Dori

So today we the team went out of town to a place called "In Step," the ministry of our good friends Jeff and Carla Picicci. They care for over 90 children, almost all of whom came to them as abandoned babies over the past five years. Jeff & Carla themselves and their story are worthy of an entire 'real' blog post which I am not about to write tonight.

About a month ago they took in a one-year-old girl named Dorcas. Dori, as she became known, was carried around for that year by a mother who had been taken advantage of in the post-election violence here but did not have the mental capacity to properly care for a baby. When Dori arrived, she weighed 3.2 kilos, about seven pounds. When I first saw her a couple days later, I couldn't believe how tiny she was; essentially a newborn's body except without the baby fat to fill her out. Over the last few weeks she has gained two pounds, and battled like a champ to catch up. Mama Carla has carried her with her practically everywhere, one of 94, and little Dori has easily captured our hearts with her beaming smile and incredible toughness. Something about her especially caught hold of me that day I first saw her, something more than I feel for the 'average kid' here (you know what I mean).
Dori is a born fighter. Sick since before she came to In Step, she was soon hospitalized with no less than five diagnosed issues (malaria, sepsis, and bronchitis among them - I don't remember the rest), but fought and fought and fought to keep going, keep breathing, keep gaining weight. There were several nights a couple weeks back when they weren't sure she would make it til morning. We were tense and praying hard, and God so mercifully brought her fighting self through time after time. Late last week she finally recovered enough that she didn't even need oxygen and could breathe on her own! After a few days of observation, they released her and Carla to go back home to In Step.
But on Thursday morning she had a relapse, and as Jeff and Carla rushed her over rough roads to the District Hospital in Kitale, she suffered sudden cardiac arrest -- no chance to fight. This wonderful, beautiful little girl we have all cheered on as she struggled back from the edge of life, and thanked God for even as we pleaded for her victory, is now fully restored in the purest Life, having won the ultimate victory in the arms of her Jesus. We are left here to try and understand the depths of God's wisdom in taking her home, but she can dance and rejoice in fullest strength before His throne as she delights in her perfected new self.
So. You know what you're doing, God, though we really don't. Help us to trust You, praise You, and remember that no one can care more than Your loving father's heart does. Thank You so much for those few days with Dori's bright, determined light. Hallelu Jah!