Guest Post: The Best Possible Home Now

When asked about accepting a referral from an orphanage that was a plane ride away plus another 17 hour car ride from the countries capital, we were extremely skeptical to say the least. It wasn't until after we heard a great sermon on faith and putting your faith and trust in God and taking that leap of faith when called to do so that we left church knowing that we had gotten our answer. 

We decided to proceed with getting a referral and accepted one for a precious 8 month old baby boy named DJemba-Michel. When we received the picture of him we knew that he was the one, he was just the perfect fit for our family. Everyday we prayed for him and grew to love a child so very much that all we had was a single picture. 

It all came crashing down with a call last Monday. When we got on the call the director, I mouthed to my husband it's DJemba - he's sick or else they are shutting down the orphanage and the referral will no longer be there for him. Then the words came..."your child has passed away". It felt like a ton of bricks had hit our chest. Oh no, not our baby. We prayed about it and we just knew he was ours and we would be able to bring him home one day. It was told to us that dysentery had hit the orphanage/community and 31 out of 52 children had passed away. We were also told that the medical staff had been on strike which kept the children from receiving the proper care and medicine they needed. Having a biological child with special medical needs we know the importance of proper medical attention and know that it is fluids and medicine that keep him alive when he is sick. Who knew a simple shot or proper medical attention was the difference in our baby boy, DJemba staying alive as well. 

We take so much for granted, who would have every thought unclean water could claim a child's life. This is truly a crisis and attention needs to be brought to this matter. Innocent people are dying everyday from not having access to clean water. I know that we can't help everyone but together we can rally together and help a few. 

DJemba will always have a special place in our hearts, but like my husband said after we got off the phone and we were weeping, he is in the best home possible now. A home where sickness and disease doesn't exist. We can't wait until we are reunited with him in heaven and this precious boy can come running to us with open arms shouting, "Mama" and "Daddy", words that we long to be heard just once.

-Johannah Wynn, Adoptive Mother