This is the Truth Network. Welcome to Hope in the Morning. turning tragedies and tears into testimonies of hope.
Well, welcome to Hope in the Morning. It's very fun today. I know you're going to be excited that we're going to sort of get a bird's eye view, come in and talk to a missionary actually. In country, in the country of Nigeria. And, you know, when you think about hope in the morning, we're going to be talking about hope because, wow, there's a lot of mourning for the nations of people that don't know Jesus and what's going on with those things.
We're so blessed to have Madeline with us. She's with a ministry called Carry Them. I like that name, Madeline. And so. Thank you.
How in the world did you get to Nigeria? Yeah, in 2018, my husband and I moved to Nigeria as newlyweds just to become teachers. It was like a short-term, like a one-to-two-year commitment. And so, yeah, that's kind of how it had started. And then.
I had my first son back in 2020, right whenever COVID and everything was happening. And I really, really struggled with breastfeeding. And I struggled caring for him after he was born. And I just had a lot of new mom, like just things that I really struggled with. And so then I reached out and I got a lot of help stateside.
And I just kept thinking of all my Nigerian friends and people I had come to know when I was serving in Nigeria that didn't have that type of support.
So while I was back in the States, I became a certified lactation consultant and returned to Nigeria in 2020 with my husband and our two kids at that point and started offering free lactation services out of my living room just to one mom, which turned into 10 moms, which turned into like 50 moms.
So it kind of took off from there. At what point did you know that you wanted to, like, stay in Nigeria and make a ministry out of this? Yeah, honestly, I wish there was like a certain point that I knew, but really it was just. Just being like, um kind of nervous and um Weak in knowing what to do, but wanting to be obedient with the skills that I had. And I saw a need.
And yeah, mostly I just think it was taking one step at a time.
Okay, what am I able to do right now? What is the Lord asking me to do? How can I be obedient in this? And yeah, and doing the next step. And so I don't know if there was ever like, okay, this is what.
we're gonna do with our lives, but more of like, For right now, this is the right thing to do. And then kind of reassessing every year. And so now it's been close to eight years here in Nigeria. Wow. Wow.
That's a large commitment. I think one of the things that I wanted to talk about today, too, is the fact that here in the States. we we kind of know of missionaries. We don't all know personally missionaries. Not everybody does.
And there are many churches that help support missionaries financially, and maybe occasionally you hear updates on it. But I think we're not we're not really well educated in what life is like as a missionary, where you're leaving you're leaving your family, you're leaving what you have known, and you're going somewhere else to be a light. What has that experience been like for you?
Well, I think it really kind of like I mentioned earlier. There's not a lot of confidence in it. There's a, there's, you have to be, I feel like I have to be continuously just surrendering to what the Lord could have that's next, whether or not, like, I get people asking a lot, like, how could you take your family to such, like, um, like such a highly violent place? Um, or how could you ever have children abroad? That kind of thing.
Um, and I think. I think that it doesn't make a lot of sense unless you feel like the Lord is leading and you can trust him in hard things. I think you just do really hard things. And it's not from your own strength, but definitely from confidence that either the Lord's going to protect you or that he has good things for you in the heart. And so.
So yeah, I I think that's that's been the biggest thing for us is Not relying on our own confidence in what's next, but instead relying that, okay, we know that he is near and he has been with us. He's shown himself over and over again in ways to our family and to these moms and to these babies.
So this is what he's asking us to do, even though it seems hard or. Scary or new that he that he'll be with us. You know, when I think about your story, Uh You know, 2 Corinthians chapter 1 talks about the God of all comfort comforts comforts us so that we could comfort others, right, with the comfort we were comforted with. And so you took your own, right, struggle? God comforted you with that.
And then it seems. fascinating to me because in my mind I I think Wow, African women Pretty much that was the only way they've been going for a long time. Um But what a neat vision God gave you as a platform. Uh You know, to have ministry with. I mean, it's just unique, but it's completely based on what God did in your own life, right?
Yeah. No, yeah. And And I think there's a lot of times where, especially missionary friends here, are going into communities, you know, trying to make relationships, trying to. translate the Bible or start churches or something like that. That definitely is common in West Africa ministries, but it's been such a privilege to just have one woman who brought 10 more women, who brought hundreds of women, now over 900, I don't really know how many over the last few years that have just come for a tangible need.
They need lactation support. They need help with a severely malnourished infant. Or the government might bring abandoned or neglected infants or something like that. But it's been, yeah, I think that's been just like such a huge privilege is. Is being able to offer something and then also empower our local Nigerian staff with skilled lactation support.
They're able to come alongside me. And so, Yeah, we have probably 95% of our clients out of the 900 are Islamic mothers.
