~By Danielle

“But you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba!  Father!”  The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God” -Romans 8:15b-16

I sat on the phone talking to the young pregnant mother, explaining to her that all the signs pointed to her water having broken and coaching her through contractions.  Still early in the evening and only in the beginning stages of labour, she hung up saying a friend would get her to the hospital and she would call in the morning.  A couple hours later my phone rang again.  She was panting so hard through contractions and so panicked from stress it was difficult at first to understand what she was even saying.  I soon discerned she had failed to find a ride and was progressing rapidly.  After breathing with her over the phone and trying to figure out the situation, she finally gasped out “Will you come fetch me?”

And so Nick and I found ourselves in Masi, trying to navigate in the dark and pouring rain.  The township seems to take on an entirely different aspect  in the late hours and is difficult to navigate, or distinguish people or places.  By a miracle we found her.  The poor girl was so stressed she could hardly sit or buckle her seat belt, and we rushed to the emergency room while she squeezed my hand and we breathed together.  At the hospital she wasn’t even given a wheelchair, but had to walk with me from one end of the hospital to the other.  Once we reached the maternity ward she was dressed and left to labor alone across from another mama also preparing to deliver, with only 1 sister (head nurse) and a nurse on staff.  Before leaving we prayed together for the birth, for herself and for this new life, and I left to catch some sleep.

I didn’t sleep very well as my dreams were full of babies.  First thing the next morning I received her call again.  The baby had been born barely 20 minutes after we left!  It had gone quickly and easily, and both mama and baby were doing fine.  As soon as the hospital would allow I drove over for a visit.  It is always a miracle to see a new life, never ceasing to amaze me.  But this precious baby was accompanied by something almost as miraculous.  Her mother was making an adoption plan.

In South Africa and surrounding African countries, there are countless single mothers and unplanned pregnancies.  And it seems the numbers of abortions performed and babies dumped are only on the increase.  We meet with women daily in various circumstances of crisis needing options.  But regardless of situation and desires, it seems adoption is seldom an option.

In a culture where family responsibility is so strong, the stigma against adoption is tremendous.  The general opinion continues that regardless of a woman’s circumstances or reasons, the most selfish and irresponsible choice she could make is to give her baby to another family.  Every week I sit in abortion counseling and discuss other options with these women and girls, but the general opinion still seems to be that it is better to end the child’s life than “give it away”.  The Baby Safe team has prayed without ceasing that the LORD would move on hearts and change the stigma and fear towards adoption, and that mothers would begin to choose life.  And recently, these prayers have begun to be answered!

In the last 3 months alone, there have been 4 babies placed for adoption through various circumstances, circumstances where mothers could have taken their babies’ lives, but made another choice.  And more clients are considering this option as well.  In August Baby Safe had our second baby left in our safe, and following this, another baby was found abandoned in the bushes  of one of our local areas and brought to us. These mothers could have anonymously dumped their children where they would never be found, but instead chose to leave them in a public place, knowing they would be brought to safety and given a life they could not.  And recently another client who had originally wanted abortion, delivered a beautiful baby girl and has begun the process of placing her child with a forever family.

We can never comprehend the feelings of a mother making the ultimate sacrifice so that her child can have life.  But we know the LORD understands, and time and time again we see these mothers’ countenances miraculously change as He ministers to them HIS heart.  We are all the adopted sons of the most high God, and somehow through this process, we all get a new glimpse of Him.  We pray daily that the old stigmas will begin to break, and in the lack of other options more families will be willing to make this courageous choice.

~Shared by Jonathan & Sofia Morgan

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has just released a report outlining the grave state of healthcare for pregnant women in South Africa. Recent statistics show that four times as many mothers are dying while giving birth, or from birth-related causes, than did so just over 10 years ago.

HRW have been researching this issue in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa. Here’s what they report:

In the course of our research, women told Human Rights Watch that they were physically and verbally abused, including pinching, slapping and rough handling during labor. They also described treatment delays; nurses who ignored calls for help; and health facilities that failed to deal appropriately with pregnancy or childbirth-related problems. Women were also left unattended for long periods after delivery, discharged too soon or sent home without pain medication or antibiotics, sometimes after Caesarean births, and refused admission, even when they were clearly in labor.

