Spring

Abandoned kittens found in our yard.



CeCe and Conner with their new blankets





Joe bringing his mom flowers



Cactus blooming.



Anthony, Omar, Yeawee,
Voni and Ben with Rabbits.




Our German shepard watching over the baby Geese.


I just love spring as I am sure most people do. It is like a new beggining
for everything in my life. Everything is blooming, the garden is started,
the kids can go outside to play and new babies are being born everywhere.

Richard one of my ten yr. old sons wanted a pair of Geese for a pet.
He was so thrilled to see those two yellow fuzzy birds brought
to him in a box. Now what he doens't like is all the work it is
taking to keep them alive. We have a small cage in our bathroom which
frequently needs changing, they have to watered, fed and loved.
Man it is a lot of work to be a Goose daddy!

And you know what?

Geese are just plain fun. Are they supposed to be lovable? I am
not sure, but they love to be picked up and snuggled, cry to be
held and fall asleep in your arms if they are there too long.
Oh the joy of simple things in life.

Yesterday Aurallila pulled down a rock on her head trying to cover
the rabbits with a tarp. She seemed ok at first but today she was
feeling nauseated so I took her to the Dr. They ordered a CAT scan
so off we went to the hospital. Everyone was so amazingly nice.
The people running the scan gave the kids tons of stickers, scrap
booking magazines and begonia clipping. Now I am sorry but this never
happened in Bakersfield. So maybe, just maybe, I am in love with this
town. Oh and by the way the CAT scan was normal. Praise God!

A few weeks ago we went out to eat at a restaurant with all the kids.
The waitress took a real interest in all
the kids and wanted to know more about our family. I proceeded to tell
her the kids were all adopted and some of our family story.
She told me she knits blankets for foster children here in town and could she knit blankets for all my kids.

Wow! Of course you can....

So we got two of the blankets this week and I gave them to Conner and CeCe.
They were so thrilled and they look beautiful. I am just amazed at how
some people can love so much giving without receiveing anything in return.
She also told me her dad has a card ministry that he does with almost no
eyesight, could he send cards to my kids?
This family's cup runneth over with the Love of Jesus!

They are modeling the heart of my Jesus. He gave away his life to give me eternal salvation. I know for myself that is where my deep need to give comes from.
Because he loves me so much, has forgiven me over and over, I can pour out
that love on others.

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.

Oh yeah, the picture of my son bringing me flowers. Just because.
Is there anything more precious?

Thank You Lord for new begginings, that joy comes in the morning, that I don't
have to dwell on what's behind but push forward to what is ahead.

Put spring in my soul everyday......

Pastor Peter

Pastor Peter showing us his farming property he hopes to develop.



Praying at one of our events.


Standing with some of his foster children he has taken in.


Let me introduce you to one amazing man. Pastor Peter who is doing some amazing things
in Liberia through his love for his people and his devotion to Christ. I knew that he had a foster care program and that he helps Global and FMN on a volunteer basis, but I had no idea HOW MUCH he is doing in Liberia until I took my recent trip.

Many of our special needs kids and their families live in the same area as Pastor Peter. When he took us out to see the kids we were surrounded by the children he
has taken in to his home, many who came from his village. He knows each of the
families he overseas, loves them, tries to get them food and tells them about the
love of Jesus. You can tell his love for children by the pain and desperation I saw
in his eyes as he asked us to take pictures of children who's mothers had died and will eventually need adoptive homes. He told me his heart just hurts each time he
has to visit a medically needy child and he cannot get them help.

He advocates for families all over Liberia hoping to bring them hope.
Hope their children will receive medical care.
Hope they will eat at least one meal a day.
Hope they will have clean water.
Hope that they will know and trust Jesus as their Savior.

So much of that hope depends on his Christian brothers and sisters in the States.
There are NO resources to draw from in Liberia. And God is sending his people. Laying
the pain of this Pastor on our hearts, his dreams and hopes becoming ours.

Two of the women who went with us had no idea how God would use them on this trip.
Kari has her eyes on adoption, but seeing the Pastors farming project she felt called to help him. Denise who always had a heart for missionary work, fell
in love with a little deaf boy we have in our program and she is now sponsoring him
and advocating for his care.

Pastor Peter took us to his village where a well had just been put in. He cried as he told us of the needs of the village. Even though they now have clean water, the need for food and medical care is huge. Along with his farming project he hopes to open a medical clinic that will cater to the poor.