So we're not going into these places that might be, where we might be unwelcome or might be dangerous. Instead, we are just able to open our doors to them and they can safely come and get the support and the Yeah, support that they need to help save the life of their infant. And I just never envisioned that's not, that's not how we moved here. We moved here to teach English at a school.
So I'm just grateful that the Lord orchestrated that. How did you first start having encounters with other women that needed those lactation services where your vision of what you came to Nigeria for, you started saying, oh, this needs to shift. This is actually where our ministry is going to be. Yeah, there was kind of like this like fork in the road moment where I was able to offer lactation support. There was young, unsupported moms, teen pregnancy crisis pregnancies, things like that that I had heard of from other ministries.
They were able to send the moms to my house because they knew I was a lactation consultant. And so I was able to help increase their supply, help to, you know, offer skin to skin, nipple shields, different issues that might arise. And so I saw a lot of success that way, but really quickly, there were so many cases of severely malnourished infants with mothers who had already passed away. And so they are severely malnourished without the lactation component. There is no breast milk available because of the loss of the mother.
Nigeria has the second highest maternal mortality rate currently with one in 22 mothers passing away in childbirth. And you compare that to the U.S., which is one in 4,900 mothers passing away in childbirth.
So it's just extremely common here, devastatingly common.
So all these aunts and grandmothers are bringing me babies that are severely malnourished, and there's no lactation support that I can offer. That was kind of part two where I was like, okay, if we're going to be a ministry that serves this population, severely malnourished infants in Nigeria, then we need to also provide support, nutritional support to aunties, grandmothers, fathers that are left grieving after the loss of the mother. No am I. Yeah, you know, I've seen your Instagram page, and that's actually how I found you. And it's the way that you care for these children is beautiful.
You get a lot of children that come to you, that it's heartbreaking, the condition that they come to you in. And you actually talk a little bit about the fact that. These moms, these aunts, these grandmothers, they're doing the best they can with what they have, but their resources are very scarce. And so, can you talk to us a little bit about? Prior to you coming in and having some of the resources that are offered, like Formula that you guys can offer when needed.
What were some of the ways that they were trying to give nutrition to these babies when breast milk was not an option? Yeah. Yeah, I mean honestly It's just, it's almost like if the mother passes away at childbirth and they're part of these communities, then it's very unlikely that the child will survive or that they will not grow up with severe complications due to the malnutrition. And so, what we'll see is maybe they'll buy one tin of formula, like the family will get together to buy one tin of formula because they may know that that is the next option after breast milk. And that tin of formula should last three days if they're measuring properly, but they'll stretch it for over a month.
So they're just using a huge thing of water, like a large water bottle that you might see with one scoop of formula when that much of water would need, you know, 15 plus scoops of formula.
So they're mostly getting water, which is going to cause Brain swelling, it can cause a lot of other issues if they survive, but many times they won't survive. They'll start to waste at that point. And then a lot of times seizures or something like that will happen. And then close to that is they're going to use the resources that they have.
So inside of the villages, there's tribal doctors, village doctors, medicine men, witch doctors, there's a bunch of different names for them. But they'll offer treatments that can be extremely harmful to the baby. And a lot of babies pass away that way as well, which is force-feeding herbs, different spiritual rituals. And then, yeah, most of the babies, by the time they come to us, they've already been to one of those. And so we'll see the scarring or the different staining.
They just have different rituals that they'll do. Still, even if they know about us, they'll stop. They are kind of on the way.
So there's a fontanel treatment you can see on our Instagram that's the most common, which is where the soft spot on top of their head, which we know can be sunk in. if the baby is dehydrated or malnourished. They see that as like a sign that the baby has been spiritually like cursed.
So they may like fill that spot in with herbs or something like that as a treatment.
So that's what we're seeing a lot: herbal treatments, a lot of overfeeding with water. And then maybe another local solution would be using ground guinea corn, which they'll turn into like a porridge and then forced to feed the baby that. And you mentioned also on your Instagram page, which I think is an important component to just some of the hardships that you face in your ministry, even as you're trying to help these women and these babies be able to thrive. Is that because these babies have been in circumstances where they have been force-fed out of good intention, their loved ones are trying to keep them alive, but the children have almost a fear of feeding?
So, how have you kind of worked through that as infants come into your care and your facility? Yeah, it's extremely traumatic to watch it happen, as well as it's extremely traumatic to the children to undergo force feeding. It's identified with a partnering hospital as the biggest issue surrounding infant malnutrition, infant child nutrition is the force feeding problem that they see at this hospital. And so, yeah, it's really, really hard to see a baby that now I have the proper nutrition that I can offer them, but they're so terrified of anybody coming at them towards their mouth with anything that they're rejecting like all forms of nutrition.
