Great news! All of the babies are now weaned and no longer need formula.

To all of our wonderful Baby Sponsors, we just have to say it one more time: THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Thank you for having compassion on these babies and for taking action to change their lives. Some were orphans and would not have survived without the formula. Some were sick and malnourished and had a real fight on their hands just to survive. One was kidnapped and returned a month later, resulting in the mother's milk drying up. One baby's mother had severe mastitis, resulting in an operation (without anaesthetic!) and medication which then caused her milk to dry up. Each baby had its own story, but each one needed your help. Thank you for supplying the formula that they needed to get through.

~

Each baby is now through that most crucial stage of the first year. They are all now eating solids and have been weaned off the formula. We have seen an incredible transformation in these babies and most importantly, they all survived their first year! They have gained weight, covering over all the protruding bones; They now have bright, clear eyes instead of the dull and lifeless look they had before; They have energy and strength in the place of lethargy and weakness; They have changed from skinny, unhealthy babies whose survival was questionable, to bright bubbly toddlers with a future and a hope.

~
On top of impacting the child's life, the families have also changed dramatically. As a result of seeing God's love in action, many have received Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Many were baptised. Many attend weekly Discipleship training.

~

~

Not only does the child have a future and a hope, but their families now have the hope of an eternity with God in heaven.

All the result of showing God's love in practical ways.

~~

Also, we have some wonderful news for our two orphans, Ayah and Mosea: They now have a full sponsorship right through their schooling years until they complete university. Their families will have the support they need to raise these little children and Mosea's family will even get a much needed new home.

PRAISE GOD!!

~

Baby Ayah, previously an orphan, now a part of a loving family.

~

Baby Mosea, previously orphaned, now a part of a loving family.

~

Twins ~ Happy, Healthy & no longer needing formula

One month old twin boys, 'Galay' and 'Klee' have been born into a very poor family at Windy Village. Galay is 1.8 kg and Klee is 1.9 kg. Their Mum is doing her best to breastfeed them both, but is worried because after she's finished feeding them and has no more breastmilk to give, the babies still cry from hunger. I remember when my baby Malakai was small, the hungry cry was the hardest because nothing else would calm him. He was hungry and he was going to let you know! At the time I thought, "Imagine how hard it must be for the Mums that don't have anything to give a hungry baby". And here I am now working with Mums whose babies are hungry and crying and the Mums have nothing more to give.

Pastors Nee and Chan from Heartland's Church at Windy Village confirmed that they had known this family for years and they have been very poor for a long time. They have no land or home and are always short of food. On behalf of the family, they asked if we would help by providing at least one tin of formula each week to supplement the mother's breastmilk.

On visiting the babies, we observed that they are indeed very skinny and weak. We agree with Pastors Nee and Chan, these babies definitely need formula. They are just too skinny and we're actually concerned that Galay may not make it. So please keep him and Klee in your prayers.

10/02/09 - We've found sponsors for the Twins: THANK YOU SO MUCH JOHN AND ROSE!!

Baby Goontahn ~ Happy, Healthy & no longer needing formula

~ April '09 ~

Baby Goontahn is doing tremendously well! Not only is she now weaned off the formula and enjoying plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables and dried meat instead, but her family have also been blessed with a new cottage on a small farm! Her Dad, Nar, is excited about all the land around their cottage, and he has been given permission to farm it and keep all the profit! Naturally he's started work straight away! Hopefully this will be exactly what the family needs to break the poverty cycle, and enjoy the abundant life Jesus came to give.

~ 27.01.09 ~

How cute is our little ballerina? Goontahn is now walking and running. She's happy and healthy which her family and we are so pleased to see.

We have just provided Goontahn's family with a large fishing net because Janna (Goontahn's Dad) is a skilled fisherman and we're told that at the moment the fish are all schooling around the banks of the Mekong where it is too shallow for the boats, but perfect for nets. Janna is working hard and hopes to catch enough fish to provide for his family as well as to sell some at the markets and make a profit so he can pay off his debt. We have found some land for his family, and in a month's time (when he's paid off the debt) the whole family will move to the new land to begin farming. We'll also provide Janna with transport to get back to the Mekong so he can fish during the season.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Six weeks ago, Baby Goontahn's ribs and chest bones were clearly showing and she was constantly sick. She is so much healthier now, her parents are estatic! They love to show me where the bones used to stick out, but there's no sign of them now!

Her sponsor Ngaire must be over the moon to see such an improvement!

Goontahn is also strong enough to stand now, where as before she was too weak to try. It won't be long before she is walking, running and playing with all the other kids.

