One joy of being at Beautiful Gate long term is the joy of meeting a lot of new people. We have so many short term volunteers who come each year, and it is nice to see how God is using each person. One of our volunteers left on March 28th, but I am only now writing a blog post about her because she decided to surprise her family. They all thought she was going to be coming home in April so she was able to pull off a fun surprise for them all.
One unique thing about her already having been home for a week is that I read a blog post from her about her struggles at home. For many of our volunteers, they feel an incredible amount of homesickness when they arrive at BG. I have also just read from her blog that they experience the same sense of homesickness months later when they return to their home country. The children and staff at Beautiful Gate are so loveable that people feel they have really lost something when they leave. Please pray for our volunteers as they leave because it is so hard, and I know that Bailey is struggling with missing the children and housemothers.
Bailey was a very fun volunteer. She has a love for life and not a day went by without seeing her big smile. She went through some very difficult trials while she was here, but she trusted God and overcame each trial. I am amazed at the work God is doing in her life and look forward to seeing how He will use her in the future. She has a great love for kids, and especially for kids with special needs. She helped another of our volunteers with daily physical therapy for about 5 children with special needs. One of them is getting close to walking and I am thankful for her dedication with therapy. She also helped as a volunteer in one of our children’s homes and really did well helping her housemothers and fellow volunteers. I know a few of the children in her house stole her heart so it was very hard for her to say good-bye. We are thankful that you came Bailey! Go well and may the Lord be with you.