Sweet Moise(Moses)

I would like to tell y'all about one very special little guy who brings some much joy into my life and makes my heart so happy every time I see him. His name is Moise, and he has been here at Lifeline since the end of 2010. Moise was brought to mama Nicole here at Lifeline by the police. He was found in a ditch where part of his body was submerged in water and filth. I first saw Moise in January, 2011 and my heart immediately broke when I saw this sad little guy. He had sores covering from head to toe. He couldn't make eye contact and he constantly rocked himself in his bed and probably weighed less than 6lbs.The doctors told mama Nicole that Moise would not be able to survive and that there was just no hope for life. Of course mama Nicole didn't believe that as she serves the Great Physician so she brought him back to Lifeline and the ladies here began nursing him back to health. In July, 2011 a friend of mine who is a nurse was here and said at that time Moise did weigh 6lbs and she said he was flaccid(no muscle tone) except the muscles he was using to breath with which he had to work very hard at. By October, 2011 he had gained 6lbs but very clearly had Marasmus which is when a child has been severely malnourished and has an old man face, bright eyes and wasting of the body. His hair was still orange, which is another sign of malnourishment. He could sit on your lap if you assisted him and was able to hold his head up. In January, 2012 which was the next time I saw him he looked much better but still was very limited mobility. A couple of the women who came on the work team spent their time here pretty much dedicated to working with, nursing and loving on Moise. They would hold his knees together in a position to crawl. His hips were always spread wide apart and he did not like putting his legs together. He would sit up on their laps but only for a while then he would want to lay down again. He did a fairly good job at picking up cheerios out of your hand but still wasn't real motivated to do anything that would cause him to have to use his muscles. In April, 2012 he had only gained 3lbs since October, 2011 but he was also more mobile and physically was using more energy. Since February I have tried, when possible to go work with Moise. The mama's and I have forced him to get on the ground and crawl around. I would make him grab my fingers and pull himself up to his feet on his own. By March he was doing it all on his own in his crib. By May he could walk around his crib and the room holding on to things as he went.

Moise is 2 now and was last weighed in August at 20lbs!! I wouldn't be surprised if he weighs even more than that now because that kid can eat more than all the other kids in his room. Moise laughs, he plays with the kids, he crawls EVERYWHERE, can pull himself and can even climb which has become a little annoying because he tries to climb out of his crib and has been successful a few times :) He no longer has the hair and skin of someone who is completely malnourished. He throws fits and they are not cute, they are very loud, he has no problem showing when he doesn't want or like something. He can walk just holding on to one of my pinky's. He can walk on his own and I tell him that every day but he is still too nervous to try. Every time you tell him to stand up or walk he gets the biggest grin in his face. When I tell him to stand by himself or walk by himself he just looks at me and laughs because he thinks it's so funny. When he knows someone is watching him walk around the room his face shows how proud he is of himself, it's so cute. On Sunday I was feeding him and I gave him the spoon to see if he could feed himself and he did GREAT! He had a hard time getting the food on the spoon but after I helped him get it on there he had no problem getting the spoon to his mouth. He responds when you call his name and can follow commands like "stand up", "sit down", "don't climb that", "don't hit", etc...He can talk but doesn't use real words, he mostly says "Dah" but you usually know what it means. Yesterday we wanted to know if he knows people by their name so we started asking him where certain people were. We would say, "Where's Junior?" he would find him, point and say "dah", "Where's Matent Fani?" he'd point and say "dah". When we asked him where Dashka is he even tried to say her name but it came out more like "Dahdah", we were very proud of him nonetheless. When they asked him where Emily is he, he looked at me, smiled and crawled to me. I can't tell you how full of joy that made my heart! As I am writing this I can't help but cry thinking about this precious little boy who was thrown away probably by someone who wasn't loved well herself, someone who hasn't been shown her life is valuable and therefore didn't know the value of Moise's. This little guy who doctors said had no hope of living and honestly when I first saw him, I thought he had hope of living but didn't see much hope for him to being fully mobile or the size of a normal child and his both now, is alive and very much full of life! "He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand." Psalm 40:2 God literally pulled Moise out of a slimy pit(ditch) to give him a firm foundation. God never lost sight of that sweet baby boy as he was left in that nasty ditch and as soon as he was left there, God sent someone to save him. Oh for Moise to one day understand his Daddy's great love for him and how precious his life is to Him! "Jesus said,' Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14 God rescued Moise out of the ditch because his life is precious to Him, as are the lives of all of these children and He desires for these little ones to come to Him! This is just one miracle story from the kids of Lifeline but I truly am amazed by such an amazing and loving Father I serve!