Sweet Miss Tracy

Anyone who has ever meet Tracy, always says the same things:

“She’s beautiful!”

“Her story makes me cry.”

“What can we do to help her?”

The first two are absolutely correct. The third one:  you can read the rest of this blog to find out how.

Tracy was severely burned on the top of her head by her mother when she was about two years old.  Her mother would scrap the burns on her head raw and walk the streets, begging for money, using Tracy’s burns to gain people’s sympathy.  Her mother never used any money she got on Tracy or Tracy’s medical needs.  Even with the financial offer of help of a fellow missionary who was here in Kitale for over one year, Tracy’s mom, just wanted money.

Tracy eventually left that home and came to In Step.

Tracy got a skin graft done on her head shortly after coming to In Step. Unfortunately the graft didn’t stick and last year, it opened up and became a gaping hole in her head, which got infected and bigger as time went on.

Tracy's head at its worst

In November, In Step had arranged for Tracy to go Kijabe’s (a town outside of Nairobi) Cure Kids Hospital to see a doctor there about getting a skin graft done to cover this hole on her head.

The surgery was done and PRAISE our FATHER....the graft stuck and has completely healed. 

Tracy's head AFTER the skin graft

But this isn’t the end of the road for Tracy as there is still more work to be done.

As per Carla’s note:

The first of February, Tracy and Hoglah (our social worker) will move to Kijabe for a minimum of three months.  Tracy will be admitted into hospital for a surgical procedure to insert a balloon type device under her scalp.  After the initial recovery period, she and Hoglah will move into a local guest house, which will be their temporary home.

Once a week, Tracy will return to the hospital where the doctor will, little by little each week, fill the balloon with water.  As the balloon slowly expands, so will the skin on Tracy’s head.  After several weeks, the skin should be stretched out enough to be able to go back into surgery to kind of redistribute the skin to properly cover the scalp with healthy skin.  The hope is that this procedure will eliminate the need for Tracy to have multiple skin grafts throughout her life!

There is an urgency to start this procedure right away, while Tracy’s head is infection free and there are no open wounds!  The skin graft is very fragile!  All it would take to break loose would be another growth spurt or Tracy constantly scratching one itchy spot on her head!  We need to move forward while the graft is intact and Tracy’s scalp is completely closed and free of infection.

They are scheduled to leave for Kijabe on February 15^th to begin this process.

And this is where we need your help.

We are estimating that the total cost is going to be around $3,000.  This is $2,000 for the medical care for Tracy and $1,000 for food, lodging, transportation to/from the hospital and any additional necessities. 

We do not have extra money in our budget for something of this expense.

So, can you help Tracy?  Yes you can!

If you would like to donate toward Tracy’s surgery, follow the below options (based on Canada or the United States):

CANADA

Please send cheques to:

In Step Children’s Home

301 King Street East

Mount Albert ON

L0G 1M0

Please make cheques payable to “ASSISTS PROJECTS”.  In the memo line write: “In Step – Surgeries”.

UNITED STATES

Please send checks to:

Rehema Ministries

1117 3^rd Street

Anacortes WA

98221

Please make checks payable to “REHEMA MINISTRIES”.  In the memo line, write: “Surgeries”.

Or for online donations, click on the below link and go toward the middle of the page:

http://www.rehemainstep.com/getting-involved/donations-sponsorships/

Thank you everyone for your support.  We can’t even thank you enough.

Much Love,
Meredith

Personal Update from the Stewarts

From the day Sean and I knew that we were in love, wanting to get married, then got married (almost four years ago), we knew that we wanted to have a family. 

We got married when I was 32 and Sean was 35 so we had already decided that we would try for a family right away. Two years went past, no baby.  The day before my 35^th birthday, I had a miscarriage.  Heartbroken doesn’t even begin to describe how we felt.

Our hearts desire has always been to have children. It’s been my desire since I was six years old and got to watch the birth of my sister in the front seat of my dad’s Mercury LN7. I was in the back seat (well, actually the luggage compartment) with my three year old brother and six month old cousin.  It was absolutely AMAZING (maybe not for my parents at that particular moment) and I couldn’t wait to be a mommy some day.

It just may not be the way we always thought it would be...

Over the past six to seven months, Sean and I have been really praying to God as to what His steps are for us.  We kept quiet about it for awhile, just for us to really seek the Lord, asking Him to open and close doors so that we could see His path.

A few months ago, I did some research and found that what we were praying about was possible and a bit easier than what we thought.  So we then brought it to our families to pray with us about it.

And so....

On Monday, January 14^th, 2013, Sean and I visited an adoption agency in and have begun the paperwork to adopt a sweet baby boy or girl from Kenya.

Because we have lived in Kenya for a minimum of three years, we are eligible to adopt a baby as Kenyan residents and not as an international adoption.  We still have quite a bit of paperwork but not nearly as much as an international adoption does.  We still have a fee to pay but again, not nearly as much as an international adoption.

We were over the moon excited that we could proceed this way (and the child would also become a Canadian citizen). We shared it with a few close friends/advisors and asked for prayers from them.

Without even asking, soliciting, anything, we had great friends of ours say that they would like to help us pay for the adoption fee.  And in fact, they are paying for the whole fee. We have other friends, who told us that they too, would like to help pay for what is needed. 

We had found a lawyer in our area that has fees for adoption but they are quite expensive so we talked to the adoption agency about it. They are passing on some contacts of lawyers for us that will be at least half the cost of the lawyer we know about here.

I am continually in awe of my Father and how He takes care of us.

We have our eyes and our ears open to the struggles too.  We are not going into this blindly. We know that my IMpatience of the slowness of the adoption process and all the paperwork needing to be completed will flare up from time to time.  But my impatience stems from just wanting to see and hold our sweet baby for the very first time. 

But all good things come to those who wait.....

(at least that’s what the Heinz Ketchup commercials would say...)

So won’t you join us in prayer and in this journey?

Prayer Requests:

1.       All paperwork can be done in a quick manner. We are aiming to have everything complete by early March.

2.       The adoption will be approved right away and not deferred or rejected.

3.       Those who are skeptical or afraid of adoption will learn from our walk that it’s not based on blood, genes or skin color but of God’s amazing love. Love is love.

Thank you to those who have offered amazing encouragement and love to Sean and me so far. We can’t thank you enough. Keep ‘em coming!

Stay tuned...

Much Love,

Meredith