Well, we're going to continue to talk about not only what some of the challenges are, but we're going to talk about how you have a unique opportunity to share the gospel by first providing what their tangible needs are when we come back from the break.
So join us again in a moment on Hope in the Morning. Hope in the Mourning allows you to lean into the suffering of others and helps equip you to purposefully mourn with and meaningfully minister to those suffering in your midst. May these testimonies cause you to see our God with fresh and thankful eyes. And may you seek to be His hands and feet to every wearying heart. Visit hopeinthemorning.org to learn how you can partner with us in ministry.
Hope in the Morning is a listener-sponsored program that encourages the weary, equips those who walk beside them, and evangelizes the lost. If you want to partner with this ministry, visit hopeinthemorning.org. And may you be filled with hope as you continue this episode of Hope in the Morning. Have you ever walked through the deep suffering of a friend? And been at a loss for what to say?
How can you comfort someone when they've just lost a loved one or been diagnosed with cancer? Join us on Hope in the Morning to hear testimonies of people who've gone through life's hardest trials and share what you can do to serve others in similar circumstances. To learn more, visit us at hopeinthemorning.org. All right, welcome back to Hope in the Morning. We are joined today with Mandalyn, and she is with Carry Them Ministries all the way in Nigeria, and she helps.
Feed these babies that are severely malnourished.
Some of them have become orphans or they've lost their mamas to childbirth. You shared with us that one in 22. Mothers lose their lives in childbirth out there, which is staggering statistics, really. And You know, we know that Everybody's greatest need in our soul is salvation. It's to be restored to the Lord.
But when we have great pressing physical needs, sometimes we can't get to those spiritual needs until we have met. Those physical needs as well.
So, you mentioned the fact that you guys are not going into these places seeking out these Islamic mothers, but instead, you're just opening your door and saying, We're here to help you however we can, however we can serve you. And so, they're coming to you, which is such a neat opportunity that you have. How have you found that providing for these women and these babies in really their most vulnerable moments, how has that given you an opportunity to share the greatest hope that we have with them? Yeah, I I think that, um, I think it doesn't make sense to a lot of them, which is how we're able to share the gospel. I mean, we're in a country that is divided right down the middle between the Islamic North and the Christian South, and there's a lot of violence.
It's a lot in the news actually lately. Suddenly, Nigeria has been in the news a lot about all of the persecution against Christians or 7,000, I think, that were believed to have been killed in 2025 because of the religious violence. And so there's the tension where I live. Like, we live right smack in the middle between the Muslim North and the Christian South. And so there is a lot of tension between those two belief systems and a lot of tribal beliefs and a lot of Islamic beliefs.
communities are also extremely affected by the by the extremist terrorism as well. And so we're seeing that constantly. A lot of our moms are coming and are risking their lives many times to actually try to save the life of their baby by getting on a motorcycle and traveling 10 hours to try to find our clinic to see if we can save this severely malnourished infant. We just had a mom this last week who has twins. One was 2.5 pounds and one was 2.7 pounds.
They're just extremely tiny. Yeah, twins that I'm s I was so shocked they even survived childbirth, but she put them on her back, wrapped them on her back on put them on a motorcycle and brought them five hours to us. Um From an Islamic village. And so I say all that so that you can see that there's like such a tension. But here we are just offering completely free services to save the lives of infants in Islamic communities when we are very clearly a Christian clinic motivated by our faith.
All of my staff are. And so I think that it's been really. Just incredible and beautiful to see the humanity on both sides. Like my staff. Who live in a Christian community and who have been very much affected by the terrorism, by like maybe Islamic extremists, are serving and loving and knowing and building relationships with moms of that faith.
And then moms of that faith are coming and receiving help without any. Any ties. They have no expectations to, we don't require them to do anything. We just want, we just care about their babies and we care about survival and we want to support them and support their families. And they see that too.
And so I think it gets really confusing. And so that's how we're able to share the love of Christ is at the end of the seven and eight months when they have a baby that has survived and that has made it through such a Just, yeah, such a traumatizing event. Either the loss of the mother, now we have an aunt or grandmother that. Lost the mom, thought she was going to lose the baby, saw the baby suffering for weeks, almost starved to death.
Now the baby has survived, and now the baby's healthy, and now she can go back to her village with that baby and tell other moms. And she's just like, why? Why did, why? Why are you doing this? And it doesn't make sense.
It really doesn't make sense. And we're able to say, well, Well, yeah, I mean, Jesus did the ultimate thing for the people who were actively running away from him. He lived and he loved for me, and the only response to that is to do it for others. And I don't think it makes sense to people that don't know Christ. And so it's such a privilege to be able to.
to share why our hearts are that way. Do the moms, you said that some of them travel five to ten hours to get to your clinic and that. You were just mentioning how sometimes to get the child fully rehabilitated and on a a good, healthy weight. That sometimes it's eight months. Are they living there in that area or even at the clinic with you during that time?
