Operation Quiet Baby

Today was our first Sunday here in Zambia. We arrived early to the church so that we could hold babies during the church service. The babies were late, but most of our group was able to share a baby or two with the people next to them. Unlike last year, this year we came prepared with tons of toys to keep the children occupied and quite during the service. During the service I sat next to Hayley with Curt in her lap. Curt is a baby I knew from last year and resided in Haven 3. This year he is healthier and is now living in Haven 2 with the healthy toddlers. It was fun trying to keep him entertained during the service. Eventually I found out that the only thing that would please him is my watch. He found out that he could push a button to light up my watch, and that was the end...it was now his watch. When he left for class I forgot to take it back from him so I was a little worried, but after service, sure enough, he was still holding on tightly to my watch. Whew.

After service we had an awesome dinner with baked chicken, green beans, rolls, and corn casserole. It was very good. Afterwards  a group of us went to the Havens to play with the babies for the rest of the day till dinner. I spent all of my time in Haven 1 with the little babies. I first picked up Joy, who is just a few months old and has a twin name Emmanuel. I fed them both a bottle, and decided that they will probably be apart of the feeding class. I also held Christopher for a while, who was born March 30th. He is not doing well and needs lots of prayers. He looks very malnourished, shallow breathing, no sucking, and a weak swallow. I also spend alot of time with Louise which was apart of our feeding group last year in Haven 1. Now she is a year old and healthy. She was fun to play with, a very content baby. Eventually it was time for the babies to eat so I let Louise go and picked up a younger baby named Irene. I held her until it was time to go. She is a sweet baby. When I got back to the house, I remembered that it was my turn to make dinner. My team consisted of Dr. Weaver, Dixie, Darah, and Kasey. We just pulled out all the leftovers and threw them together, nothing fancy.

After dinner we went to evening service. The singing was great, and I was able to sing some Tonga songs that I had learned from last year. After service we all hung out on the porch and chatted. It was nice to hang out as a group. Eventually a large group of us played nerts. I was pretty confident in my skills but Courtney destroyed us all.

Tomorrow the plan is to evaluate as many of the babies as possible so that we can place them into groups for therapy. Be praying that good observations are made and that we can serve the babies as best as we can with the time we have.

Thank you for all your prayers and support!

Ben