My time here at Cradle of Love has come to an end...

Oh goodness, i dont know where to begin...im actually starting to cry right now as i write to you how sad i am about leaving this beautiful baby home that has been my home for 3 months...today, we have been cleaning up the apartment and packing up. It has been so sad, but we are all confident that we will be back to see all these precious babies and the loving nanny's!!!
i mean, i really dont know how to describe this experience ive had...my life has forever been changed by this place, the baby home and Africa in general...the people have touched my heart, the children have loved me, and i have seen a different culture that ive forever been blessed to live in these past few months...i have to praise God for this opportunity, all the safe travels, His presence, His faithfulness, His comfort and peace at times that i most needed both:) He also drew me to Himself here in a way that i cant describe really...He has opened my eyes to see a part of the world that is poor, but yet, so rich with His presence...He is close to the broken, i have no doubt...He is so amazing and i feel overwhelmed with blessings right now...God is good.
I have to say playing with the babies yesterday was so special because i guess i know im leaving and i just looked at them differently...i really looked at them and had so much joy loving them, as i have everyday...i had quality time with my Joshua, nickname Bubba, that was so sweet, he just sat on my lap for over an hour, we just laughed, hugged, giggled, and loved each other...i also had time to spend with Maria, nickname Big Maria, that was so fun! She is just so funny, reckless, silly, and really disobedient at times, but i just ADORE her...i had memorable times with all of them the past few weeks, but just yesterday was special!!
i will never forget stepping outside of our apartment frontdoor and looking down to the most beautiful babies ive ever seen and having them just scream with delight that we were coming down to play...it is a blessing to work here and to love and be loved!
i could go on forever about each baby, so, if you want to see each of them and know all about them, i will be more then happy to show and tell you hahahaha...i love them!
I want to also thank you all so much for all your prayers, encouragement, and love sent from all of you to way out here in Africa! Thank you for supporting me to come here financially, it was an opportunity of a lifetime and im forever thankful!
ok, before i have a breakdown, i must end this post, but this is what im up to now...we leave tomorrow morning to go stay with friends until the 4 of us will split up and go different directions. Heath and i leave for Kigali, Rwanda Oct. 24th till Nov. 7th and then i will get on a plane to come home on November 13th!!!
tonite, we all go to a going away party for our friend Patty, but before we leave, we will all go downstairs in about an hour to give many kisses, hugs, and love to our babies of Cradle of Love! We will kiss them goodnite at 7pm and say "Lala Salama angels", which means goodnite in Swahili, and try not to soak them with my tears...
i love yall, i cant wait to see each of you, and again, thank you for everything, Much love, hal...hopefully, i will be able to write one last blog after Rwanda and put pictures up, ive been so bad about that, i apologize...much much love to you all!!!

My heart was beating so fast...