Yeah, if they're, we only require weekly visits if they're living really, really far away and we'll cover the transport costs for them to come in. But we do offer housing and guest housing for them to live on site if the travel is just very extremely long or if we feel the babies are too critical to be going back and forth. We only just were able to start offering that when we, in this last September, when we moved into our new place, we've always operated out of an apartment until then.
So we're really glad to be able to offer that. And we've had moms, you know, that traveled eight to 10 hours. And as soon as they get there, they're like, hurry, hurry, hurry. Like, these are my babies, but I'm not, like, I can't stay. I have to get back on the motorcycle and go another eight hours back to the village.
Like, they're kind of panicking, and we can, we can offer them, okay. Let's call your husband in the village. Let's call your family in the village. Let them know that you got here safely, ask permission for you to stay. Like, there's a way that we can work with them so that they can be coming from far away and still get the support.
But for accountability reasons and to actually keep an eye on the babies and make sure formula isn't being sold and all those things, we need to see them on a weekly basis at least. I know all the listeners have the same question that I do, which is. The mom that came all those hours, eight to ten, with two babies, with two pounds. Are they going to be okay?
Well, they're. We had them in our phototherapy. We have this, um, We have this like a Nigerian made phototherapy built like sun. Let's see, it's um Solar-powered device at our clinic now.
So we were able to offer to them that they were very jaundiced, so they were in that for a few days. And then she got a call from the village that she needed to return immediately. She had responsibilities and she couldn't stay.
So she had to go back right away. And so we were really scared we weren't going to see the twins again. And then, like, two days later, she came back to our clinic again. Motorcycle with little babies. I'm always like, please, can we just figure out a car for you?
But when she arrived, she said that her family. had um had seen how well the babies looked when she returned to the village and were like, never mind, what are you doing here? They're going to survive, they're going to make it, you can go back.
So she was granted permission to come back to our clinic. And so now they're staying at our guest house. That's wonderful. That's God's favor, right? Yeah.
Like, oh man. Yeah. Well, and I mean, like you're saying, it's more mothers are coming because they're seeing other people's children survive and actually start thriving when otherwise they might perish. And I know you have faced that in your clinic a few times: that they don't all survive, sadly. And sometimes they're just too malnourished for your aid.
And one of the things I wanted to ask you about, because you just mentioned that you moved into a new building, that you guys supply formula, you have the solar-powered lights that you can put around these babies and help with their bilirubin levels. What are some of the needs that you guys have, and how have you seen God supply those over the eight years of your ministry? Yeah, I think our biggest need from the beginning has always been to have. to have people Um who love and know um Who knows and love Christ and who care about moms, and um, and so he that's that's number one, I think. And the Lord has supplied that through incredible Nigerian staff that I get to work with, um, friends of mine.
And yeah, so I would say I just always want to say that first and praise God for what he's done there because every single time we knew we needed to grow the team, we prayed and the Lord would bring us someone so clearly that had such a heart to serve these moms, Nigerians here. Um, and then there's some supplies we can't get in Nigeria reliably, so that's like hand pumps. Specialized feeders, things like that.
So, we have we bring that over from the U.S., whether that's from a visitor that brings us just an extra suitcase filled with stuff that we get off Amazon, or we just started being able to bring a container over from the U.S., like a shipping container. And we've been filling it with donations, clothing. There's like an Amazon wish list of things, but the most extreme or the biggest need, the biggest tool that we have is hand pumps, which are breast pumps but are not electrical.
So, they can use them in the villages. I just we can only use one per mom for hygiene reasons, but they're coming in from really far. And a lot of them have issues with engorgement, or they might have issues with low supply, or they might have issues with the baby being so weak and malnourished, the baby can't even latch on to the mom. Nipple issues, there's just endless issues that can happen with breastfeeding. And these pumps actually save lives simply from being able to extract the milk from the mom, put it in a bottle, and Now feed the baby.
It's that simple, like adding that simple step has saved so many lives. It doesn't take any formula.
So that's our biggest need from the States is hand pumps, which we bring over. How often do you get containers delivered to you with those needed supplies? Last year we had one. A donor had paid for the shipping costs, so then we just worked really hard to get donations put on the container. And then we just had another opportunity.
this last November with being able we had a someone donate the shipping cost so then we worked hard on social media to try and get all the donations onto the container and it's just about full I I was shocked to find out that it's like at 80% full now okay which yeah which is like such such an incredible miracle because we are we really are running low on supplies so it was like if we don't if we have to wait till it's at a hundred percent full and that takes till you know July then we're not we're gonna run out of everything here so now we can go ahead and ship it probably pretty soon okay so once you ship that one is your goal to start building the next one full of supplies is that what you hope to do We probably will continue to figure out what is possible via like donations for the shipping costs, but we're going to hope to try to ship one once a year.
