Sunday afternoon Tim receives a text message from a friend that says an infant is in need of rescuing. After prayer and discussion, we call back to say that we will go and investigate the situation. Monday afternoon Tim and his friend head to the village of Bafot to see how bad the situation is. When they arrive at the families house they find a 2 room mud block home (one room is for the indoor kitchen, the other room is where 4 adults and one infant live). The infants mother is mentally and physically impaired and unable to care for the baby, the grandfather is legally blind and the only other adult at the home during the day. Tim sits down and talks with the family and the decision is made to rescue the infant (we try and work with families to keep the children there but sometimes the children need to be rescued). We have the family sign papers that they give the children to us (GTS/HFF) and can not take them back (the child can return on their own after they turn 18 if they desire but they can't be forced by the family to go back to the village). We also want the paperwork to be witnessed and signed by the village Fon and/or the government people. In this case the Quarterhead came by to sign the paperwork. This time the Uncles asked if they could come by the Born's home to see where the baby would be going. So they all traveled back to Tim's home with the baby. We then sat with the family and talked with them some more before we gave them some money for gas to travel back to their village.

So now we have Daniel who was 6 days old when he came to stay in our home until he is strong enough to stay in the village at GTS. We also have started looking for someone who can help care for him and help Constance with the food prep etc...

Here are some pictures of Daniels village home and family.

the 2 room mudblock home (left is kitchen)                                  the toilet

Granfather with Daniel                                          Tim during family meeting

Mother: she couldn't care for/hold baby                                       Quarterhead signing paperwork

Daniel getting settled in                                                                   Much happier now: well fed and warm

We love what we do here in Cameroon! Even though sleep will be rare for a couple of months it is well worth it.

Blessings -- Sara Born

What a blessing to be able to share the most important gift a person could ever be given....Jesus with the children. God gave His one and only Son to mankind to save us from sin. As Pastor Tim pointed out to the children at church...."What is the one thing you need to remember about Christmas?"..."That God loves me". (each one of us individually is the reason that God gave the gift of His Son Jesus). What an amazing love He has and what a gift He gave to us.

After the church time we traveled back to the GTS property and had a time of gifts (just small things...an apple, an orange, some candied peanuts, some candy, cookies that Mami Sara baked, a small bottle of soda and a book or a study Bible). The study Bible were given to 14 of the children and are beautiful. There are Bible covers with their names, full names on the Bibles. It is a nice NIV version study Bible. Next week we will have lessons on how to use the study portions. The children were so excited! There are supporters of the Borns who have started a tradition of providing for all of the children who are 10 years old with a good study Bible. A Bible study group gets together to provide these...no small expense. It is quite a feat to get them done and onto a container to get them here in time for Christmas. These were put onto the container at the end of July and we finally got them to Bamenda just a couple of days before Christmas.....whew....what a wonderful minstry to these children!

After gift time we played some games while the meal finished preparing. They butchered a pig and made stew for over rice, a big cabbage salad, watermelon, bread and special drinks. The Borns brought homemade hot chocolate mix and marshmallows for the evening. It was quite a feast! All in all it was a wonderful 1st Christmas for GTS and the HFF ministry. Thank you to all who made this special time possible!!

Gifts all loaded up and ready to delier                                            GTS children with their new study Bibles

more pictures loaded into photo album

Always fun to decorate the orphanage and get it ready for Christmas. I added a couple of new photo albums with the Christmas pictures for GTS. Merry Christmas to everyone. Hoping it is filled with the Lord's peace and joy. For all who have suffered loss we pray for you to know the love of the Father and will know that He is embracing you and comforthing you during this holiday season.

Blessings -- Sara Born

Cut down a tree                                                                             The boys wanted their own tree.....love it!

Noella (our newest rescue headed up the path of her home in the village to greet us)

As with all sponsorships there are flucuations in giving. Right now we have 19 children. We have 8 children who have regular monthly sponsors.  So...we need 11 more regular monthly sponsors in order for GTS to be fully funded. We have people who give several months at a time or want to give through their churches that's great! But, if you give through your church make sure to indicate that it is for a GTS orphan and let us know if you want to receive a letter from your child 3 times a year. If you do we will need your contact information so we can assign you a child. Full sponsorship is $60 a month. Any amount you can help with....full/partial sponsorship, special gifts are all greatly appreciated and are very helpful.

Thank you to all who currently sponsor children and/or have given special gifts.

Blessings!! -- Sara Born

The sending organization (CTEN) of the founders (Tim and Sara Born) received funding that was made available to their missionaries for projects to be used to further their ministries. $5000 would be granted every month for 2014 for this purpose. Applications were to be submitted for the various projects which would be voted on by an independant board.

One of our goals and vision for Grace Tait Shelter (GTS) is for it to become much more self reliant. If, for whatever reason, the monies from the U.S. were to stop or be greatly reduced we want this ministry to be able to continue to minister to these orphans. With this in mind we submitted applications for 3 projects. We are beyond excited that all 3 of these grants were approved.

1). $1100 which we are using to put in solar lights.

         - this will greatly reduce the expenditure we have for gas for the generator

         - this will provide lights for the children to study by in the evenings

2). $1400 which will be used to put up a fence around the property

        - this will keep the cattle from trampling newly planted trees and out of the gardens

        - a portion will also be used to plant new trees for fire wood and fruit

        - another portion will be used to create a composting area to produce some of our own fertilzer

3). $1677 which will be used for various animal husbandry projects

        - this will help GTS to produce some of their own food so that we can make the monies that come in go further

We are so grateful for these grants and are looking forward to completing these projects.

God is a faithful God.....He is moving this orphanage closer and closer to full restoration!

In His Service -- Sara