jojo.
in my trips to uganda, there are 3 little boys that have captured a
special place in my heart. one has gone home to their forever family,
one is being cared for by extended family in uganda & now one is in Jesus' arms.
i awakened to a midnight text last week that sweet jojo had passed away in his
sleep. i wept for many reasons, but most of all that this precious boy did not know
the love of a forever family. i'm so thankful for his orphanage, ekisa. he was loved
well & absolutely cherished, but even the [awesome] director of his orphanage has
said to me before....it's still not a family.
my heart hurts for all the other little jojo's out there. children waiting for a family
to find them and tell them they are perfectly, wonderfully made, wanted & loved.
because i believe that jojo can help other children find their families, i've gotten
permission to tell some of his story & share the video below. jojo was blessed with
the extra sparkle that comes with children that have down's syndrome & also
had HIV. i've written about how behind we are on correct information regarding
HIV before & if you fear it, i beg you to read those posts to educate yourself
in honor of jojo. [you will find a tag to them at the bottom of this post.]
there are so many waiting children that have these 'special needs' or others--
even just the fact that they are older is considered a special need.
i can't help but think of how blessed a family would have been to have
jojo in it. in his honor, we'll be giving to his orphanage. not only are
they loving these children so well, but they employ ugandans with
special needs & are educating the local families how to care for and love
their children born with special needs.
if you'd like to give to Ekisa in honor of Jojo's life, too, please click here.
His smile could light up a room. I'm so thankful you shared him with us...and so sad for the loss of such a precious, sweet boy. I pray his story brings about more understanding.
ReplyDeleteOh love my heart aches do deeply for this precious angel. I hurt so badly for this beautiful child having the injustice of leaving without a forever family but I rejoice he is with his savior. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping educate so many people in honor of his precious life. I pray that his life will not be in vain and will lead others into educating themselves and doing all they can for the precious children who need advocates. Thank you for advocating for these beautiful angels. Prayers for you tonight as your heart is heavy, I'm so greatful I have found and have learned from you, so much has been stirred inside of me and I hope one day I can be half the woman you are.
ReplyDeleteOh, sweet sweet Jojo. I'm so sorry to hear his story this way, but hope more hearts are opened.
ReplyDeleteSteph
Oh my Love! Yep, my tear ducts are working! What a beautiful little boy! Makes me just sit and feel so convicted of all the silly things I worried about today and having stress over. Thank you for posting this and kiss the babies for me!
ReplyDeletexoxox
I cried. My sweet babe lying next to me, squishing into me, and I cried because she has us and so many have none. I think fear of the unknown is the greatest enemy to loving freely. Fear that you can adopt a child with HIV, but what if it gets worse, what if you lose them? When the question needing to be asked really is, "What if you never knew a home, a family? Would that be worse that the possibility of dying?" It's late, and my heart was heavy reading this. We'll be keeping these children in our prayers.
ReplyDelete