Okay. And then with the radio portion that we have left here, which by the way, if you're listening on the radio, Continue listening to this with us on our podcast. Our podcast airs every Tuesday. You can find us on any podcast platform, or you can watch us on YouTube and at Hope in the Morning Backstage. Because we're going to continue this conversation, which is an important one.
But I also just wanted to ask you. You know, what are some of the ways that we can be praying for you and supporting you? from here, from from America, what are some of the ways that you really need To be upheld as you support these moms, how can we support you? Yeah, thank you. It's such a, yeah, it was so encouraging and a privilege to be asked to be part of this podcast.
I've been listening to your episodes over the last week just in preparation. And I think I really hope and try to share, yeah, the joy, the hope, the positive stories. I think that's best for funding. And nobody wants to get on social media and be sad about a baby that passed away. And I know that.
And so that's a lot of our work. But the truth is, yeah, exactly what you say, which is that we lose, we lose babies and we go through a lot of loss. And especially my Nigerian staff, like we love these moms and we love these babies. And And it is absolutely shattering when we invest a lot of time and love and hope into a story and it just, it's too late. They're in the hospital for a while and eventually.
Pass away from complications via whether it's something to do with their intestinal difficulties because of the malnutrition or the forced feeding or something like that. And that has happened a few times. And yeah, we grieve those lives and the Lord is near to us, but it really means a lot to us that there are people in the U.S., supporters around the world, that know about the work and that know that those lives were precious and can remember them with us. And And yeah, that it's not always going to be Successful, but that we trust the Lord with those lives and that He loves them far more than we ever could. And so, so yeah, your podcast was very encouraging to me.
And I really appreciate being inviting here. Oh, wow. I'm so thankful that you were willing to come on because this is an important ministry that you have as well. And so, one of the other questions that I wanted to ask you, Mandalyn, is. As far as a church goes, like, do you have a local church out there where you are?
There was one just planted a few months ago that's actually meeting on our property.
So we bought the property and built a clinic, and it's a bigger clinic. And it's just around the same time that this church was being planted.
So we just allow them to meet there on Sundays.
So that is a newer development. It's always been. Difficult for our family to get plugged into a local church here. I think it's just culturally very different and. And yeah, there's definitely a need for for community.
In within the missional community, but as well as among believers, it exists, but it can also be very divided based on different religious affiliations or beliefs. And so, it's been, especially since I have four kids, about to have a fourth actually, three kids. We usually have a fourth foster baby, so four is always on my mind. But and so, with really littles and not having like child care at a church or something like that, it's also been really hard, especially if it's a four or five hour sermon, which is really common here too. Wow.
And so, church in general has been a hard thing for our family to really get fed by here.
However, this new church plant has been really such a blessing going there on Sundays. My husband's been part of the church plant, as well as our sending church back home, just checking in on us and being able to go home. We go home about every 18 months and be able to have a visit with them. And gosh, just being part of that worship and being part of that community is really encouraging. If I might.
Go back to You know, we're almost the beginning. Because I can't imagine. God gave you such a calling for an absolutely beautiful thing. But man, it had to be tentative. Like, here I am, Lord.
Are you sure this is what you had in mind? Right? I'm very curious. You know, there comes a point Where you sense God's pleasure in what you're doing, and you can see that all over your face, by the way. As I watched.
The joy of that God's given you and the vocation He's given you. But can you take us back to an individual story? Like there you were, it's right at the beginning, and here you were. You actually got to see a mom or a baby, whatever the situation was, and you went and you just felt like.
Okay God, this is why you got me here. Does that bring a story to mind? Oh, yeah, definitely. Gosh, there's truly so many.
So many precious yeah, lives and um But I would say the one that easily comes to mind the quickest is baby Hamza, who when we first were the first couple years, our clients were mostly Christian clients because it was by word of mouth. And it's here in a Christian community, which is the town that we're in. And so we probably had 40 to 50 to 60 moms at a time, depending how serious the current crisis was. And so there was an Islamic baby that was brought to us, and he was just a severe case of malnutrition. And I noticed right away he had Down syndrome, but he had never been diagnosed because it's not diagnosed here.
You can't do genetic testing anyway. And so in general, when I took him to a couple doctors, they had just said, Well, he he that's not really a thing here, but he just needs to eat more. He's just starving. But I knew that there was a secondary issue going on. And so I got to know his mom.
It was a, yeah, it was an Islamic family.