Her parents, Janna and Jantoe, are showing a real desire to work hard and get themselves out of the poverty cycle they're stuck in. The last time we helped them financially, they purchased a few small ducklings. These ducklings have now grown and bred and Janna is in charge of a decent size flock of ducks now! These provide food and income for the family. (Just a side note, as a thank you gift, Janna gave us two large healthy ducks for the Heartland staff to enjoy for dinner. We were really touched by his grattitude). Also, Janna and Jantoe are wanting to grow vegetables to provide for their family as well as having enough extra to sell at the market and make more profit. We are so encouraged to see a family from the slum willing to work hard and change their circumstances, we will help them with this venture too.

Baby Ayah ~ Happy, Healthy & no longer needing formula

~ August 2009~

~

Here's an updated photo of Baby Ayah and her new Mum (26.12.08)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"She should be imprisoned!"

"She should be forced to have 'The Operation'!"


These are just some of the angry comments I have heard with regards to Baby Ayah's birth Mother.

Baby Ayah is the third baby born to her mother, and the third baby to be thrown away like trash. The first baby was found discarded, and was taken in by a loving family. The second baby was sold. Baby Ayah, the third baby was thrown out with the rubbish. The couple that found her were sure she was dead, she was just skin and bone. But they soon realised she was still breathing. They took her home, started to feed her milk and care for her. She is such a survivor! A miracle from God! and with the help of her new parents, she gradually got stronger and healthier.

Now she is two months old, healthy, happy, and has two sponsors providing half the sponsorship costs each. Mel and Amanda generously provide the formula Ayah's new parents were struggling to afford.

Here's Baby Ayah pictured with her new Mum:

Baby Daniel ~ Happy, Healthy, no longer needs formula

Daniel is only six months old and has already been through a lot. When he was a newborn he was given an injection in the leg and apparently the doctor was not careful and accidentally pushed the needle right into the thigh bone. This then caused an infection in the bone. The situation gradually got worse and the parents had to take Daniel to Phnom Penh each week for medicine and more injections. It appears Daniel has now contracted a further sickness from the hospital and although the leg is healing, Daniel must continue his weekly trips to Phnom Penh for medicine and regular check-ups. This is a 3-4 hour bus trip to Phnom Penh, stay over night and then return again that Daniel and his Mum must do every week. The bus ticket alone costs $10.00 US, and then there is food, accommodation and medicine while in Phnom Penh. Daniel's father is working three jobs to try and support his family and cover these expenses.

Some pastors came to me and told me the problem and asked if we would help the family by providing formula for Daniel. We met with Daniel's Mum and afterward told her we'd look for a sponsor for her baby. She started to cry. She told us she'd been praying for a month that God would help them and now He was answering her prayer.
We have now found a sponsor for Baby Daniel:

Thank you so much Gavin, we really appreciate

you taking care of this little guy!

We are all praying that Daniel will have complete healing and not need to continue these trips to Phnom Penh, nor the medicine that he's on.

Hart and Wut ~ Happy & no longer in need of additional food

Hart and Mup are now provided with plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables and dried meat every week instead of formula. We are hoping that their health will improve remarkably with all the extra vitamins and protein.

~ 27.01.09 ~

Here's Hart on the front steps of his home. He's slowly getting healthier, putting on some weight and we are noticing an increase in his energy levels.

Another new development is that he is also beginning to trust us more. Before, he would come to us for cuddles, but whenever any of us tried to playfully swing him up in the air (the same as the other kids love to do) he'd panic, cry and cling on tightly. We're not sure what's happened in the past to make him scared like this, but over time he is gradually trusting that we won't hurt him and is relaxing more and playing around like the other kids.

Below is a photo of Mup (previously known as Wut). He hasn't gained much weight yet, so please keep him in your prayers. He is such an adorable little boy, as soon as we arrive in his village he comes running out waving his hands. Then he jumps into my arms, or into one of the team's arms and cuddles us for the entire time we visit. Last week he had a nasty, infected cut on his heel. We prayed for him, and this week it's all better. Praise God!

We made balloon animals for the children at the slum, as you can see Mup enjoyed this activity!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's an updated photo of Wut and Hart playing (26.12.08).

We discovered that the name Wut means Skinny, and we didn't like speaking that over him - so now we call him Mup which means fat. He really likes his new name and corrects anyone who calls him Wut!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Although normally we only provide formula for babies in need, these little boys captured our hearts.