Women also described widespread verbal abuse. They said that when they sought care for pregnancy, nurses taunted them about enjoying sex or berated them for getting pregnant knowing they were HIV-positive, or told them they did not deserve care because they were migrants. Others said that nurses ridiculed women when they said they were having labor pains or pleaded for assistance. Some also noted that hospital workers demanded bribes or gifts

Many women in Ocean View are missing their top front teeth. Reasons vary – the teeth got knocked out in a fight, they had one rotten or crooked tooth and for some reason the crazy dentist took them all, it was fashionable one year in Ocean View to remove your front teeth, it’s better for kissing, etc.

If you decide you want to get “flippers” – new front teeth (that you can flip in and out of your mouth) – you decide that you are ready to tell your community – I want something better – I want to start over.

New teeth are a sign of a new beginning.

Baby Safe sponsored two of our Sisterhood Graduates to get new teeth (it helps with employment)…

Allice said…”I feel like a new person…everything is different. I LOOK different, I TALK different, I FEEL different.”

Cheryl said…”I feel blessed. Can I say that? BLESSED! EVERYTHING has changed for me personally. With my new teeth, I am able to look positively to the future.”  Cheryl, who has been out of work for several years, started her new full-time job In June, only a few days after getting her new teeth!

~By Danielle

She sat across from me at abortion counseling last August,  HIV+, raising 3 children, and now 3 months pregnant with a child not her estranges husband’s.  By all accounts there was no reason for her to choose life for this baby.  But she did.  As I explained how with the proper treatment and precautions her baby could be born negative, her countenance changed.  As she began to think through and list resources and family support available her hopes rose.  Together we made a plan for HIV and pregnancy support, scheduled follow-up, prayed together, and she left having not 1 but 2 lives changed.

I didn’t hear from her for months…

In January she called me, not willing to discuss things on the phone but asking to meet.  She arrived hugely pregnant and very emotional.  In the time which had elapsed her babies father had passed away and with him a huge source of support, leaving her desperate for help and options.  We sat and grieved together, asking the Father for wisdom, comfort, and direction.  As I explained the options she listened with a quiet calm, and then asked for help making an adoption plan.  This is an option very seldom chosen by Xhosa women, especially when you explain that it is forever and you will most likely never see the child again.  But regardless of the details and her understanding of the difficulties and sacrifice, she wanted to give her child every opportunity for life abundant with a family who could give this to him.

For 2 months she stayed in touch, checking in and asking questions, calling just to say how she was doing.  Then as March came and went she dropped of the grid once more.  Finally in April she answered a phone call, to say she had given birth and decided to keep her baby boy.  But she was doing well, following the appropriate procedures to prevent his infection with HIV, and said though circumstances were challenging she thought they would all be fine and had sufficient support.

The call came two weeks ago…

I went to meet her and was presented with a beautiful baby boy, 2 months old, strong and healthy with one of the thickest heads of hair I’d ever seen, and his recent test revealed him to be HIV-!  But our mutual joy in his life was dampened by the fact that she was not coping.  The support she thought she could get by on was insufficient, and caring for yet another child was a greater challenge than expected.  She asked that I take him to be placed for adoption.  We talked and prayed, she took the weekend to think and be sure, then I made arrangements with the social worker and baby home before fetching him for the night to take him the following morning.
As I gathered around him with my roommate Nicole and my fellow team member Elmien, we anointed him and prayed over his life and destiny.  While we prayed I felt the LORD give me the name Isaac as a promise over his life; he is a child born out of impossible circumstances just as the son of Abraham, and with the name meaning “laughter” I felt the LORD laughed over his life, and had much laughter in store for him.

I cannot begin to express my feelings in caring for him that night.  In every sense he was a miracle, there being so many reasons he should not even be alive!  He should have been aborted 9 months ago, but here he is.  He could be infected with the death sentence of HIV/AIDS, but he is healthy and whole!  As I held him in my arms I was overwhelmed.  Overwhelmed by the extent the Father will go to to rescue His children, and the honor that He would use me in any small way.

My little “Isaac” is now at the baby house awaiting the adoption process.  His mom has signed the papers and is doing well.  I continue to stay connected with and pray over both of them, and the incredible destiny the Father has for them each.  “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” ~John 10:10

~By Allison

She’s 20 years old, 5 months pregnant with her 2nd child and she has no idea what an umbilical cord is for…

As Jenna and I sit on the pavement next to the drug apartments, I show her pictures of what her unborn baby looks like at 5 months. It’s with excitement that I show her pictures of how her baby’s eyebrows and eyelids have already formed. I tell her that her baby is now 5 inches long and about 5 ounces. She can not help but smile.