So it was a man and his second wife and their new and their new baby boy.
So he was four months old. And so we went to different appointments together. We went around the town. I remember taking him to get EKG. We just built a relationship over a few weeks and then months of getting him the care he needed.
And he started to gain weight. And he was just. Just, yeah, really precious to everyone on our staff. Really fragile little boy. And so I found out about a heart surgeon.
That was coming from the U.S. here to Nigeria. And we had identified that he had like a heart condition that was like part of part of the reason why he was so severely malnourished. Though he had perked up and done a lot better with the nutritional support, he just still was really struggling.
So we were set up for him to come to this heart surgeon that was coming into town in a few months. And I just remember being with him and getting the drugs he needed. He needed these specific drugs to help his heart go until the cardiologist came and we said goodbye to him and got him and got them off to their village. And I got a call like a few weeks later that he had passed away. And it was just, it was just really a moment in the beginning of the ministry where I was like, what is the point?
Why am I doing all of this, building these relationships? And then a baby dies. Like I, it was a really, it was a moment where I just had to come to the Lord and be like, I need you. To take it from here because all the things that I was doing apparently wasn't enough. And yeah, I really grieved that Hamza.
Yeah, I really grieved Hamza, and we still think about him a lot. And so I was just in my office. Not too long after that, and I had noticed that my assistant kept getting phone calls. And so I asked her, Who is that? And she said, It's Hamz's father.
And I thought she was just trying to protect me from a very angry Islamic man that was mad about the loss of his son. And she's like, No, he calls all the time. And it's just to say thank you for the extra few months he got with his son, which was such a privilege to hear. And then she said, He also calls to ask if he can send families from his village.
So he has sent so many babies from his village just because he hit the life of his son, like the Lord used it to build a relationship and to see how much we cared about his son and cared about him and his family, regardless of where they're from. What they do. And so a lot of lives have been saved from that village because of the life of Hamza.
So it was like the Lord just was like. I know what I'm doing. And he was, and yeah, and he absolutely. He absolutely reminded me to just take the next step, just continue to be obedient, and he'll handle the lives. Wow.
Yeah, that's a very, very powerful story. And I mean, you can tell how much you loved that little boy. And I'm sure that that father sensed that. You know, that here, you. You went above and beyond to get every resource you could for Hamza and That shows.
I mean Your love for the least of these. Jesus says, right, that when we love the least of these, that we're doing it unto him, that we're loving him through those things. And you mentioned earlier that you usually have a foster child, so bringing your total to four before this new baby that you're going to welcome in. Are a lot of the children that you foster through your own ministry?
Sometimes we also partner with a local hospital that has a lot of abandoned or neglected infants that are found and brought to that hospital and then they just need temporary care. The orphanages don't have the funds for the formula and so since we can provide the nutritional support, then they'll have us care for the baby temporarily. Um but yeah, we've had we've had quite a few fosters too with Okay, the mother passed away. The father's been trying his best, but can't get the formula. The aunt brings the baby in.
The baby is severely malnourished. They're just such so deep in grief and fear about the loss of this baby that it's something we absolutely want to offer, which is we can provide the nutritional support. We can care temporarily for the baby. You guys can bury the mother, figure out the long-term plan for the baby. We'll return the baby, you know, tomorrow or the next week or in a few months, like however long they need to get themselves settled.
But absolutely, part of supporting these families is being there in like the depth of the grief of loss. And And yeah, caring for that baby. And you mentioned also that you and your husband, you went together to Nigeria thinking that you were going there to teach.
So I'm curious what role your husband plays in the ministry you have. And also if the Lord like simultaneously put it on both of your hearts that, oh, we have a shift of purpose here. or if that took some time for you guys to come to the same page. Yeah, I was the I was serving here with Carrie Them for The whole, like, I guess we started in 2020, and I've been serving alone, not alone, but. Without him, he's been in education this whole time until this last August was when he officially.
Um, he resigned from he still like is Involved with the school and loves education, and he that's his degree is in. English education. And so he's always used that as a way to share the gospel. And he worked for, we worked for an organization called Back to Back before, which is like an orphan care network. And so that's kind of what we've always done.
And then back in August, it was a year before that, a year before that transition, that we both were like, I could really use help with operations and logistics, finance, accounting, all the things that he's gifted in. And I would love to keep running programming. And he had gotten to the point with education where the school had was running and doing well. And he had hired all these teachers and he was home with me with all these foster babies and coming to the clinic and helping me at the police station, helping me in the prisons, like doing so much of the work on the side that we were both like. I was secretly would never ask him to leave that, leave what he loved with judge education.
