Lorentz Family Journey

 On the 31st of March 2018 Holger and I will have been foster parents for a year officially with the paper work behind us.  The shock of the tale is we really thought we would be able to give all of these children a forever home.  We intended to adopt, we were told that it was a possibility... Our hearts have had to shift and we have decided to embrace these children as if they are adopted and love them with our whole hearts even if they will not live with us forever.  They each have a home and we teach them about belonging to two families. Each one of these little lives have impacted our family and we will never be the same.  We have learnt so much about overcoming, hope, joy and resilience. These little lives are priceless and we want the best for each of them.  Please continue to keep us all in your prayers.   Especially keep our marriage in prayer that we would display the heart of GOD!

Who knew that we would take family planning to a whole new level.  We decided about three years ago that we were more serious about adopting and were going to open our home.  We checked in with our children and they were all in support of the idea. This year in January we started fostering 4 little children and we really hope we can give them a forever home. There are more details about this on my personal blog... Kay's Blog We are a family of 9 now, yes Holger and I have 7 children.  The challenges and the beauty of this is something we are working with every single day. We are not that young anymore...

It has been two years almost since I started this blog.  I started out stating that it was part of us trying to find out what crossroads we stood at.  It is interesting now to look back on what developed since then.  We did not move anywhere or change anything majorly... We simply dug our heels in deeper.  We decided with the encouragement of a very good friend to take the projects we had been running in and from our local church into non-profit organisations.  This has been a challenging journey, but in the last few weeks have again been able to see that this is part of a much bigger picture... although it is not clear yet. You can check out the work on  www.mercyaids.org  and the resilient kids website is currently under reconstruction.  Both organisations are also on facebook. Holger and I joined a new missions organisation last year.  We got to spend a glorious month in Germany while our kids stayed home safely in the care of our de...

2013 started with the publishing of the MercyAids website.  We had big dreams and  we felt clear of what it was we were called to.   Resilient Kid s goes on and this year we have seen a stirring of movement of renewed life... even after it looked like we had had to lay it down a year ago. At the same time I had taken on a role with the Connec t Network to help them expand their network goal of  safer communities for children in the Western Cape.   I felt this role was/is an important stepping stone to the unfolding of dream to see communities supported to effectively care for the OVC.  I had things in my hands I could bring to this dream... like two fish and five loaves. However, although clearer in our heads of what it is we have in our hands and what it is we are meant to be doing... the challenges and difficulties to keep doing it like we have been doing it has become extremely confusing in the last few months. I guess that greatest challenge has ...

In 2012 we started the year in a surrendered place.  We were already starting to battling with a place of difficulty of how things were turning out.  We had inside of us an understanding of what it was we were called to and we could see that over the years that we had come along side struggling organisations and individuals with a heart for orphans and vulnerable children.  We could see that we had influenced and supported... Doors opened up for me to go to different countries to give away what we had learnt over the years.  This trip took me on two life changing journeys.  My visit to Uganda and Liberia expanded my heart and my vision. Seeing a greater need of OVC beyond our borders, beyond Fisantekraal... A desire for neworks of support was born. With our new found clarity of who we are and what we are called to we started putting MercyAIDS in a clearer form...

As the funding for camps and training came in via Philippi Trust for training and camps in 2009 and 2010 we were able to with Barbara work out a more sustainable community model for growing kid's works at a grass roots level. Resilient Kids was born in 2009 out of the OVC program of Philippi Trust and shaped very much by the experiences we had had and the encouragement that we were on to something good.  We felt strongly at the time that the model could be adapted by any community wanting to get going with a work for the orphan and vulnerable child in the community. The model had to do with empowering local community people while equipping them with skill.  We had an amazing opportunity of seeing this happen in the Eastern Cape. By the end of 2010 we believed that to effectively do this work of training and equipping communities that we needed a training space conducive to this need.  A place where we could therapeutically work with the vulnerable adult and child. ...

Regina died at the end of 2007 and with her went our dreams of a bigger work for OVC in the Mfuleni area.  We tried for a while to knock on different doors to see if it was possible to keep on without her, but kept hitting dead ends. At the end of 2007 we heard about Patricia.  Here I think it is important to note that the entire time we were looking to get funding to take work in Fisantekraal to a new level.  Especially with OVC work.  We had started a nutritional support program for people battling a terminal illness. When I met Patricia we immediately kicked off a a relationship. We were able to stay involved with Nondumiso in Mfuleni and at the same time work with Patricia in Du Noon. Our dream to come a long side a organisation that works with OVC but struggling kept us involved in Mfuleni. We got involved with Patricia at the same time, she had an amazing heart for OVC and for people suffering with HIV.  It was in these years that I was working out t...