I have been working with Jenna for over a year and a half. A pr*stitute and Tik (crystal meth) addict, she has already had her first child taken from her because she would beg with him on the street, rain or shine, for spare change for her drug habit. Unfortunately, she never heeded my pleas to get the contraceptive injection. The father of the baby is in prison for theft. Mom continues to drug and walk the streets at night.

Jenna dropped out of school in the 8th grade. She was never shown these pictures, she never had a sex-ed class. It is on the street, 10 feet from the gamblers, that I explain what sex really is. Yes, she is proud of the fact she can “operate with the men”, but she has no idea about the scientific/biological side of sex. So how would she know what an umbilical cord is? I explain in the simplest of words that “whatever Jenna eats, baby eats. Whatever Jenna smokes, baby smokes. Whatever Jenna drinks, baby drinks”. I can tell she is embarrassed, she puts her jacket hood over her head and stares at her feet. We both smell the Tik chemical seeping out from her pores.

I continue to encourage her to get registered at the local clinic for anti-natal check ups and the baby’s birth. She is overwhelmed, she doesn’t know where to begin the process. She asks me to help her book her first appointment and go with her. She is nervous, all of the nurses know who she is. They will scold her because at 5 months, this will be her first appointment. She is also nervous for the mandatory AIDS test. Right there on the street, I phone the clinic and book her an appointment. I’m also nervous, I’m nervous Jenna’s addiction will continue to rule her weekend and monday morning she will not pitch for her appointment. Jenna goes on to tell me how she wants to be a proper mom for this baby. She feels it’s going to be a girl. We dream about what this little “girl” will be doing in 1 yr, 5 yrs, 20 yrs. I tell her the first step to being a good mom is to make sure baby is healthy. 2 ways Jenna could make sure baby was healthy is by not using Tik and marijuana and going to the doctor appointment to get babies vitals checked.

Unfortunately, Jenna never went to her doctor appointment and I have not seen her since…

~By Nontando Mposo, Staff Reporter, Local SA news

He may not have been wrapped in swaddling cloths, but a baby boy found abandoned on the banks of Zandvlei has definitely had a biblical beginning – thanks to a good Samaritan.

The baby was found wrapped in black plastic bags among the reeds at Zandvlei last Tuesday.

Colin Linnegor, 54, was taking his two dogs for their usual afternoon walk at about 5pm when he saw a young woman squatting in the reeds.

She soon disappeared. One of Linnegor’s dogs went closer to sniff a black plastic bundle. Linnegor then heard cries coming from inside the bundle.

Initially shocked, he said he did not want to pick up the bundle at first, but eventually unwrapped it and found the newborn inside, with a towel wrapped around its face and its body wrapped tightly in black plastic bags.

Linnegor did not have his cellphone with him, so he asked a man who had been fishing nearby to phone the Muizenberg police. But after a 20-minute wait, he decided to walk home instead, where he fetched his car and took the baby to the False Bay Hospital.

They estimated that the baby was about six-days-old and aptly named him Moses.

Linnegor left the baby in their care, but returned to the hospital for a visit on Saturday and found him “eating away like crazy”.

And, according to the nursing staff at the hospital, baby Moses could soon be fostered. Two women, who are both interested in fostering him, went to court this morning and a decision on who will get him was expected sometime this afternoon.

~By Danielle

“I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden wealth of secret places, so that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.” -Isaiah 45:3

The day started like any other.  In the dark hours of the morning I came before my Father in prayer, lifting up my day and the many lives He might touch.  As I prayed, I began to ask for life over my clients, and over those women and children I had yet to meet who He might bring across my path through Baby Safe.  That their lives might be saved, that they would be delivered and transformed; not just “helped” but ransomed from darkness, redeemed and restored.

Why is it we’re surprised when the LORD answers our prayers?

I was on call that week, in the middle of a busy day of work and meetings when I got the call to meet a woman and her baby at the King of Kings Baptist Church where we have our safe.  I arrived to find an elderly Xhosa woman who we’ll call Noxolo, with a sweet 17 month old girl who turned out to be her granddaughter, who we’ll call Lungiswa.  As we sat in the back office Noxolo began to pour out her circumstances and ask for help.  Her daughter, Lungiswa’s mother, was living off-and-on the streets with no job, struggling with alcohol, and Lungiswa’s father was in prison.  Noxolo had become her granddaughter’s primary caregiver while continuing to provide for her own teenage son.  But recently, she’d lost her job and now the entire family was struggling just to eat.  As she ended her story she looked into my eyes and asked, “Will you take her?”