Hart and Wut are malnourished: Their arms and legs are too skinny, their ribs are showing and they have oversized stomachs. They need help. Robbie, an Impact Team member, put up her hand to help little Hart. She now sponsors him by providing stage 3 formula (especially for children) every week. Before today, he was sharing it with his brother Wut (pictured on the right) but God has just provided a sponsor for Wut so now the boys will have a tin of formula each! Thank you so much to Emma and Glenn who want to sponsor Wut. He is such a loveable little boy, always cuddling and smiling. He thrives on any attention or affection we give him, and a kind word or a joining in on a game he is playing seems to make his entire day!

A huge thank you to Robbie, Emma and Glenn. You have made a world of difference to these little guys.

Above is a photo of Wut taken just before he got a sponsor. We expect he will look dramatically different in the next photo!

Hart's immune system is improving and he is getting stronger. We've just put him through a course of worming tablets and hopefully we'll see noticeable weight gain soon.

Baby Mosea ~ Happy, Healthy, no longer needs formula

~ August 2009 ~

~

~ 31.01.09 ~

Great news, Mosea is getting stronger and healthier every day, and those that attend our homegroup at his new parent's house every Wednesday are also growing stronger and healthier in God.

This week Heartland are providing Mosea's family with a new roof (which they've been praying for) and they'll be pleased their prayers were answered before the rainy season started!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A little orphan with a big future!

His Father died of unknown causes, his Mum died during childbirth, this little man's future looked bleak. A caring relative took him in, but had no money to provide for him. We started to provide formula, clothes, blankets etc, all the while hoping God would bring along a sponsor for this baby.


One time we visited the orphan and an Impact team came too. Everyone's hearts were touched by this little man and one person stepped forward to become the baby's sponsor. The baby's new Mother was so grateful, she gave Rebecca - the sponsor - the honour of naming the orphan! Rebecca cuddled the baby and as she did she prayed that God would reveal the name He had for the child. God showed her a vision of a baby in a basket - and immediately she knew his name was Moses (translated in Khmer is Mosea).


Mosea's Mum loved the name, and was so touched she began to cry. Soon there was barely a dry eye in the group that had gathered!


As well as sponsoring Mosea (providing formula for him) Rebecca also provided mattresses, pillows, food and clothes for the whole family. They were absolutely blown away! And, to top it off, a crowd gathered to see what all the gift giving was about and Simmy (Assistant Pastor at Heartland Church) shared the gospel and led a number of people to the Lord! How awesome is that?!


So you can see how God uses a sponsor to show one family-in-need His love, and before you know it, the ripple effect takes over and many lives are impacted and changed for eternity!

Baby Esther ~ Formula cannot be provided due to irresponsible actions of Esther's mother

Sadly, we cannot continue to provide formula for baby Esther as her mother repeatedly sells the formula to buy alcohol and other things. We have tried many ways to remedy the situation, but at this stage Kim seems unable or unwilling to co-operate. Esther's sponsors still have a heart to help her and are hoping to build a small cottage for the family, if we can be certain there is no way Kim can sell the home. We are looking into this possibility at the moment. In the mean time, we have checked on Esther and are encouraged to find she is healthy and growing strong in spite of her mother's neglect. THANK YOU LORD!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

This newborn baby and her mum Kim are so poor they live in the ruins of an old building that's still crumbling down. We've started helping them by providing some formula to supplement Kim's low supply of breast milk, as well as providing the food she needs each week.


Narren - a key staff member at Heartland, was given the priviledge of naming this little girl. She felt God gave her the name 'Esther'. We shared with Kim the story of Esther from the bible. She especially liked the fact that Esther was incredibly beautiful and had great favor upon her life!


By the way, we received an amazing response to Baby Esther's need for a sponsor, THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE THAT CONTACTED US!

Baby Esther is now sponsored by Troy and Danielle, an awesome newly-wed couple who were the first to contact us about her sponsorship. Weeks ago, when I e-mailed them the story about Baby Mosea, after reading it they wondered if there was a baby named Esther that they could sponsor. They didn't even know about Esther at that point! Praise God! I always pray that God will bring the right sponsor together with the right baby - and He never fails to do just that. So baby Esther was in need of a sponsor, and there was a couple in Australia who God had put on their hearts to sponsor a little girl named Esther! How cool is that?

Baby Vana ~ Happy, Healthy, no longer needs formula

Baby Vana started with us when he was just one month old. His Mum, Ling Srey Bo had severe mastitis and ended up with a massive infection. She had to go to hospital for surgery (we found out later that no anesthetic was used!). Anyway, it took her weeks to recover and due to the medicine she was on, she was no longer able to breastfeed.

Baby Vana now has a sponsor named Kristian who is a hero in this family's eyes. Without formula, Vana would not have survived, and as the family was barely getting by on just 50c a day, there is no way they could have purchased the formula ($9.20 per week).

