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The Impact of One Little Girl

Yasmine lived with us for seven months in 2013. She is from Burkina Faso, Africa, and has a genetic form of rickets, which cause her bones to soften and her legs to be crooked. In 2013, she had surgery on both legs and went home with straight legs. She also chose to follow Jesus and asked to be baptized, so with permission from her parents in Africa, we baptized her in the backyard!

Unfortunately, when she went home, she did not have her ongoing medicine, so her legs went crooked again. She came back in 2015 for surgery again, and returned to our family last August.

Her legs before surgery again…

We adored Yasmine the first time and I was so happy we could host her again.  This time she was 8, almost 9, and her faith and maturity had grown.  When she arrived, we originally thought she would have surgery at our local hospital, but they turned down her case. So then there were long months of waiting until another hospital (2 hours away) finally agreed to do the surgery at no cost.  She had the surgery in March, and her legs look great! She left our family this week, and will be on a plane back to her family in Africa soon.  

Straight legs after surgery!

When we describe Yasmine’s personality to other people, we often say that we are not sure if she is a kid or an angel!  She is not perfect, but just about the sweetest, kindest, most cooperative kid I have ever met.  She is very outgoing, speaks perfect English, and just radiates God’s love to those she meets. She tells everyone she meets that she wants to grow up and be a missionary doctor, and we hope that she is able to do that. She is bright and determined, and if anyone can do it, its her!

Yasmine has a wisdom beyond her years, and our whole family was blessed by her. Here are five things we learned from Yasmine this year!

1. Love the person in front of you

One of the people she impacted this year was an elderly librarian. Yasmine went up and started talking to her one day, and found out more about this lady in five minutes than I would have in a year! After that, every time we went in, Yasmine would have a long conversation with her. And every time, the librarian would cry.  She would apologize to me for her tears, but simply said, “I am so sorry. That little girl just touches my heart every time!”  I am not sure of this lady’s faith, but Yasmine told her about Jesus and wrote her a letter with a verse to encourage her. Before Yasmine left, we framed a picture of her and the librarian and gave it to her. The librarian cried, and then told me, “Thank you so much for this picture. Next to the birth of my son, this is the best present I have ever received in my life. I will never forget Yasmine.”  All from Yasmine’s sincere love and kindness! 

2. Share your faith boldly

One day while Yasmine was with us, our family participated in an event at a local college. Homeschool families visit and talk with international students about homeschooling and education in the US.  Most of the students are from China or Saudi Arabia, so homeschooling is unknown. We are all split up and talk to small groups of college students. 

This year, after we finished, Yasmine told me about her table. “Mom, it was quiet, so I just asked the lady next to me if she was Muslim or a Christian.  She was a Muslim, so I just told her about Jesus and my family and how my mom is a Christian but my dad is a Muslim. I told her about how I want my dad to become a Christian, and she asked why, and I told her because I want him to know how much Jesus loves him.”  In all our years of going, with all Christian homeschooling families, I am not sure if any of us have ever talked about Jesus!  I know I tend to be cautious because it is a secular situation and I never want to offend anyone… and here was Yasmine, just boldly sharing.  The woman talked to her for a long time and then asked to pose for a picture with Yasmine. Who knows what seeds Yasmine may have planted with her boldness? 

Yasmine also told everyone who asked that she wanted to grow up and be a missionary doctor. She talked to all the doctors and nurses in the hospital, and later one nurse brought her a present of a cross necklace. She gave it to Yasmine and said, “this is for you because I can tell you have a very special relationship with Jesus.”  Her faith was real, bold, not offensive, but engaging.  

3. Have no fear of death because Heaven is good

Another of Yasmine’s favorite topics was heaven. She continually asked us questions about it, and talked about looking forward to meeting Jesus and seeing what it was like.  She told me one time, “I know that when I am a missionary doctor, sometimes people try to kill missionaries. But I am not afraid. If I die, I just get to go to heaven and be with Jesus. So either way, it is good. I can be here and tell people about Jesus, or die and go be with Jesus.!”

One of her favorite movies was “Heaven is For Real”, and she often told us how wonderful she believes that heaven will be.  When we experienced a death, she was encouraging and reminded me that in heaven there is no pain! 