Another one of his dreams is to build a school. A school that will open up doors for poor children, that will break the cycle of poverty that they are doomed to without
an education. He showed us where they have started to mold bricks for the project.
All of the cement has to be HAND mined by other Liberians with passion for change, and by yes, the Pastor himself when time allows.

For Global and FMN he is always there to answer questions, give directions, advocate when needed and he is one great tour guide! Oh and did I mention he has a church? He is the pastor who preaches on Sunday and leads a flock among ALL of the other things he feel God has called him to.

So I ask you to pray for this man. One man who may be instrumental in changing Liberia for Christ. One man that will show hundreds of children, women and men that there is still a God that cares and is moving in their country. One man who will
pull the heartstrings of another country to come along side of him and fill a dream.

One of the most impressive things I was told about Pastor Peter was when he was asked why he gave up his bed, his personal bed to a poor (poored than him) family, he answered "because they needed one."

To me that says it all.

Oh God, let that be my heart.

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. - John 15:12-13

Abigail needs a sponsor

This is Abigail, a four and a half year old little girl that tugs heavily on my heart. Her mother was wanting to find her an adoptive home because no matter what she does, this little girl will not thrive.

At four and a half she weighs 10 1/2 pounds! She was so weak when I was
holding her she could barley hold up her head. Her sadness permeated my soul
and I knew there had to be some way to help her.

I was so excited to be able to see Abigail and really talk to the mom
about her situation. The mom told me that she had trouble getting her to eat since
she was two weeks old. That she always seemed "slow" and has never walked. What is
amazing is that her one year old sister does not show the same symptoms. It made
me think that maybe she is suffering from a metabolic disease of some kind.

The single mother like so many women in Liberia, does not have food to feed her children.
I can't even imagine what it is like watching your children starve to death or
know they need medical help, but you do not have means to find that help.

We arranged for Abigail to have a medical report done to see if we could get a diagnosis and get her further help. We also arranged (through a generous donor) to give the mom rice for two months and step 3 formula and baby cereal for Abigail. We just received word that Abigail has gained two pounds.

We need to continue to support this family in rice, and treatment for Abigail, but we need a sponsor. Many of us in Global and Forget-Me-Not send money to help these
children but we cannot do it all on our own, we need Godly people to step up
and give whatever they can to help.


1 Tim. 6:17 Tell those who are rich not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which will soon be gone, but their pride and trust should be in the living God who always richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. 1 Tim. 6:18 Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and should give happily to those in need, always being ready to share with others whatever God has given them. 1 Tim. 6:19 By doing this they will be storing up real treasure for themselves in heaven--it is the only safe investment for eternity! And they will be living a fruitful Christian life down here as well.

We desperatly need a vehicle for the FMN program.

Josephus our nurse in Liberia Africa with the children.






A SMALL GIFT CAN MAKE A HUGE IMPACT

Having just recently returned from my trip to Liberia, I saw firsthand how effective the Forget-Me-Not Children’s Program truly is. Placing kids in trained loving foster family homes is so important to our ‘special needs’ children. We have been amazed at how many of our kids are thriving in their new homes, and how each one of our caregivers is carrying out their mission of taking care of these beautiful children.

However, the Forget-Me-Not Children’s Program in Liberia is in desperate need of a vehicle. Our program is growing, and the logistics of transportation for our local director in Liberia is becoming desperate. He consumes a lot of time, trying to locate an available taxi, sometimes several times a day. He visits our FMN children several times a week, as well as delivers supplies, has several meetings a week with important government offices, hospitals, doctors, as well as taking a child for regular medical care visits . He also must be available to pick up a sick child from our foster homes to take them to the clinic or hospital…this can happen very often because several of our kids are medically fragile. We are also having a difficult time with transporting large amounts of supplies that cannot be transported in a standard taxi. Therefore, a truck or something of this size, is needed for this. Again, this is very difficult to find on a daily basis. Roads can be very difficult to navigate in a smaller car, due to all the pot holes, water and dirt roads that get us to the FMN foster homes. It’s not uncommon to wait several hours trying to flag down a taxi. In an emergency situation, this could be devastating to our program if we cannot get care for one of our kids in a timely matter.

Currently we send EVERY penny of our funds directly to our foster family program in Liberia, which in turn utilizes the full amount to benefit our children in need. Our program operates on a per sponsored child basis. We don't have ANY spare funds that come in, that can cover such a need for a vehicle. All of us working from the Stateside don't earn a cent. We volunteer our time (sometimes can be a 30 hour work week), because we love what we do! I feel so privileged to work alongside a wonderful team that all have a heart for our FMN children. We cannot grow our program without the vital tool we need in having our own transportation.