Vana has now adjusted to the formula and as you can see is having no trouble putting weight on. Praise God!

We have since moved Baby Vana's family out of the slum and have rented a home and some land for them to farm. Vana's Dad, De, is earning money working full time on the Heartland farm as well as his own, and his Mum, Srey Bo (who previously studied for four years as a beautician) is pursuing her dream career and hopes to start her own business. It is awesome to see such incredible changes in this family's life. To see them lifted out of the ash heap and seated among princes! Please continue to pray that God will provide the funds needed to pay the rent and the wages for this family, until they have had the chance to get on their feet and become self sufficient.

Baby Peesay ~ Moved to a new Province

Sadly, baby Peesay's parents have separated. As much as we hoped they would be reconciled, they both have new partners now and are moving on. Baby Peesay and his Dad moved to Kampong Tom (about 3 hours drive North-West). We have tried to make contact with them, but without success. A couple of times we tried to send formula via a visiting relative, but again no success at making contact. So, we continue to pray and hope that we will see them again one day soon.

Baby Peesay's Mum, Srey Leah, was very upset at first, but seems to be coming to terms with the situation. Hopefully baby Peesay will have a better life not being raised in the slums.

Please pray for baby Peesay though, his mum is concerned that his new step-mother won't love him or look after him as much as her own children.

~ 27.01.09 ~

Peesay is One-year-old now and is learning to Walk. He's a tough little guy and can take a tumble without so much as a whimper. He toddles around (while the adults "ooh" and "ahh") and is quickly finding his feet. It won't be long before he's playing footy with Malakai!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the past month and a half, Baby Peesay has come such a long way! Before, he was a four month old who was so undernourished he was the same size as a one month old. Now, his sponsor Kaylean has provided formula for him every week and just look at how chubby and healthy he is! Thank you Kaylean, you're wonderful!

Baby Peesay is so strong and healthy, he is learning to stand now. It wont be long before he is running around with the other kids! This week we will begin to wean him off stage one formula (for infants) and start him on stage two formula, which he will stay on until he is completely on solids.

Next week Peesay's sponsor, Kaylean, has a friend coming from her home town to visit us and be a part of a Heartland Impact team. She will get to meet baby Peesay, cuddle him, spend time with him and take lots of photos and video footage for his sponsor back home. Peesay's going to love all the attention!

Baby Hong ~ Happy, healthy and no longer needs formula.

~ 01.07.09 ~

Thank you so much to Mandy, Jordan and Hope for sponsoring baby Hong. Hong is now weaned and thoroughly enjoying solid foods. You guys have blessed him so much and given him a great start in life. May God bless you abundantly in return!

~

~ 27.01.09 ~

Hong is growing up quickly and is not only crawling around now, but is starting to stand! He rarely cries if he takes a fall while trying to stand, he just picks himself up and tries again. He is healthy, strong and happy - exactly the way we want all our babies to be!

This week Heartland is buying a new roof for Hong's family hut, the old one is falling to bits and has been leaking for a while. They've been patiently praying for a new roof (and hoping it would come before the rainy season does!) so they'll be very happy when we deliver the new roof tomorrow!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Baby Hong (whose real name is Ngyuen, but is nick-named Hong) is just adorable! Although we have trouble getting him to smile for the camera! he's normally the happiest little chubby bubby around, thanks to his sponsors Mandy, Jordan and Hope. You guys are absolute champions!

He's now learning to crawl and is eager to keep up with all the other babies at the slum who have already learnt to crawl. He smiles a lot, and his personality is really starting to come alive!




Although Hong is thriving, his family are not. His mum and brothers look like they belong on a World Vision Poster. We have just started providing the family's weekly food needs and a wonderful sponsor is providing Stage 3 formula for the older boys to supplement their diets. It won't be long before they too are looking healthy and happy.

Baby Malachi ~ Happy, Healthy & no longer needs formula

~ 27.01.09 ~

Malachi is doing so well! He is healthy, happy and has even learnt to walk almost overnight! We made balloon animals for all the children and Malachi just loved this activity:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Baby Malachi is a walking miracle (well actually a crawling miracle!). God has saved his life a number of times and we are blessed to have this little man around. After he was finally returned to his Mum Srey-Own, we started him on formula because Srey-Own's breast milk had gone due to him being away so long (she did try everything she could to re-start the supply, but was unsuccessful).


Malachi has now adjusted to the formula and is happily thriving. Srey-Own wishes to thank Suriya and her friends for their compassion and their decision to sponsor Malachi, and Malachi sends a super big cuddle!