This morning, we pulled up to a hut made of mud and sticks, filthy children crowded around, women cooking, and a 90 year old woman desperately wanting to give her grandchildren a good life when she leaves this world.
This is the experience i had just a few hours ago. I have a new friend named Meredith from Ohio. She has been in the adopting process for over a year now and her dreams of getting a Tanzanian baby are coming true. She will go to the delivery room Monday morning to get her baby from a woman who wants to give her baby a wonderful life. Meredith is thrilled beyond words! The mother, Stella, and her husband want the best for their child and they know they cant give their baby that since they both have AIDS, no job, and no money.
Well, today Meredith had to take another little girl Helena, who is from Cradle of Love, who she wants to adopt as well to get tested for the HIV virus again because we think the results were not very accurate. Also, Meredith wanted to get these 2 other children tested for AIDS because she told the grandmother she would help out with finding them a home or orphanage before she passes away.
So, we went to see a woman of 90 years old with 2 grandchildren and no parents or relatives we know alive. In the car to the clinic is Heath, Meredith, Helena, Emmanuel, Opportune, Odou, and me.
First, we got Helena dressed here at Cradle of Love and took off to the home of the grandmother. We pulled up and got out to greet the family and friends around with hugs and kisses. We piled everyone in the car and rushed to the clinic. We were testing Emmanuel (6 year old boy), Opportune(3 year old girl), and baby Helena(4 months old).
They are the most beautiful children ive seen!! Ofcourse, i say that alot these days:) but, really, they are gorgeous and there is something SO special about Emmanuel, they call him Ema!
He is gentle and has a quiet spirit. He is a precious little boy who smiles like an angel! He is so kind and respectful, a little man of few words, but so pleasant to be around! I got to have him ride in my lap as we took them to get their blood drawn and he held my hand the whole way. It was so such a special time for me!
Ok, so, i must say, my heart was pounding as i sat there in the clinic room with 3 children waiting to see what their future may hold by one test result. I was freaking out, praying in my head, tears right behind my eyelids and at any moment would come streaming down my face. Emmanuel was sitting on my lap as they pricked his little finger. It was terrible to watch, but i just kept praying, "God, i pray that this little boy does not have the virus!" I just kept praying over and over again in my head. I also found myself doing that for Opportune and Helena as well!! Both of the little girls just cried so hard. Opportune was sitting on Heath's lap while they drew blood. Oh, it broke my heart!!! Sweet baby Helena didnt like it at all either, can you blame her, i still get a bit nervous when i get my finger pricked!!! It was so sad, the pain of watching, but more so, the results that may hold little hope for these 3 precious babies!!
As we waited in the lobby of this clinic for the results, there were people all around and babies getting tested for all sorts of things. We were all pretty quiet just waiting to hear what the test results would be. The doctor called back Meredith to talk with her. We sat there waiting anxiously. I saw her come out of the office and perked up a bit. She came to say that both Emmanuel and Opportune were NEGATIVE!!! Oh, it was such a wonderful, priceless, and joyful moment in time!!! I was so happy my eyes started to water. Ofcourse, both the children had no idea why we were all hugging them and smiling and crying, they just sat their smiling too:)
Meredith said that baby Helena is still testing positive, but that the doctor said she is too young to really know for sure whether she is HIV positive until she gets to be more like 10 months. So, we will keep praying!! The doctor said she seems very healthy and not showing any signs of the virus yet that he has seen. So, there is HOPE!
Lord, thank you for children! Thank you that they are beams of light for us to watch and love on and to enjoy even holding their hands! I thank you so so so much for the lives of Emmanuel, Opportune, and Helena. They are just precious in your sight and ours. I ask for a bright and wonderful future in store for all 3 of them!! I thank you for the negative results for both Ema and Opportune and I continue to ask for baby Helena to also not contract the Virus. I pray for miracles done by your hands, for hope, and to find joy in you alone when this world seems so hopeless and terribly sad at times. Amen.
Many blessings to you all, LOVE Hallie

This is Africa...

SOOOO, let me begin with our apartment flooded one inch, thankfully no computers or cameras were destroyed...immigration wants like 12 things of paperwork from us, and we are now filling in for 3 nannys on maternity leave!!
ahhhhhhh...things just are overwhelming right now, but we all thought chocolate chip cookies would ease the pain, so, we got to work on that last nite, in the dark, no electricity, which happens WAY too often:) and it was hilarious!!! Christy and Heath were measuring out all the ingredients for the cookies while i did dishes by candle-light...it was a nite to remember!!!
i must say, the babies were so funny last nite!! they all get a snack at 6:30pm before bed to keep their tummies full till morning and last nite they got boiled eggs. i was holding little Neema in my lap as she devoured her egg and got half of it on me, which the smell was very overwhelming hahahaha...but, they were just loving life running around chasing one of our nannys around and giggling...i just watch them! they are so funny to just stare at and try to think, what is going on in their little minds. i only wish i could take them all home with me and raise them to be Georgia fans hahahaha!!!
well, i will be leaving Cradle of Love on October 24th to head to Kigali, Rwanda for 2 weeks. I'm thrilled about this trip and cant wait to explore this country!! i will be visiting orphanages and schools around the city. i ask you to pray for safe traveling for Heath and me. Also, Christy and Steph will be headed to South Africa for adventures of their own. So, the four of us will split, which is so sad because we all have really loved being together and are used to 4 not 2!! so, pray pray pray for all of us, thank you!!!!!
I will keep updating my adventures here in Africa and i miss yall so much, thank you for reading, MUCH LOVE, Hal

Happy Birthday Babies!!!

