“He defended the cause of the afflicted and needy; Then all was well. Is that not what it means to know Me?” Says the Lord. Jeremiah 22:16
I love that we are put in a position every day to get to know the Lord even deeper in this way. One of our programs with Iris Social (our prevention strategy to keep children in their biological families) is our baby milk program. This is for families that have newborns up to two years old that either the mother has died or is unable to provide breastmilk due to illness. These families cannot afford baby formula, and the babies are at risk to be left dangerously malnourished or placed into a center.
Our medical team sets up a bi-weekly appointment for the families to come and receive care, encouragement, and resources. Every baby receives the amount of formula milk or nutritional cereal according to their age. Our team then takes time to provide a medical consult, prescribe needed medications, and take their measurements to make sure they are growing and developing appropriately. For certain families, we have helped with additional resources such as providing diapers or additional nutrition support.
This year our team has the privilege of serving fifteen babies, several of which are twin or triplet sets. One of the triplet sets were born prematurely and their health was severely fragile. Through the program we have been able to track their progress and they are growing beautifully. Another mother came to us with her two-year-old twins. Technically, they were already too old for our program, but they were in a desperate situation. The mother begs on the streets with them all day long in the hot sun. They were not living in healthy conditions and were both sick and malnourished. The mother herself was underweight and not in good health. We have been able to assist them with additional resources such as buying vegetables and other nutritious foods and teaching the mother and grandmother how to prepare it for the children. Our team has noticed a significant difference in just a few short months. The toddlers used to cry all the time, but now they are healthier, have gained weight, and laugh and play like normal children. The mother herself has gained weight and is taking better care of herself. It is amazing what hope and a little help can do. We look forward to continuing to follow up with these families to see how they are progressing.
The Lord Himself has defended the cause and taken care of these fifteen precious little ones. It is all becoming well before our very eyes like Jeremiah said. What a beautiful thing to get to know Him in this!