It has been a quiet couple of months for us at BG without our usual volunteers or outreach teams (well, as quiet as a campus with 75 children can be). As we continue to pray for worldwide resolution regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, we also look forward to the day we can have guests and visitors on campus again. In the meantime, our hearts are warmed as we reflect on past outreach teams and the blessings they bring to our lives and hearts. We hope you enjoy looking back with us through the following reflection from our friend, Sarah Munson, who served with our last outreach group in February.
In February my mum and I returned to Beautiful Gate for a week-long trip with a group of volunteers who had yet to experience BG. It is always so hard to describe to people who haven’t been to Beautiful Gate what an amazing place it is and I think everyone on our team would agree that until you have lived through a week at Beautiful Gate, you can never fully understand how much it will affect you. It is always very special to see a group of people come to understand and share the love that we feel for this incredible care centre. After having talked about the experience and the orphanage with them for so long before the trip, it was lovely for them to finally witness it for themselves and make their own connections with the children and staff. One member of the team summed it up perfectly, explaining that she never thought the kids would affect her the way they did.
It’s always very special for me and my mum to go back to Beautiful Gate, having visited several times before, and with me having spent five’ months there during my gap year. My heart feels so full seeing the children that I am always thinking about when I’m at home and I feel especially thankful when I learn about an adoption or successful reunification with a child as it is a true testament to the amazing work of Beautiful Gate and it deepens my faith and trust in a God who I know is always watching over Beautiful Gate.
Things always change a lot when we are away and we were excited this time to be able to meet the new Chaplin, Mike and his wife, Denise, who helped provide us with a warm welcome and traditional meal on our first night. Of course, it is always nice to catch up with old friends and we are forever thankful for the warm welcome always guaranteed by Lindiwe, Peter, Tyler and Emily, especially after we missed Lindi and Peter on our last visit. We were also blessed being able to see Jillian again, one of the long-term volunteers, as we had spent time with her previously during a short-term volunteer trip in July. It was quite special being able to see her at both the beginning and end of her BG journey and we hope to meet up with her when we eventually get a chance to visit everyone in Michigan.
A week always seems very short during a trip to BG but we managed to squeeze in some amazing memories as we always do. We enjoyed leading Chapel and acting out the ‘Feeding of the Five Thousand’ which seemed to go down well with the kids who ate up all the bread! We had lots of rain during the week but it didn’t stop us from having some great dance parties during playgroup and we especially enjoyed Mme Agatha showing us her moves to the Cha Cha Slide, and doing the Kids Bop Cupid Shuffle with the children – a song which was played regularly in the car during our trip. It’s always hard saying goodbye, and as much as we hope to be back next year everything has become very uncertain recently. However, we can rest assured in our faith and knowledge that Beautiful Gate is providing love and hope for so many amazing kids.
Since being home, my family and I have been trying to find new ways to support Beautiful Gate. Now we are in lockdown, fundraising has become slightly harder, but this just means finding more creative ways to raise money. In our house at the moment, we have created a swear pot for my dad which so far has raised over £50! Lockdown has given many people time to reflect and consider what is really important in life. For us as a family, we have really appreciated this time together and we know that God remains in control but what has become particularly clear to us is that we should be living more simply so others can simply live. Times like this really make you appreciate family and friends and we know that Beautiful Gate will be forever part of our family.