I was shocked.  Usually when a family comes to us for help placing their child is a last resort.  But as Noxolo sat before me she saw no hope, no help, no options.  So we agreed on a temporary plan where we could take her granddaughter for a period of 3 months while Baby Safe would help her try to get another job and make plans for Lungiswa’s longterm care, either with Noxolo or other family.  As we discussed plans it came out that she had another grand-baby, who she said was only weeks old and living wherever his mother chose to take him.  Her concern was great for this baby, as a previous grandchild had died, and with the mother’s current irresponsibility she feared he may as well.  Would we take this baby too?

Our Father has a sense of humor.  I could almost sense Him laughing as I and my teammates scrambled around making calls, plans and arrangements, figuring out immediate needs and potential longterm solutions.  “You wanted to change lives didn’t you?  Well, here’s a group of them!”  Miraculously we had two-and only two!-safety families able to take a child for an immediate placement over a prolonged period of time.  The following day Lungiswa was safely in the arms and home of some wonderful friends, playing with their own sweet boys.  During that time Bethany met with Noxolo to discuss her grand-baby and arrange a meeting with her daughter.

Miraculously, she showed up!  And the circle of influence only continued to expand after Bethany and I drove into Masiphumelele to meet with her.  Noxolo’s daughter, who we’ll call Patricia, was living temporarily in a friends shabeen (a bar run in their home).  As we chatted about her baby, her circumstances and alcoholism, she willing brought her little boy to us and asked for safe care for him, and help for herself to recover and work on a plan to enable her to work and care for her children herself!

And so our journey began.  It has been over a month now, and it is incredible to see the hand of the LORD in every circumstance.  So many times when struggling mothers place their babies, they continue in their previous cycles without any effort to change, and the struggle is huge.  But Patricia has shown amazing desire for change, taking initiative and rarely missing a meeting.  She has created a CV (resume’) and signed up for AA, while attending weekly meetings with both her children and their safety families.  Lungiswa is the resident princess and life of the party with her two temporary brothers and the family that welcomed her into their home and hearts.  Noxolo now has part time work, and continues to look for an even better job.  And Patricia’s precious baby boy grows in strength and health at the home of yet more friends to Baby Safe while continuing to bond with his mother during frequent visits.  It is amazing to see the recognition in one so small, and the connection the Father weaves between the hearts of a mother and child.

As we move forward I continue to pray for life, and I know the LORD answers!  I am praying for life and life abundant for Patricia, her children, and her mother Noxolo.  For reconciliation in relationships, release from addictions, provision of needs.  That Patricia would be empowered to be a strong, competent woman able to provide for and love her children, and that these children would grow up in love, freedom, and security.  I pray they all would arise and live in the destiny the Father has created them for, for they are the wealth of secret places, treasures hidden in darkness called forth into light!

*If you would like more information on becoming a safety family for Baby Safe in Cape Town, please contact Danielle at danielle@thebabysafe.org

Baby Safe was contacted in September to help a new mother who we will call Noxolo. She was in her mid twenties, and had fled from Johannesburg after a relationship she was in broke down. She had just given birth to twins, a girl and a boy, who were very premature, coming into the world at only 6 months. Suddenly she had found herself in Cape Town, homeless and struggling to cope with these new little babies who the hospital staff were saying didn’t have much chance.

Noxolo was adamant that they would survive and named her son Gift and her daughter Precious. The doctors were frank in their assessment; both of these twins would be lucky to survive the conditions which their early birth has given them in the over run public healthcare system.

With seemingly nowhere to go, and very little hope left, Baby Safe stepped in. We helped her think about how she could get through the christmas season and find a place to stay near the hospital so that she could continue to visit and nurse her twins. With no money, no family and no possibility of finding a job, the only option left to Noxolo was to find a place in a shelter.

We are often in contact with shelters, and spaces are hard to find with such large impoverished townships dotted all over the Cape Town area which create hundreds of desperate scenarios like this every day.
The Christmas season made it even less likely we would find a shelter that could take Noxolo but incredibly after only a few phone calls we had found a women’s shelter that was able to take her. An added bonus was that it was close enough for her to get the small minibus taxis to the hospital. To find a shelter so easily was a huge answer to prayer – It is very rare that shelters here take in girls immediately. Generally there is a long list of people waiting to get into them and they are always full. God had prepared a place for her.

