Feeding Jeanel

Before I left home, a friend asked if she could send some money with me, to use however I saw fit. I told her I’d be happy to take it, but since she was giving me cash (and I’m not a 501 (c) 3 organization) it wouldn’t be tax deductible. She wasn’t interested in the tax benefits, just wanted to know that the money would be used well. So I agreed and she sent me $300 via PayPal.

Fast forward a week or so, and I found myself this morning wondering what God had planned for the $300 in my daypack. Tomorrow will be the last regular day of clinic, and I still hadn’t had an opportunity to use the money. Sitting on the roof in a plastic adirondack chair, I whispered a brief prayer before eating my bowl of instant oatmeal: “Lord, would you show me how to use this money today?”

A couple of hours later, I noticed a tiny, tiny baby at Rachelle’s table. Little Jeanel was born 20 days ago, and on his seventh day of life his mother died. Since then, his family hasn’t been able to find a wet nurse. His aunt has tried to give him formula using a cup (they didn’t have a bottle), but he’s barely eaten anything for the past week. Today he weighs five pounds. We were sending them home with a bottle – the last one we had in the clinic – and a couple of canisters of formula. But how long would those containers last? I can’t imagine how much formula it will take to keep this baby alive until he is able to eat solid foods.

I ran upstairs to ask Pastor Delamy if it was possible to purchase formula in the country. “Yes,” he said, “we can buy it…it’s very expensive.” I nodded, as he went on. “But life…life has no price. I will work very hard to help babies like this.”

I told him about the money, and asked if we could invite the baby’s aunt to come back to the clinic every month to get more formula. Pastor Delamy agreed, and promised to use the money to make sure there will always be formula for baby Jeanel. Another teammate is contributing $200 as well, and Pastor Delamy said that this money will go a long ways to help baby Jeanel and other babies like him, whose families are struggling to keep them alive.

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