December 15th, 2023
Sing along with me… “I’ll be home for Christmas, You can count on me…”
Our Christmas Photo of the year! Wishing you a Merry Christmas.
Eleven babies went home while we were in the States for a couple of months. Four of them were adoptions of abandoned babies. Just in time for Christmas I would think! It’s what we do best at Neema Village, putting families back together.
Quite a moving story, Kim writes: “About a year ago I began purposely praying for a family for our sweet, quite shy Anna. At 4 years old she is our oldest girl at Neema Village. We try our best to get the babies adopted by age two. For some reason Anna was just not being chosen, maybe because she was shy. Wednesday my prayers were answered.
Anna’s new mother told me an interesting story. She has two sons and wanted to adopt a daughter. She tried to adopt at several centers in southern Tanzania but they were poorly managed, paperwork was lost and the adoptions failed. She became discouraged that she would ever be able to find her daughter. Until she came to Neema Village! She had always said she would name her daughter Anna after her late mother. Then in walked our Anna girl and she knew why all the other adoptions had failed, there was her daughter. As I held Anna in my arms I told her, through my happy tears, that I loved her and I wanted her to keep Jesus in her heart always. Her new mother heard me and said her new brothers will sing songs about Jesus to her everyday. God’s timing is always perfect.” And a perfect ending too, Kim.
Naleku was one of a set of triplets born out in a Maasai village on Nov 20, 2022. We have lost count of how many triplets we have cared for, over twenty sets I’m sure. It’s the sweet potatoes! The Maasai triplet girls were very tiny and a friend brought the mom with the three little ones to Neema Village. We agreed to keep the two smallest for a few months and mom took the biggest triplet home. Mom came every month to check on the two little girls she had left with us. Nembris went home first but Naleku needed a few more months of Neema care. Finally she was strong enough to go home. Now together again!!
Jolly little Nickolaus was last year’s Christmas baby. In December 2022 his mom just walked out of the hospital and left him. This year for Christmas he has a new family. It doesn’t get much better than this.
Nicky was another one of our Kangaroo babies, he weighed 1.7kg and had to live under the nannies t-shirts for about a month to keep him warm. Adoptions are always warm and cosy at Neema Village.
With her little rosebud mouth Afsa was such a pretty baby. Her mother had some major health issues when the baby was born and could not care for the baby so social welfare brought her to Neema Village. Mom was faithful to visit Afsa and after the mother ‘s health improved Angel decided it was time for Afsa to return home. Happy baby, Happy momma.
Neema’s babies who cannot return home for one reason or another and are not adoptable are enrolled in our Neema Village Foster Care program. Most of them are placed with our nannies in their own homes who cared for these babies when they first came to Neema and know and love them. We have 19 babies living in our Foster care program with Neema nannies. Priscilla, our Office Manager, fell in love with these little twin girls, Naleku and Nosiligi as newborns. They were Emily Broadbent’s special babies, too. The girls would toddle into Priscilla’s office almost every morning to help her do some paper work, mostly wadding and tearing it up. When it came time for the girls to go into the Foster care program Priscilla stepped up. Quite a job for her but Priscilla is always up to the task.
Nosiligi and Naleku growing big and strong with lots of love from Priscilla who is teaching them all about the Wonderful Love of Jesus.
Abandoned baby Godlove, brought to Neema by the Police, was able to return to his mother after a few months at Neema. It appears the father had done the abandoning and mother had not know where her baby was. Social Welfare is always good at getting to the bottom of the story for these little ones.
Big girl Maria loving our little Bush Baby Bruce who was abandoned as a newborn in the bushes near a local village. The nannies named him Bruce after Bruce White, Kim’s husband. He was adopted while we were in the States and Praise God he will never be a Bush Baby again!!
Delvis was abandoned on the streets with a wrenched shoulder. He was in a lot of pain when he first came in and did not respond to his name until Ali Maddox called him Clarence so he became Clarence Delvis and we all fell in love with this little guy.
 This little sweetheart, Lisa was able to return home to her grandmother. Thank God for Grandmothers in this country! |
 Cutie Pie Nelson’s mother died at his birth but his father and an Auntie decided they could keep him. |
Let’s make 2024 your year to enter these gates in Tanzania, East AFrica!
Come for two weeks and see if you don’t fall in love with a different kind of mission work while you show the love of Jesus to the 63 babies still living at Neema Village today.
Come on, We’ll leave the light on!
Michael and Dorris