A Tale of 2 Baby Showers

Today I went to 2 baby showers. The first one was for one of my American friends. It was a perfect baby shower - lots of great food, pretty ladies, balloons, games and lots of gifts for my friend. From the look of everything she got almost everything she needed.

The second baby shower was for one of my Burmese friends. The food was also great and there were lots of people there, but only 4 gifts. I watched my friend open her gifts and I enjoyed teaching her how to swaddle and how to use Desitin, the thermometer and children's ibprofen. After she was finished opening, I asked her if she had a car seat for the baby. She said, through an interpreter, no. She pointed to a toddler car seat that someone just brought her, but she knew that wouldn't work for the baby. I asked her if she had a bed for the baby. She said, no. I asked her if she needed one or if she had a plan as to where the baby would sleep. She said they would like a bed. She then said everything they had for the baby was right here - diapers, wipes, 2 onesies, 1 newborn sleeper, 1 0-3 month sleeper, a thermometer, Desitin, blankets, socks and that's it. It's moments like these that I wish I could introduce her to a bunch of people because I know people would be giving to her if they knew her. But how would my friends be able to meet her? I couldn't just say, "well, good luck with that" and leave. So I said, "can you go shopping with me?" We went and bought her a pack-n-play (her choice of a bed), car seat, and bouncer. I smiled and told her that now the baby could come.

I used the money that we earned from the garage sale this week to pay for these items. So, thanks for contributing to the sale and thanks for helping out.

Jen

Current Ways to Give to City of Refuge

I wish I could trade places with the people in this world who have lots of money and don't know what to do with it. If you are one of those people, well, you've come to the right place. Or if you want to give $5 to something to make a difference in somebody's life, well you've come to the right place.

Marianne Bihomora was praying just today that God would help her have enough money to have a cell phone. She couldn't pay her bill this past month so she no longer has a cell phone and it's absolutely so important for her to have a phone. This should be a business expense that Safi Sana picks up, but we can't afford it now. And you will have to hear my heart and trust that this unfortunately is really the case. So, can you pray for her? Or do you want to help her?

Also, starting on Tuesday, Noe Rusaya will have a full time job as public health administrator for the refugees. Adam is employing him at Tiger Pediatrics to do this position until we can find a grant or donors that will help us do this. Why do we need this in Columbia? Well normally pediatricians are coaches that tell parents what they need to do to help their child. So, one of our refugee kids was diagnosed with an iron deficiency a few years ago. The pediatrician told the mom to either take her son outside more during the day or supplement with iron pills which he/she prescribed. The mom doesn't have a car, a license, and her Medicaid is always on again/off again. Because of this her toddler is now probably mentally retarded. Noe's new job will help take kids to their primary care doctor, to the specialist, and will follow up on specific kids to make sure they are taking their medicine, have their medicine, etc. Adam said that as a whole we were doing a "C" job in taking care of the refugee children and we needed to do better. If you have any grant ideas, please let me know. I'm looking but it's not easy to find. What I do plan on doing is offering a grant from City of Refuge to Tiger Pediatrics, but the amount will vary based on the interest of those giving. Adam will be able to recapture about 1/3 of Noe's salary so I'm looking to help offset the cost of the 2/3. Want to give $5 towards this?

And finally, Caritas. We have been supporting Caritas since January and I've had to stop giving her a salary until we get more donations. Caritas is like a second mom to almost all the African children. She is in her car daily driving the refugees around and helping them with their numerous needs. If you are interested in helping her, let us know.

We've made it easier to give to City of Refuge. You can now give on a regular basis or a one-time basis using your credit card. Just email us at Mizzou4you@gmail.com and let us know what you want to support, how often, and we will take care of the rest.

If you are one of those people who doesn't really like to give money, but you have a lot of time then you could help us by having a garage sale. We even have donations that we can help bring over. You price it, sell it, and we will come and pick up whatever doesn't sell.

Thanks for helping us help hundreds of refugees in our city.