But we could, yes, it was around the same time that both of us were like, What if we did this together completely? And so he went off for a weekend actually at this missionary retreat center and prayed about it and came back and was like, I think this is what the Lord's asking us to do is to do Carry Them full-time together. And so then it took about a year to do all the transition needed for the school and make sure everything went well. And then this last August, he joined Carry Them full-time as operations director. And then I direct programming.
Okay. So when you and your husband first met, when you were in the States, I'm assuming you met in the States. Did you both have missions on your heart at some, like to some degree, that you knew you wanted to do something with missions in your life? Yeah, we actually met on a mission trip overseas in the Philippines.
Okay. So he's from North Carolina and I'm from Texas.
Okay. But we had met in the Philippines both teaching at a school. And so, not that that was our long-term plan, but we came back, went to university, got our degrees. And then right after we got married, we had heard, we were like, we got nothing else. Like, we're not really tied down yet.
We don't have kids or anything.
So let's go serve. um at the school for For a year, and not realizing that the Lord had had plans for us long past that.
So, where is your supporting church? Like, what state do you guys call home when you're in the states on furlough? Texas in Round Rock area.
Okay. Oh, really? I used to live in Round Rock. It's a small. Did you really?
I did. Oh, really? I love Round Rock. I love Texas. We've never lived there, but that's where I went to UT.
So after we got married, we were there very temporarily before we left for the field.
So we don't really have a home base where we've ever lived together, especially since he's from North Carolina and I'm from Texas, Houston area. But the very short time that we were married in the States before we went to the field was in Round Rock. And so our sending church is a smaller church, Radiant Church. which which kind of like supported us from the very beginning when we were just teachers and have really come alongside us ever since. Have your family is ever been out to Nigeria to visit you guys?
My mother-in-law is just amazing, and she comes every year. And it is, we look forward to it so much. She's one of my best friends as well.
So, yeah, she comes. She's gonna come for the birth as well.
Okay. So, she'll be here in a few weeks. And, Yeah, she uh is a teacher. as well, a retired teacher, so she's always been able to help my husband at the school.
So she comes every year, so she's been here like seven times. And then my one time my father and stepmom came out maybe like five years ago.
Okay. And that was great too. But in general, people consider Nigeria and then they Google it and real quickly they reconsider. Yeah, yeah. I was gonna ask you, you know, with the dangers that are out there, and you said that you're like right there on that line between Islamic and Christian.
What are some of the, not only the dangers that you face with people from the villages coming to your clinic, knowing that you guys are Christian? But also, how do you combat maybe some of the fears that you have from time to time, not only for yourself and for the work you do, but even for your own family, for your children? How do you combat that with truth? Yeah. I think remembering how faithful God has been, I just feel so.
Genuinely, so incredibly privileged to do this work and to know these moms and to live. To live here, I miss the States a lot. There are definitely days where we're drowning and we just feel like. We can't do this, and this is really hard. And we need to go home.
There's a huge kidnapping crisis right now, so our kids' schools are closed because of all the children that keep getting kidnapped at schools across the country, but specifically, yeah, in the north, which we're close to. And so. you know, our our kids' school close closes for n nine weeks or something for security issues and now they're home with us and There's lots of things like that that you know would probably incite fear.
However, um It's easy to remember all the ways that the Lord has been near to us in other crisis. And it's also such incredible encouragement to see the lives saved. We just get to watch lives saved and we get to see incredible hope and. Yeah, testimony after testimony of of really hopeless situations and loss turn into just... Smiling, happy, bouncing, fat babies, like over and over again.
We've gotten to see that. And so that's the encouragement is what the Lord has done, being able to remember that. I think that really helps us take the next step. But also, our friends, our community. I I think it's a privilege to raise children here too.
I my my kids have a very unique experience growing up here in Nigeria, and I and I really love that for them. Are there verses that you consistently turn to that kind of replenish your joy and your strength on your on your hard days with these babies? Yes, yeah. There's a few different resources that I feel like have been really helpful. Um there's I didn't grow up in the church really, and so I am kind of finding hymns, for example, are new.
Like my husband grew up in a Baptist church where they sing hymns like crazy, like all the time, and so they're comforting because they're part of his childhood. But me, I'm learning them for the first time. I'm hearing them for the first time, and I'm just like, I love them. And so it's like this child, it's almost like a childlike discovery of things that many Christians have known for many years or have heard before, but I'm just coming upon for the first time.
So there's certain hymns that in different seasons of my life that I've been like one right now, there's one Arburtons, it's Annie Johnson Flint, but it's it's just been really powerful for me about our burdens. And it's called He Giveth More Grace. I'll just read a small part that just means so much to us. Fear not that thy need shall exceed his provision. Our God ever yearns his resources to share.
Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing. The Father, both thee and thy load will upbear. His love has no limits, his grace has no measure, his power no boundary known unto men. For out of his infinite riches in Jesus, he giveth and giveth and giveth again. And that's just.
