray that he would step up. Thankfully, Mom’s cousin graciously welcomed the children in as her own and the siblings are together.
Today, Joshua is doing remarkably well.
His Godmother and now forever mother, Lentiny, often brings Joshua to visit and hang out at the mLs office while she works in housekeeping. He is growing everyday, eating well, and sleeping well. Lentiny has stepped into the role of mom so beautifully. It is as if she has been Joshua’s mom the whole time.
myLIFEspeaks is helping her with formula and diapers from time to time but because she is an employee at mLs, she is able to take care of most everything on her own! We did get her a bed and some clothes to get started but other than that she is entirely independent, which is amazing!
As for the other two children, they are both doing as well as can be expected. They miss their mom but are in good hands with their mom’s cousin and are well taken care of.
Please continue to pray for these precious children and their families as they adjust to LIFE again.
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