4. Thank God for the good out of bad

One day before her surgery, Yasmine said this.

“Every day I thank God for making my legs like this. Because at home sometimes kids would make fun of me, but when I told my papa, he said those kids just don’t understand. So I am happy God gave me crooked legs because now if I see someone else that has a problem too or someone that people are making fun of, I can understand them.”

And then, a few days before she left.

“Mom, I am thankful that my legs were crooked, because if they weren’t, I would never have gotten to come here and know you guys and know that I wanted to be a missionary doctor.”

Which led to a great discussion about how God doesn’t make bad things happen to us, but He definitely brings good out of them! But she recognized this on her own. 

 

5. Be a missionary, today!

As I said, she wants to be a missionary doctor, but we told her that she is already a missionary right now, because of the way she is always sharing the love of Jesus with others!  One of the people she most wants to share Jesus  with is her dad.  Yasmine’s mom is a Christian and her dad is a Muslim.  (In Burkina Faso, this is not unusual.)  But Yasmine has been praying for her dad and we spent lots of time talking about how she can share her faith with her dad.  We talked about the most important thing, which is just that God loves her dad! We also told her that she does not need to go home and argue with her dad, but simply love him, and if her dad wants, Yasmine can read stories of Jesus with her dad and let him decide for himself what he thinks of Jesus.  Above all, Yasmine just loves her dad and Jesus both, and I believe her sincere heart with shine through.  

Yasmine also has told me that she wants to go home and just go up on a hill and shout “God loves all of you!”.  I have no doubt she will share the love of Christ with everyone she meets. We joke (but only sort of) that she may plant 10 new churches in the first year she is home! 🙂  Whatever she does, she follows Jesus with her whole heart and she will be a light to those around her in Africa as she was in Ohio. 

She missed her family terribly while she was here, and there were times that I felt frustrated for her that she had to stay so long as we waited on the surgery. But I think God also used that time to equip her and teach her a little as well.  Here are a few things that that extra time in the US allowed her to learn!

1. To read and write in English

When she came last August, she could speak English well, but she could not read a word.  English is her third language.  But she is bright and a hard worker, and she learned to read and write well in English. I actually gave her the same standardized test that I give all of my kids at the end of the year, in English, with no special accommodations.  And she tested at 44% for her grade. She was almost to the average third grade level, in her third language after less than a year!  I am excited about this, because no matter what career she pursues (missionary doctor or other), knowing English will only help her future. 

2. How to study the Bible with others and more about following Jesus

As I mentioned, she really wants to share Jesus with her father and others at home. We taught her a simple way of reading and studying the Gospels that she can do with anyone. 

She also asked for a journal a few weeks before she left so that “I can write down all the things you guys have taught me about Jesus so I don’t forget!”  Gabe bought her a journal and she interviewed each of us about our favorite verses and things about God and Jesus we want her to remember.  It was neat to me to read what our other kids shared with her.  

3. How to work hard hard 

It sounds funny, but she is the youngest by far in her family at home, and since she also has had problems with her legs, she told us that she really did not do any work at home.  But in our house, everyone works!  As soon as she arrived, we had her join in with the normal household jobs that the other kids do like cleaning and doing laundry. She never complained, but finally admitted to me a few weeks ago that when she first came, she didn’t like the fact that she had to do laundry and work.  But then she said, “but now I am so glad you made me do that, because now when I am an adult, I will know how to do all the jobs in a house. And I like to be able to do my jobs!”  She was actually frustrated when she had her casts on and she was unable to help, and was so happy the day I finally let her start scooting around in her cast and do some dusting! She learned that working hard is a reward in itself. 

Sometimes people tell us what a blessing we are to the kids we host, and I always say thank you. But I truly think it is a blessing for us way beyond whatever we do for them.

The goodbyes are always hard, even though we know that she is so happy to get home to her family.  Its hard when we hold our own kids as they cry over her leaving.  But we would never trade it, even knowing the pain of goodbyes. And we pray for her future, and hope that we will be able to keep in touch. Our girls are already asking when we can go visit her in Africa.  Hopefully someday! 

 

 

 

 

One comment

  1. so. fabulous. did you take pictures of the pages in the book with everything your family shared for Yasmine? would so love to read it. thank you so much for sharing. sooooo inspiring.

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