We had a birthday party for 4 of our babies last week and it was quite entertaining to say the very leastl!!! The babies turning one were Hope, Lazaro, Michael, and Brian. They are PRECIOUS, and ofcourse, I don't have pictures, but Stephaine does and I will get them from her and post them!!
So, Stephaine and Katie(a girl volunteering who just moved into the apartment from Portland, Oregon) went to Davona's to make a cake for the party, it was an amazing cake with white icing and sprinkles, a huge treat for our babies and us too!!
We lined up the 4 babies at the table in chairs, took pictures, sang Happy Birthday, we all kept smiling at them like they were ours, and ofcourse they had NO idea what was going on or why they were getting SO much attention. The only birthday girl, Hope, started to freak out and cry, which was sad, but kind of funny too.
All the toddlers were crowded around the table staring at this magnificent, yummy, foreign dessert that they had never seen before. We blew out the candles for the babies and started cutting into it. As we started to pass out pieces of cake, you could look at the faces of all the toddlers and they were LOVING this sugary goodness!! I mean, they went to town on this cake. They all started sticking their little fingers in the cake, so, we let em just destroy it! It was hilarious! Their faces, hands, arms, clothes, and even hair were covered in icing! We had one baby, Reuben, who was laid out in his high chair in a total sugar coma. Another little toddler, Neema, who actually threw-up twice all over the floor and all over Christy. We all felt bad, but couldn't stop laughing at the whole situation!!!
It was a throw down birthday party!!! A success!! It was a blessing to watch all the kids so excited about the party!!
After much cleaning up and half the cake crumbled on the floor, we all went upstairs to the apartment to clean-up from the birthday bash!!!
It was a wonderful night filled with huge smiles, icing covered t-shirts, and thanking God for the lives of 4 beautiful babies born on that day!!! Happy Birthday Hope, Lazaro, Michael, and Brian! Best birthday party I've ever been to...Much love to you all and many, many, many thanks for prayers and encouraging emails while I'm here in Africa!!! Love Hallie

A long, bumpy road I will never forget...

