ConnectMed was able to repair Mphatso's cleft palate but his bilateral cleft lip would require more extensive surgery. That's where Fresh Start Surgical Gifts came in. Fresh Start performs corrective surgeries on children from all over the world 6 times a year at Rady's Children's Hospital in San Diego. Fresh Start is the organization who repaired our baby J's cleft palate a year ago this past month. See that story here. One of the directors with Fresh Start was here, in Malawi, with ConnectMed back in February. She saw Mphatso (as well as three other children who we're working with) and began working to see if he was a good fit for Fresh Start.
The first hurdle to be conquered was making sure that Mphatso was medically able to travel and have surgery in San Diego. Many doctors visits, appointments, and trips into town from their village were made by Mphatso and his father. Mphatso's father owns a bicycle and works during the day as a bike taxi. So each day spent with Mphatso in the doctor was a day without work for Mphatso's family. Of course it was well worth it. Praise God that all medical clearances were received and the Fresh Start board approved Mphatso as a patient!
Another hurdle was finding someone who could travel with Mphatso to the States for about two months. This person would need to drop everything and care for a child that he did not know. He would need to transition to a different culture easily. He would need to become the legal guardian of a 6 year old child with a medical disability. He would have to care for the child through at least two separate surgeries. We understood that this was a lot to ask. Yet we knew that the Lord would provide for us. Mphatso is 6 years old and does not speak English. No one in his family speaks English well enough for international travel. Understand that going from a village in Malawi to a big city like San Diego will be culture shock to the extreme. Mphatso needed a guardian who could ease him through the transition (as well as transition himself....), get him to San Diego, get him through international airports, be able to help Mphatso through the surgeries and care afterward that will be required. This is such a huge responsibility and we're thankful that the Lord brought us Justice!
Justice is a recent graduate of African Bible Colleges and he currently lives in Blantyre (four hours south of Lilongwe). He gladly came to Lilongwe to meet with Jeremy and Malla, meet with Mphatso, and immediately offered to assist Mphatso with this life changing adventure. Praise God for His provisions! We now had a guardian for Mphatso! Thank you Justice!
Now the tricky part. With just under two months to go Mphatso needed to get his Malawian birth certificate (most children born in the villages here have no birth certificate), his Malawian passport, and his U.S. visa. Please understand that the U.S. visa was the least of our worries, honestly. Getting the birth certificate and passport here usually takes an act of congress (or in Malawi's case an act of Parliament). But the Lord was with us the entire time and through friends (and friends of friends) we were able to receive all of the documentation and forms necessary for his interview with the U.S. Embassy. Just this week Justice and Mphatso were interviewed at the Embassy and were granted approval for travel to San Diego and their U.S. visas! Praise God again for His provisions!
Mphatso still needs some blood work and a couple of other medical tests done in final preparation for his surgery. Please pray that these tests and all of the details will go smoothly. Mphatso's first surgery is scheduled for November 9th during Fresh Start's November surgery weekend. He will receive another surgery a few weeks later to complete the repair to his cleft lip. We will keep you posted on the progress of Mphatso and Justice and their adventures in San Diego. Thank you in advance for your prayers!
This is Mphatso at his home with his family and others from his village around him. Justice has already gotten very close to Mphatso as well as his family. Jeremy will be traveling to Mphatso's village either today or Monday and we will have more pictures and updates then. Thank you Justice and thank you Fresh Start for this amazing opportunity!
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