Please consider helping us in our FMN Children’s Program Vehicle Fundraiser. We aren't asking for a few people to give large amounts, we are asking MANY to give a little. If we can have 200 people, commit to just $30, this adds up to a $6000 amount. This would help us locate a suitable vehicle for our program. I did some checking on vehicles while in Liberia, and they are extremely expensive!! You cannot find a decent used vehicle,(used but new off the ship from oversees), for less than $5000. We are talking about a vehicle that has over 100,000 miles on it, but is in good ‘used’ shape and has some necessary options like four wheel drive and air conditioning, plenty of space to transport several foster children and large amounts of supplies. My goal is to have all the funds raised in 3 months time, starting on May 1st. Of course we will take ANY donation amount, large or small! We cherish your support of our program, and continue to move forward with great joy in growing this program. The need for our program is desperate. There is no other one program, that ONLY takes in ‘special needs’ abandoned children, and places them into a ‘trained’ foster home. We give these beautiful children a home and the ability to reach their greatest potential with the resources we have.

We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the wonderful support and prayers!

Tanya Pruitt (sponsorship coordinator stateside)

***Please send your giving amount, with ‘FMN vehicle’ in memo line, to…

Global Orphan Outreach, P.O. Box 97, Ladysmith WI, 54848.

Paypal at www.globalorphanoutreach.com

Tezz downloading my i-pod for the trip
Omar, Ben and Richard holding the suckers they bought for the kids in Africa.
Conner packing them.
The whole family is part of the ministry.







It is so hard to write about my trip to Africa. I think about blogging every day and every night I cannot sleep (which is every night) as I try to put the words together in my mind. It is like I have traveled to another dimention and I am still trying to process was I really there.

I started journeling the minute I left my home in America because I wanted to capture each and every experience. Just getting to the airport was such a struggle, I worried about how I could possibly go to Africa and survive. The night before I left for the airport I kissed all of my 18 kids and asked each one to pray, knowing that was what was going to get me through this trip. In fact, I asked everyone I talked to pray, church, friends, relatives. And because of the power in that prayer, from the minute I woke up to leave for the airport, I felt a strong presence of God.

Ephesians 6:18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.

I had never departed from Dallas airport before, and I was worried it was going to be as hectic as Los Angeles. Traffic was awful and I was late, which increased my stress even more. But when I walked into the airport everything was quiet and peaceful! Quick check in, kind people, no line......

My other concern was being on long flight and having awful seats and most of my seats had to be assigned at the airport. So I was suprixed when my first seat was by an emergency exit, by a window with tons of leg room.

Shortly after I sat down a young man about thirty filled the seat next to me. He looked extremely ill, sweating, pale and very anxious. I asked him if he was OK and he stated "NO, I feel terrible." My first thought was he is afraid to fly, but he said no he had flown many times. I started praying for him and asking God for dicernment.

He was becoming increasing agitated and seemed to be in a lot of pain. I first tried to get him to calm down, he was hyperventilating, and then called the stewardess for help. She put out a call for a doctor but only a nurse replied, quickly making her way to where we were seated.

Now what took place from that point I deem nothing short of a miracle. The nurse the Lord sent over was a Godly woman, who believed that presence of God was on that plane, and that praying over him was as important as any medical procedure she could administer. We were one in our thoughts and our actions.

Vital signs were taken, oxygen adminstered and he was closely watched. I knew God had placed us both there together, placed on either side of his seat he was coverd with prayer, love and encouragement that everything was going to be OK and I know he felt the strong presence of God. It was just an amazing experience.

Two hours later paramedics wheeled him to the hospital and the other nurse and I just praised God and rested in his presence. We exchanged phone numbers, shared some personal information and went on to our next flight, by the touch of God.

I know God could of told me in many ways he was with me on that trip to Africa. I
long many times for a sign to fall down from heaven or a prophet to walk up to me and say "God is with you" but God has his own intimate way of speaking to his children. Because his sheep hear his voice. So Jesus chose that day to speak to me
through a hurting man and a obedient nurse. Loud and clear I heard him say "I am with you Tanya, on this plane and on this trip."

Jesus said this: "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me" (John 10:27).

And as I met up with the other women I was traveling with I couldn't wait to tell them of how Gods power was going with us on this trip... I just knew it, God had revealed it to me through a hurting man. But I am not sure they could see how God was speaking.... because the message was for me, his little lamb.....