 Family, Where do I begin….. It has been too long since we have sent an update, (as usual!) and there is so much going on. Lots of exciting things, lots of growth in various ways, some pretty tough days as we battled Mother Nature, and some heart break on multiple fronts. Read on….. We had shared in the last newsletter that we are building a Life Center and Life Lodges to expand what the ministry can do. The construction is coming along well, and we anticipate it being finished by the end of July. It will take a bit longer to get all the landscaping done, but we are pleased with the progress. Especially considering some pretty tough hurdles we had to overcome.
 We were blessed to have multiple teams come to serve with us during the past few months as well. After the stormy season there was a lot of clean up to be done as well as lots of babies to care for. Teams that consisted of Board Members, new and old partnering churches, medical personnel, and more lent a hand and made a huge difference for the ministry overall. God knew we would need lots of helping hands during this time, and He certainly provided them!  It was much more than the weather and building project that kept us busy during this time as well. Since Jan 1, we have rescued 16 little ones, had 13 adopted, and reintegrated 4 with family. Our total rescues since we started 11 years ago is now at 342, with 203 placed in Forever Families. We continue to be amazed at how God protects these little ones when they are abandoned in some pretty awful places. Babies being thrown onto trash heaps or dropped into a pit latrine is far too common.  And while we would love for all these little ones to be cared for by their biological families, sometimes it is tough to return them. We have reintegrated 80 little ones back to bio family. In most cases a grandmother comes forward. That in itself can reveal a heart-breaking insight into this culture. Our last reintegration was to a grandmother who was already caring for five other grandkids because her three daughters would not care for them. Four little ones were returned to extended family in the past few months. Our policy is that whomever the caregiver will be, typically the grandmother, they are required to come and stay at MpM for at least a couple days to be trained and allow the little one to bond with them.  Sometimes we feel very good about one being reunited with family. But sometimes we have cases like Diana Robyn that we have a gut feeling that makes is hard to let them go. When we are ordered by the court to return a baby to bio family we have no choice. Often, we argue against the decision, but normally the best we can do is get the court to require the Children’s Dept to follow up with them. Robyn’s grandmother came to be trained and bond. And in this case, the mother who attempted to kill her as a newborn was also allowed to come along. They spent two days learning how to care for her, and for Robyn to get to know them. Our medical team checked her out the day before they left and found nothing wrong with her. But two days after they exited, we got a call that Robyn had passed away suddenly. We have no idea what happened, and never will. The calls for an autopsy to be done were ignored. All we can do is cling to the knowledge that God loves Robyn more than we did, and she is now resting safely in the arms of Jesus.  For the Bells, it has been a time of mixed emotions.
Some of you know that in September last year the High Court of Kenya approved our adoption of Shaddy. We were overjoyed and were ready to celebrate. (For those of you who did not know, sorry, but we have tried to keep it off the radar due to the political friction around adoption here.) But…….. The next step after getting the court order is to obtain an Adoption Certificate from another branch of the government. And that is where our joy over the adoption was dampened a bit. They refused to issue the certificate since in their minds the moratorium against International Adoption was still in effect. We have now been waiting months for them to make a decision. In the meantime, we decided to approach the US Embassy again to try and get Shaddy a medical visa so we could travel back this summer. And sadly, without an explanation why, that application was rejected again. So, what that means for the Bells is that we will not be coming back this summer as we had hoped. This is a very disappointing situation for us as it has now been two years since Jen or Shaddy came back to see family. And in general, our family really needed the time back, as well as Shaddy needing to get back for medical testing. We continue to try and get some resolution and answers from the US Embassy, but like most governmental agencies, it is tough to talk to a “live” person. We also remain hopeful that the Kenyan Govt will decide to lift the moratorium and permit the finalization of the adoption. Until then, we will continue to press on and trust God that He has it all under control. The Bell family will be taking some type of vacation in the coming weeks as we really need a breather for our health and sanity. Ethan, Selah, and Shaddy really looked forward to seeing friends and family this summer, and we are praying that things will work out for us to travel later this year, but again, that is in God’s Hands right now. They are just finishing up the school year, Ethan and Selah will be going into 9th grade, and Shaddy into 3rd grade. Time is flying by! We do want to thank you for being a part of the MpM family and look forward to the time we can meet face to face. Despite us not coming back this summer, we want to invite you to take part in our two events to support MpM. The 6th Annual MpM Golf outing is on July 13 at New Castle, IN. For more information email Amanda Norris at [email protected] Then on August 24 is the 4th Annual Sporting Clay Shoot at Warsaw, IN. For more info on this event email Cory Witmer at [email protected] Thanks again for your continued prayers and support. Remaining safely in His Grip, Dave, Jen, Ethan, Selah, and Shaddy Bell Comments are closed.
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