Meet Loydi

Loyiso ("Loydi") is the precious 4 year old South African boy that we sponsor. We are so excited about him!! It was such a joy to receive our sponsorship packet in the mail and open it up to see this sweet face. :) Isn't he a cutie? He is from the Xhosa tribe and we are told that he comes from a family with 5 brothers and sisters and a momma. His family lives in the Motherwell area, an impoverished township with over 600,000 people. The unemployment rate there is over 75% and the typical home is small, with no indoor bathroom and unreliable electricity. I guess in a way, you could say that Loydi is "lucky" to have a mother, as over 1.2 million children are orphaned by aids. The statistics are so sad, South Africa is home to 5.4 million people living with HIV. There is a harsh stigma associated with this disease which makes life really hard for these children... so many of them have seen their parents die. On a happier note - Loydi loves chocolate and likes to play netball. :)


For only a dollar a day, this little guy gets food, clothing, medical care - and when he's old enough... it will help pay for him to go to school. Isn't that amazing and humbling? ONE DOLLAR/day. Makes me realize just how spoiled Americans are. Please pray for Loydi and his family. We are truly blessed by the ability to help them out in this simple way. If you would like to know more about how you can help a child, visit http://www.onelifechild.org/

What makes this so real to us is that our dear friends Dan and Kristi are missionaries there. What an honor it is to be able to call them friend. They are amazing, Godly servants. I can't even imagine living the life they live, but the best way I can say it is they are the hands and feet of Christ, they sincerely love these people. The stories that Kristi tells on her blog will touch you in such a way that you will be humbled and compelled to do something, anything to help. This week she told the story of a woman dying of aids (click link to go read it) that she ministered to. Everyone that knows me knows that I'm a somewhat emotional person, but this story really got me. I mean REALLY got me. I've known Kristi for many years and I've got to say that I am blown away by her ability to do what she does. It is truly amazing how God has transformed Kristi for HIS purpose. I'm talking about a girl that didn't like to go outside because she might get dirty or there might be bugs. Only the Lord can take a person such as this and make her passionate about living in a place where you check your bedding every night for insects. I remember when they first moved to S.A. - a little more than a year and a half ago and someone Kristi knew would die, or someone she knew had a child that died and her heart would be broken into a thousand pieces. She is certainly a mercy giver. I think she posted a while back that she had lost count how many she knew that are gone now and it was more than 25. That would be so hard, but most recently a man she knew whose health was actually improving had found out that he had cancer and then the worst - he passed away. My friend actually worried that maybe something was wrong with her because she accepted it and wasn't in a shambles over it. I shared with her that God was no doubt helping her to deal with death differently now, because it's a real part of the work that she does - she is useful in her ministry to these people and you must be strong to do a "job" like this. They also start up soup kitchens in the area and it's pretty neat - she has lots of info and photos on her blog about that too and I think you'll find it really interesting.

Well... I just wanted to share a little bit about Loydi and our friends and what is going on in that part of the world. I hope you'll click on one of the links above and take a look at Kristi's blog. I know you'll be blessed if you do. Please pray for Dan and Kristi... for safety and protection and the strength to do what they've been called to do there.

PEACE!
Jami