Yesterday, I went with Grace, my friend from the story below, to take pictures of her daughter, Nancy's, school. Well, the journey begin bright and early that morning!!!
I met Grace and her son, Ben, at 8am at the USA River Market stop and we jumped on a big bus to head out to Moshi. As I was riding with Grace we were talking about her childern, life, God, what foods we like, etc. It was so nice! I enjoyed every minute of the ride!
We came to Moshi about and hour later to pile onto another bus to Rumboo village, where the school was. Ok, to say it was a LONG, BUMPY road would not even give it justice. The bus was packed with people standing up in the aisle and we were the last row that had 5 people jammed together. We were quite cuzy back there! I was flying off my seat most of the time, my knees kept digging into the metal part of the seat infront of me, and the dust was ALL over the place(think of how thick fog can be where you can't see a thing infront of you, multiply that by 100 and change the color to red and thats what we drove through) In fact, my gum started to taste like dirt, and yet, I was having a great time, thinking to myself "now, this is an adventure!!!" Sweet Grace gave me a conga(a piece of material all the women wear here as skirts) to cover my hair and face! She also kept saying "Polle DaDa", which means "sorry sister"...but, I was like "no problem, this is so great!!"
As we kept driving, the bus was flying!! I mean, I was praying the whole time as I was looking out the window at the edge of the ditch of dirt beside us. I was also looking at the faces of the people we were passing, the clouds, the blue sky, and the mango and banana trees. I saw two very small childern carrying a large bucket of water together, another one carrying their sister on their back, a goat that had its two front legs up on a tree standing up eating, which was so hysterical, and I saw many, many people covered in dust that it almost looked like their skin was a reddish/gray color.
Two hours later, we got to a market of Rumboo village, where we were dropped off and told to get a taxi to the school...sooooo, that is what we did, but it was not your typical taxi, it was a large truck with bars up above to hold onto. It was awesome! I climbed in, held onto the bars above me, along with like 30 people all crammed in, and tried desperately to keep my balance while standing up. I didn't fall, which was such good news because the ride to the school was bumpy and crowded, but so FUN!! I liked that ride the best!
We got to the school and I was FILTHY! I looked down at my clothes that had changed colors from the dust, my feet were dark brown, the creases of my arms, by my elbow, were lined with dark, sweaty dust that had compacted there, and sweet Grace had to take her hands and clean my face off because it was sooooooooooo dirty!!!! Again, I was laughing at all of this and thinking that it already was an adventure I would never forget!
The school was so nice! I was greeted with many "Welcomes" and "How are you?" It was lovely with large brick buildings and wild flowers all along the paths of the school. It was graduation day for the 4th year students and it was a BIG celebration!
I walked down the path with Grace and Ben to 5 large tents packed with family, friends, and all the students at the school. I was the ONLY white person there, among hundreds, and I don't think I've ever felt so many eyes on me as I did walking through that crowd in my life!!!!! We were late, so we had to walk through everyone to get to our seats!! I might have stood out just a bit!!! I did get lots of smiles, so that was nice! I just followed Grace and took lots of pictures. We were at this celebration for 4 hours and then we ate lunch. I was SO hungry! A nun, who are the teachers at the school, came to give me a plate of food, which was so nice. I thought the nun had forgotten to give me a fork so i got up and went searching for one, until finally I looked around and saw everyone eating with their fingers, oops! So, I sat back down and I joined in! I don't know if I've ever eaten that much food with my fingers!!! I loved it!!!
We headed home at 5:30pm and didn't get back to Cradle of Love till 8:30...it was a LONG DAY and SO WONDERFUL!! I had the best time ever and loved being with Grace and Ben, meeting Nancy, who is precious, and loving this adventure God blessed me with!!!
It was a 12 hour journery packed with new things and I felt VERY BLESSED to have made it to the village and back...
I will never forget that long and bumpy road...hugs and kisses, Hallie

A taste of paradise and small blessings...

HI!!!! I must apologize because i haven't updated in about two weeks now...the four of us were out of town this past week in Zanzibar, Tanzania!! A gorgeous island off the coast of Tanzania...its paradise there for sure...we stayed in little huts that were painted white with porches...pink and orange flowers covering the roofs of them and a big, beautiful rooster waking us up at the crack of dawn every morning. I think he was on our porch specifically to be our own personal alarm clock...
We had a beach water view and we went down to the ocean every morning for breakfast on the beach...we mostly stayed in the hammocks and read during the day, which was AMAZING!!
We did a snorkeling all day trip with Captain Tiger to the island of Memba, Bill Gates owns it, and it was one of the most BEAUTIFUL islands ive ever seen...we jumped off the top of the sailboat with our snorkeling gear and then we had fish on the beach for lunch...it was so nice to get away and have a short vacation from poopy diapers and screaming from 32 babies:) I must say though that Im so HAPPY to be back at Cradle of Love!!! I didnt know i would miss my angel babies SO MUCH!!!
When we arrived back to COL we went downstairs to see all the babes and they just ran full speed into our arms!! I mean, my heart lept like a thousand times every time i picked one of them up to plant on them 100 kisses!!! They are all doing so well!! I feel as if they grew up alot in only one week...
I had a precious moment with Salimu(he has mild Cerebral Palsy) this morning, one of our toddlers...he is learning to walk, which is so great! He sat in my lap today in the grass and we just were singing, smiling and i was kissing his chubby cheeks...we were looking at the sky, birds, and trees...he was pointing to them and i was telling him what they were in English...Im pretty sure im in love with this little boy:)!!!!
The week before we left for Zanzibar, we went to visit one of our nannys, Neema, families because her sister Violet is very sick. It was one of the most blessed moments to be at her house and just sitting there outside with this precious Jesus loving family! They offered us wooden chairs and Coca Cola. There was a young girl there, 9 years old, named Lightness. She is the nanny's niece. She prayed ot God in thanks for the cokes they gave to us and for a moment i thought about ALL of them MANY MANY BLESSINGS we are given EVERYDAY! She thanked God for my Coke!!! My eyes were opened a bit more that day to God's small blessings that i just look right past...Thank you Lord for revealing to me the smallest of gifts such as a cold beverage on a HOT day:)
When we left that day from that family, Christy and i walked hand in hand with Violet, who like i said, is VERY sick!! The three of us just chatting away. Violet talked about how she is suffering, but that she knows God is with her. She expressed MANY thanks to us for coming to visit her. Her eyes were so sweet and tired looking, but she did know her God was with her, you could see it revealed in her smile that was so heart-warming.
Please pray for Violet and for her to have strength every morning by God's grace alone...I miss ya'll SO MUCH!! MUCH LOVE, Hallie

