Inspired to Action by Rebecca M Pratt
Seattle WA 98166 US
INSPIRED TO ACTION
Inspired to Action blog posts by Rebecca Pratt
Posted on January 24, 2016 at 6:23 AM |
Holding
a starving baby girl weighing only 4.4 lbs as a five month old was heart
wrenching. (Actual picture of her posted here). As I held this little one, named Lucresse, in my arms she was
panting fast and quick shallow breaths as if at any minute she would take her
last. I honestly did not know what to do. I sat down and placed my hand on her
chest and began to pray. “Oh God, please help this little girl. If it be your
will, spare her life and give this little one comfort and peace”. As I prayed
her breathing became normal and peaceful. Once my prayer was over, her panting
started up again. I sat dumbfounded, honestly not knowing what to do next. I
knew Lucresse would soon die without immediate intervention. She was starving
and dehydrated. My motherly instinct
was screaming for me to rush her to the nearest hospital, but a quiet sense
deep in my heart that I felt was God’s quiet voice was guiding me to do the
very opposite. This
encounter happened in Oct. of 2013 in a village in Benin where we had just begun our anti trafficking efforts in the rural areas
where the life of a child had no real value. Mothers were selling their
children for a mere 20 dollars due to poverty and not having the means to feed
all their children. Selling their children so that they could have relief from
feeding and caring for an extra mouth became a way of life for these villagers.
This was just a way of survival. In
a meeting where I was sharing with a group of mothers why they should not
traffic their children, this tiny baby girl caught my attention. No
one seemed alarmed by this little one’s condition, and in their mind if this
baby died due to her mother working in the fields all day and only feeding her
one time each night, well it was simply the will of the gods that destined this
child to die. In their minds her death would not have anything to do with a
negligent mother. With
a heavy heart that evening a plan came to mind to task one of our female anti
trafficking team members to oversee Lucresse’s health, along with this little
one’s mother. She was also tasked to teach all the women in this area how to
take care of their babies and to share about the value of life. Lucresse and her mother had a four-week
stay in the hospital getting her up to eight pounds, and hours of oversight by our
team member. With every village mother watching this situation extensively,
women were getting trained on how to take care of their babies. Lucresse was
weighed in front of the villagers weekly, and extensive teachings were given to
all the mothers of the village on how to take care of their babies and how to
help each other to take care of their little ones. Fast
forward to this month in January of 2016. To my shock and amazement just two
year’s later we are seeing a huge culture shift due to our anti trafficking and
micro finance efforts in this village. Not only have we been able to stop the
trafficking of children, given over 80 women micro loans so they can begin to
feed their own children, but we are also now seeing mother’s properly caring for
their young ones. Many of these women have committed their lives to Christ, and
their testimonies of huge life transformations because of what the God who
created them has done in their lives is unbelievable. On
this recent visit to Benin, the mothers were very eager to tell us how thankful
they were to be shown a better way, (God’s way) to care for their children.
With a sense of pride they presented Lucresse to me to show me how well she was
doing. In
this same room, where Lucresse was once dying and no one was alarmed, I was
watching women eager to show us how much they have changed and how they have
come to understand that their children are important. It
is beautiful to be apart of these huge transformational stories, where we have
been given front row seats to a God who is all about redeeming, restoring and
rescuing! Amazing! To read more about this work and what we are doing, you can visit: www.orphanreliefandrescue.org |
Categories: Children rescued, Life inspiration
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