Jean and Phoebe run an orphanage on a hill near our house. They never had any children of their own, but God has blessed them with more than 35 orphan children.

Thirty years ago, Jean and Phoebe were voodoo priests, but God gave them some dreams and started to talk to them. Some missionaries who had learned Ditammari started to work with them, and, in time, they left their satanic worship and turned completely to God. They are now doing the work that God has given them—loving and nurturing the outcasts of society.

When Jean and Phoebe recently came to my house to get charcoal and Aloe Vera, Phoebe asked if I had any baby clothes. She told me they had gotten newborn twins from Nigeria, and they had no clothes for them.

On my next visit to the market, I prayed that God would lead me to suitable baby clothes that weren’t too expensive. I first visited a shop I’ve never been in before, and the owner gave me a good price. If you could see past the dust that had accumulated on the clothes, they were quite nice. Since they were mostly white, I knew laundry soap and bleach would return them to new.

The next day, I took a nice pile of clean white baby clothes up to the orphanage. While I was there, I took some pictures of the babies. When I got home, I was looking at the pictures on my computer again, and I realized how skinny some of the babies were. Some of them were two or three months behind in their development.

The next time I went up to the orphanage, I took a lady from the Peace Corps so she could assess the children’s needs and help Jean and Phoebe. Again, the children showed signs of malnutrition. Jean and Phoebe told us their milk had run out, and they had only corn left.

The week before, I had done a health program up north with another missionary family, and they had taught me about the highly nutritious leaves of the moringa tree. The leaves can be dried, powdered, and added to babies’ cereal to provide vitamins and minerals. It is highly effective. I told Phoebe about the leaves, and she replied that they already used them in the older children’s food, but they didn’t know how to use it in baby food, so I showed her how. So now she is on the hunt for more moringa leaves, which aren’t easy to find this dry time of year since the trees have lost most of their leaves.

I was also able to find moringa seeds. Young moringa trees can be pruned and made to grow more leaves than normal. I will plant a bunch in plastic bags, and when rainy season comes, they should be big enough to transplant to Jean and Phoebe’s yard.

I was able to talk to several of the missionaries up north about Jean and Phoebe’s plight, and they generously donated some money.
When I got back with the money, I was wondering when I could find Jean and Phoebe at home. Just then, my bell rang, and there they were. God had sent them to me. They said they had been praying because their milk was gone, and they had no money to get more. I was very glad to tell them that God had heard their prayers and was already working. I gave them the money from the missionaries, and they were so happy. Phoebe gave me a big hug. We all thanked God for hearing and responding to their prayers.

Jean and Phoebe continue to need wood for cooking, money for milk powder and milling grain, and soap for the mountains of laundry that a dozen or so babies make each day, but they have great faith that their Father in heaven will continue to provide.

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