Saving Grace
Our mission began with a simple challenge from two friends who told us, before our first trip to South Africa, that we needed to pay it forward. That one act of obedience opened the door to something far greater than we ever imagined. Since then, each step has led to another, more stories, deeper connections, and a calling that continues to unfold.
As our show season came to an end, we began preparing for our second journey to South Africa. This time, we traveled with the intention of strengthening friendships and reaching even further. Carrying donations generously given by hunters, we shopped for supplies for an orphanage we were about to visit for the first time. Our goal was not only to deliver much-needed items but to sit down with the directors and discuss how we could continue to support their mission.
When we arrived, the gratitude was immediate. The joy on the staff’s faces and the relief in the director’s voice spoke volumes. As we toured the well-maintained structures, we quietly noticed unspoken needs. Their humility and modesty were evident; needs existed, but pride and gratitude came first.
Children surrounded us, smiling and laughing as they helped carry in supplies. Their joy was contagious. As we listened to the stories of how many of them had come to the Mosester Children and Youth Center, one story, in particular, captured our hearts forever.
We were led into a quiet room filled with simple, handmade cribs. We were asked to speak softly. In one crib lay a baby girl, nameless. She rested peacefully, arms open wide, breathing softly in her sleep. There were no cries, no tears, only stillness and peace.
As we stood there, Helen began to tell us her story.
This baby had come to Helen with the expectation that she would be given a peaceful place to rest and then go home to the Lord. Helen refused to accept that ending. She vowed that this child would live, grow, and have a prosperous life. And she vowed that this nameless baby would have a name.
She named her Grace, because grace is a gift, a blessing freely given.
Grace’s story is one most of us can hardly comprehend. Her mother, overwhelmed by life and choices she felt trapped by, gave birth alone in an outdoor toilet, what many of us would call an outhouse. Grace was left there, crying, lying in waste, hoping someone, anyone, would hear her tiny voice.
Someone did.
At first, the cries were mistaken for a cat in distress. But when the sound was followed, a newborn baby was found. The police were called. Grace was rescued and rushed to the hospital.
There, she was cleaned, examined, and cared for. With no family present, Helen from the Mosester Children and Youth Center was contacted. When Helen heard Grace’s story, she made one thing clear: she would not take in a baby simply to comfort her as she died.
By the time we met Grace, she was four months old. She lay in her crib, sleeping peacefully, arms stretched wide. As we stood there, Helen asked, “Do you see how her arms are open?”
“Yes,” we replied.
“That’s what a child does when they are shown love,” Helen said. “They open their arms wide to receive it. Grace needed love to survive. And that is what we give her, and every child who comes here.”
It is stories like this, stories like Grace, people like Helen, that God places directly in our path. Quietly, He whispers, “These are My people. Help take care of them.”
There are moments when I sit with my head in my hands and ask God, Why me? Why us? What do we do next? Where do we go from here? And every time, He shows us the way. He sends signs. He sends people. He sends angels like Helen.
After one event where we shared this story, someone said to me, “That Helen is an angel doing God’s work.”
We believe that with our whole hearts.
We are truly blessed by the mission placed before us, and by every person who has made it possible. Because of them, stories like Grace’s continue. And because of people like Helen, love keeps showing up exactly where it’s needed most.