"Jehovah Yire"

Jambo Rafiki's!!!
Ok, so I'm practicing my Swahili...that means "Hello friends" and the title of my blog means "God is the Giver", which I love and I will tell you why I named this blog entry that right now...
SOOOOOOOOOO...before i left for Africa, my friend Jim Bolton, told me about a woman him and his family had met named Grace. He gave me her email address and told me that I had to meet here because she lives in Arusha, Tanzania and that she is WONDERFUL!! So, i emailed her and got no response and to be honest, I forgot to continue to email her to try to get in contact...
sooooo, this is the FUN part...im at this huge market called the Massai Market where loads and loads of jewelry, anything carved you want, scarfs, bowls, baskets, you name it, they have it there and im just walking around looking at all the stuff, wanting alot of it, ofcourse, but feel parched so i stop to get a Fanta at this little shop next door...
i have a new love for FANTA by the way, anyway, a woman behind me randomly starts asking me where im from and do i know anyone from Tennessee because im from America and we just chatted for a bit, but i thought nothing of the conversation just that she was so nice and wanted to chat with a visitor from America.
Towards the end of the conversation she told me to come to her shop, #94, at the market to look at pictures of her friends from America. I told her i would go to her shop at some point during my stay here. I told her good-bye and i left to meet up with my friends at the market.
As i head back to the market to find my friends....i spotted Christy and she had just purchased a coffee bean bracelet, which for all of you who dont know, I LOVE COFFEE, ALOT, so, ofcourse i was like "where did you get that, i must get one!!!"
Christy takes me down a passage way to try to find the woman who sold it to her, as were walking a woman yells "DADA", which means "Sister", i turn around and its the same woman from the shop i was talking to while buying a Fanta. So, Christy and I went in her shop, she greeted us with LOTS OF HUGS AND KISSES and we dont know her, but thats the SWEETEST thing about Africa. The people LOVE on anybody and everybody just to be welcoming and kind, its AWESOME!!
well, we are looking around her shop and not even a few seconds go by when she shows me her album of pictures of her American friends and there it is, a picture of Jim Bolton and his whole family!!! IT WAS SO AMAZING!!! I couldn't believe it, God had GRACE AND I MEET!!!! IT WAS SWEET GRACE!!!! I was so happy, almost in tears, we just kept hugging and laughing because in a million years i would NEVER think i would run into Grace in Tanzania like that...
the craziest part about this is that she had seen me walk into the shop where i was buying a Fanta and she told her friends that she must go talk to me for some reason, that she just felt lead to follow me. i mean, that is AMAZING!!! WOW WOW WOW!!
Yesterday, we were at the market so i went to visit Grace's shop!! She was there and we chatted and i just LOVE her and she is such a lover of Jesus!! The four of us, Christy, Heath, Steph, and me were given a piece of jewelry by Grace herself, it was one of the nicest things EVER!! She just told us to pick out a piece of jewelry and that it was a free gift!
We are going to go cook with Grace in 2 weeks at her home!! The name of her shop is
"Jehovah Yire" and i must say that YES, GOD IS THE GIVER OF ALL THINGS and the giver of my new friend GRACE!!!