We have now moved Srey-Own, Rarn and Malachi out of the slums and they are sharing the rented house with baby Vana's family. Rarn worked hard on the heartland farm and in Phnom Penh to save two thirds the cost of a moto, and we lent him the last third. He purchased a good moto (of course we made sure it was mechanically sound etc first) and is now running a business that both he and Srey-Own can work. They travel to different towns and sell bottled water and balloons at all the different festivals. When he's not doing this he provides a moto taxi service.

Already the business is doing well, Srey-Own is wearing nice new clothes, Rarn has a smart haircut, is cleanly shaven and Malachi is actually in Nappies! They really look like a family that is doing well for themselves now, and certainly not like a family from the slums. Please pray for their marriage, they've been through some tough times and that has taken its toll on their relationship - but hey, God is amazing and nothing is too hard for Him.

Baby Clup ~ Happy, Healthy & No Longer Needs Formula

~ 27.01.09 ~

Pictured below: Sokgon and her brother Gear

As you can see Sokgon (AKA Clup) is very healthy and we are over the moon! Her family are always so grateful for the help they've had, and we have all agreed that she no longer needs to be on the formula. We've gradually been weaning Clup off the formula and introducing more solid foods into her diet and now we'll stop providing her with formula altogether. Of course we'll continue to visit her village twice a week, so we'll check on her and make sure she continues to prosper. We'll provide her with food & clothes etc. We hope to be able to provide her family with a home and some land to farm, so we'll definitely have plenty to do with the family in the future, even though Clup no longer needs formula. On behalf of Clup and her family, THANK YOU SO MUCH to Suriya and her friends for the commitment you made to Clup, for showing compassion and for showing her Jesus' love. You guys are wonderful!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Baby Clup's real name is Sokgon, which means Grace, however almost everyone knows her by her nick-name 'Clup'.

Clup's Mum and her whole family have had a very rough life and they recently had to run from their home town due to constant threats and attempts of rape and violence. Now the whole family (grandparents, aunts, uncles etc) are living in the slums here in this town.

One day we hope to get a home and some land for them so that Baby Clup can grow up in a safe environment, where she can enjoy a normal childhood and not witness any of the things her parents have.

A huge thank you to Suriya and her friends for sponsoring Baby Clup - the first step in breaking the poverty cycle in her life.

Baby Jandar ~ Happy, Healthy & No Longer Needs Formula

~ 27.01.09 ~

Here's a photo of Jandar (being held by her Grandma). Jandar is healthy and strong now, much to the delight of her family as well as John and Rose her sponsors. We've been gradually weaning her from the formula and introducing more fruit and vegetables to her diet. We've discussed it with Jandar's family and in the next couple of weeks we've agreed to stop providing Jandar with formula altogether. She's ready to be weaned and move on to the 'big girl' food, and that's an exciting landmark for her. Naturally, we'll continue to monitor her progress and ensure that she stays healthy.

Also, we've found some land for Jandar's family to move onto and as soon as we can establish some employment for them, we'll be able to help them with the big move. Now that's exciting!

So Praise God, big things are happening for Jandar's family, and that just show us that God loves the poor and wants to lift them up and seat them among princes.

A HUGE THANK YOU to John and Rose. We are so grateful for your faithfulness to Jandar and her family. You are an example of Jesus. You have shown love, forgivness and compassion. You two are an awesome couple!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jandar and her Dad have done it tough. Not only do they live at the slum, but he's had to raise her on his own (with some help from his Mum) while his wife was in prison from the time Jandar was born. Now that Jandar's Mum is out of prison, mother and daughter are trying to establish a relationship. Jandar's Dad is doing his best and works whenever there is work available. His dream is to own a home and some land - he wants to farm the land and provide for his family.


Here's Baby Jandar pictured with her Mum, just out of prison.


Baby Jandar's Grandma pleaded with us to supply Jandar with formula, because she was very worried about her health. As you can see, there's definitely no reason to be worried anymore! Jandar is a picture of health. A huge thank you to John and Rose, baby Jandar's sponsors.

Baby Songhar ~ Healthy, Happy & No Longer Needs Formula!

Songhar is now a healthy, happy little toddler who has been weaned from the formula. His family are truly grateful to their sponsor Gavin for providing his formula over the last five months. His immune system has improved dramatically and he is so much happier and stronger now. Thank you Gavin!

When I first met Baby Songhar, he had infected sores on his body and always had a runny nose (as pictured above). Now that Gavin, his sponsor, is providing formula for him, his health has improved, his immune system is stronger, his nose doesn't run anymore and there is not a sore in sight! With our help, his Mum is gradually introducing more fruit and vegetables to his diet so he will become less and less dependent on the formula.