Over the next few months staff members Rachel and Nomzamo would call her every few days, and visit her and the babies in the Intensive car unit, to support her and to intercede for her babies lives. I even went one day when most of our staff prayed for healing and a miracle. Little precious whimpered the whole time, she was so uncomfortable and mom was weary trying to hold her baby.

After a small operation Gift, her son made a huge recovery and became well enough that he was allowed to go to the shelter and stay with mom. Meanwhile Precious was making little sign of recovery and was moved to a specialist Red Cross children’s hospital. After a few weeks she seemed to be showing good signs when we visited, but after fuller assessments were made she was transferred to a local christian hospice called Nazareth House, the hospitals said there was nothing they could do.

The Nazareth Hospice was an incredible place. At first we were nervous at the thought of visiting a baby hospice as it had been so hard to see both mom and baby suffer. However Rachel was struck by the peace and joy that was so evident in the place. The nurses there were incredible with the children, some orphaned because of the illnesses they had and the disfigurements. But each one so beautifully nurtured and loved. Precious was the most peaceful we had ever seen her. She began to feed from a bottle for the first time and we even caught her smiling at her mom.

But only one day after this visit Noxolo was called to the Hospice and within the first few minutes, as she was holding Precious in her arms, she saw her go to be with Jesus. In the following minutes we were the first she called. As a heart broken mother poured out her tears over the phone, Rachel wept with her and shared in her pain. It was an immense privilege for Rachel & Nomzamo to spend these few months walking alongside Noxolo and Precious, discovering what it means to love as Jesus does.

On the day Precious died, to our surprise, Noxolo’s family (who she has had little to no contact or support from) arrived to grieve with her. Our team had been praying for this for weeks, in addition the day we came together to ask the Lord to take her due to her suffering, was the day before she went to be with Him.

1 Corinthians 15v54-55 says ” Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture with be fulfilled, death is swallowed up in the victory? O death where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

No longer does Precious suffer! She is fully in God’s presence. But please pray for Noxolo’s, a mom whose heart is breaking over the loss of a her Precious daughter.

“Sisterhood of Success” is a Baby Safe Job/Life Skills Training Program, in partnership with Living Way, that is being offered to some of the communities’ most down and out women – drug addicts, prostitutes, women with HIV, desperate mothers – all looking for REAL change and hope for an exciting future.

Graduation…incredible! We are so proud of the 14 women who, dressed in their Sunday best, graduated today. They completed Sisterhood of Excellence and Sisterhood of Value.

Many of these woman have never graduated from something or received a certificate. This was an exciting moment!

FUTURE BUSINESS OWNERS: Of these 14 women, 5 will go on to “Sisterhood of Dreams” and learn how to create a business plan, conduct market research, and start their own business with a micro-loan.
SOON-TO-BE EMPLOYEES: At the same time, we will continue to meet with the 9 women who are now actively seeking employment. With weekly support groups, we will empower them to look for jobs online, keep their resume/CV up-to-date, role-play for interviews and become accountable for applying for jobs.

We are excited to continue to meet with these women and do Discovery Bible Studies together!

~By Julie

We maneuvered past broken down shacks (made of scrap wood, tin and card board), growling dogs, and the local water spicket (used for hauling water to your shack and washing clothes)…as Alli and I followed Charity through the “wet lands” in Masiphumelele.

Smiling ear to ear, she was so proud to show us her first home – a little shack, furnished with a bed, table and stove. We brought gifts for this auspicious house warming… new dishes, some food and a framed picture of her Sisterhood of Success graduation. She laughed with glee as she hugged the framed photo – so excited to see the image of herself – holding up her graduation certificate!

We are so proud of her! As a Baby Safe client, Charity decided to keep her baby boy, now almost 1 year old, and just graduated from Sisterhood of Success. She is leading Bible studies with women in her community and is working hard to find a job and provide for her two small children. Last week she was in desperate need of housing, so she scoured her neighborhood looking for a shack to rent. Baby Safe has given her a small loan for her first 2 months of rent ($42 a month), while she looks for employment.

She told us, “I prayed to God that He would take care of me – when I moved in this weekend I didn’t have any blankets, pots, or food. I was so worried! But when I got here, the landlady said I could keep the blankets, pots and extra food. God heard my prayer! He is taking care of me!” Before we left, we prayed that God would bless her new little home and protect her precious family. We asked for God’s favor and blessing on her life.

We truly see God’s glory her!