We had our Resilient Kids/MercyAIDS AGM at Kin Culture in
August last year. This was the first time
we really heard about Beloved. It was
hard to watch the grief in the room as the staff of Kin told us about the fight
for his little life as he lay battling in a local hospital. Our hearts went out…
Our conversations with Kin at that point had got as far as
us knowing we would be moving onto the farm and that we would be fostering up
to four children. We had no idea at that
point who the children would be… but we were soon in a race to find BELOVED a
home. We were not able to apply for it
as it was needed immediately. I sent out
the shout out for a home for him. We prayed
for him…
Then a friend told me she was considering keeping him in
place of safety until a foster home could be found. That was it… place of safety is 90 days… we
would be back from Germany and on the farm and that meant WE COULD GIVE BELOVED A
HOME!
Soon, the conversation turned to reality and on the 23rd
of October 2016 our family of 5 visited him for the first time in his new care
facility. We fell in love immediately and
for those of you on social media with us know this to be a beautiful season in our lives as we bonded with him.
On the 27th of January, we brought our first
little foster child home with much joy.
He was given to us on leave of absence from the care home where he had
been living.
The first few weeks were so amazing, he was a part of us and
he felt it. Life changed quite a bit when
his 3 new sisters moved in and our family turned to 7 (1 lives abroad) children. He however remains the baby in it all and
loved by all…
The problem started creeping in as his paper work date
started approaching the expiration date.
Hearing how the powers that be view a bed in a house more than the child
that sleeps in that bed or the family who loves him… it is easy to place babies
apparently, our bed is needed for older children!
We have for the last 3 weeks waited for an official paper to
say we are his foster parents. It has
felt so vulnerable… I felt how vulnerable kids may feel in this season…Our Children’s
Act only allows a child to stay in LOA for six weeks and now we were into
8. We had signed papers but not the
OFFICIAL LEGAL one. A week ago, the
threat of having to return him to the care home became very real… we had him in
our care without the proper paper work for the weekend.
Good news! Today on
the 31 March 2017 we got the official paper work. Our little BELOVED is officially our first
foster child.
We are so grateful for the social worker at Kin Culture and the way she protected us and our little boy through it all. Nandi Myburgh you rock!!!
We are so grateful for the social worker at Kin Culture and the way she protected us and our little boy through it all. Nandi Myburgh you rock!!!
When you hear him call … mama, papa, wave bye, fold his
hands to pray, lift his hands in worship, giggle and dance, among the hundred
other things he does in the safety of our home… all we can do today is stop and
thank God for His grace and protection in this all.
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| Our family meeting BELOVED for the first time in October last year. |
What a joyous day!
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