Praise and a Remembrance

The head minister of Child Welfare in Malawi gave the "go ahead" for Savannah-Hope's adoption yesterday (1/4/08). Praise the Lord! Now all we need is the United States I-171H immigration form. The form is sitting on a desk in Memphis, TN waiting for someone to approve it and send it to the Johnson's. Please pray that it gets to the top of the stack soon. What is this form and why do we need it? Good Question! This form will allow Savannah-Hope to enter the US as a citizen. It will also give us pre-approval for a travel visa which is necessary for Savannah-Hope to leave Malawi and enter the US. Once the immigration form arrives Crystal Johnson can head to Malawi to pick up Savannah-Hope!

Remembering Ivy

Ivy was a ten year old little girl who called the Good Samaritan Children's Home in Malawi Africa her home for three years. Ivy and her older sister Ida were brought to the orphanage in October 2003 from their home village of Jacket. The girls were orphaned by AIDS and both suffer from the disease as well. Ivy was full of life and brought joy to everyone who knew her. She loved to sing Christian songs and was the lead in the children's choir. Ivy was so friendly and became the favorite of all the visitors from America.

Ivy's last three months were very difficult. She suffered from many illnesses as a result of her compromised immune system. She became very anemic and was receiving blood transfusions frequently. She spent her last couple weeks at home in the orphanage. She died early Friday morning Jan 5, 2007 shortly after arriving to the hospital. Her body was buried in her home village on Saturday January 6th, 2007.

**Request** If you visited Malawi and met Ivy, I would love for you to share your "Ivy Stories" and photos. I am putting together a memory book for the children of Good Samaritan.

I had the opportunity to visit Ivy's grave on September 5, 2007, exactly 8 months after she died. This is a picture of what her grave looks like. When someone is buried in Malawi, they make a large mound of dirt on top of the grave. Over the next year the mound of dirt slowly settles into the ground. After one year, a nice grave stone is purchased. If the grave stone is purchased prior to one year, it will crack and break when the earth settles. It has now been one year, so it is time to purchase Ivy's grave stone. If Ivy touched your heart and you would like to contribute please let me know.

The house to the left is the home that Ivy's family lived in before they all died of AIDS. It was a very nice and well made house. Notice that the home has and an iron sheeting roof and glass windows, both are rare for a home in Malawi.