Yeah, I've I've seen that. He has just given and given Whenever we felt really empty.
So I feel like him's have been really great for me. I'm also a huge fan of Elizabeth Elliott lately. I didn't know much about her at all until becoming a missionary and moving to the field and So then I just got kind of obsessed with her and read all of her stuff. And I listened to all her podcasts a lot. And There's a devotional that she recommended at one point that she used her whole life.
And it's like a very obscure, like, old timey devotional that I had heard her mention a few times in her podcast.
So I bought it and it had to be like printed just for me to buy it because no one buys it. But it's called. Daily Strength for Daily Needs.
Okay. And it's really short. Like it's literally, it's just a verse. And then it's a couple quotes by missionaries or, I don't know, famous. People that I don't know who they are from like the 1800s and stuff, but um, that has been incredibly encouraging to me as well.
So, I feel like Elizabeth Elliott, um, she's very, your life is not your own, um, you serve, and um, you know. And he is near, and that's the Christian walk. Like, she doesn't give you a ton of. Room for self-pity. And I feel like that's been really good for me here on the field.
You serve and he's near. There's people on the field and then there's people on the field. You know, your your courage is is phenomenal, especially the courage for your whole family is Is absolutely remarkable, but the joy that we see in what God's given you to do. It is spectacular. Yeah.
I'd like to. And I can see why Elizabeth Elliott would appeal to you because hers was to say, well, what? You're going to do what? Your husband was. That whole story is.
Is is unbelievable.
So, yeah. When you mentioned that some of the women on your team have faced some persecution from Islamic men and women. And yet, here they're serving them. That's exactly who came to mind: Elizabeth Elliott, because here her husband was murdered. And she didn't abandon the people.
She poured into them further. And here she also had a little girl, and she said, I'm just gonna, I'm gonna do the next thing. And she really did live a life of sacrifice, but it wasn't a life, I think, kind of what you're saying, Robbie, as far as like there are those on the mission field and there are those on the mission field. And it's like sometimes you. You can wear your sufferings on your face and on your sleeve, you know, and people are very aware of the hardships of it.
And then there are others that you endure the hardships, like Elizabeth Elliott. But there's just something very special and beautiful about the grace and endurance that the Lord gives for those things. And it's so obvious to us who are meeting you that this is your calling. This is what the Lord has given you, because even amidst the hardships and the trials, you not only are enduring, but you have great joy in it. And as you see the Lord supply the needs of these very vulnerable children and women.
You're simultaneously seeing how he is supplying your needs and the needs of your children and the needs of you and your husband. And it's really a beautiful thing where you're saying, This is exactly where I wanna be. And that willingness to kind of lay down Lay down your comfort. Lay down what's familiar, you know, with being in the States. We actually I I talked to a missionary Many months ago, probably this past summer, and he raised his kids on a mission field.
And he was saying that there is a thing called third culture grief for kids that are raised on the mission field. And it's, and this is something that I want our listeners to really know because what that looks like is. Children who maybe feel like they don't quite fit in with either culture. You know, maybe they don't fit in with the foreign culture because they're not native there. Or maybe they don't fit in with the states because they're, you know, they're.
They live a more simple life. They live a life that's not drenched in media and self-absorbed and that sort of thing. But that's something that for those of us that are here in the States that want to support missionaries. We want to be that place of comfort, that place of welcome when you guys do come home. What are some ways that when you come home on furlough or when any missionary family comes home on furlough, what are some of the best ways that other believers can make you feel welcome and give you truly a peace, like a time of rest?
Yeah, wow, thank you for asking that. My husband and I were just talking today about this, actually, about just this idea of, okay, if we do go home and try to do fundraising events in the fall, that means taking our kids out of school here and then putting them in school there. But like, are they going to struggle to make friends? And is that going to be, they're going to be really excited to be in America. They are really, really excited about gas stations and grocery stores.
Like, that's literally my two sons, like, that's what they asked for their birthday. Can we go to Buckingham's gas station? And can we go to HEB, which is their grocery store that they know? And so. Like They get really excited, and I think, but really quickly, there's this: okay, we're in, we are excited about, they notice they're just different, that they don't.
Yeah, they they don't know what that is. Why are what are what are they holding and who and what is that? Whether it's like a new electronical device or um or clothing, like my my daughter, when we left this last time and we're back in the States really quickly. Um Just what people wear in Nigeria is so different. And then we they were just sh shell-shocked by what people wear in in the US versus in a very Muslim community.
And so, so yeah, it's there's Part of it's exciting, but a lot of it is scary for kids. And I think a big one is not treating missionaries like. Um, like we won't We won't understand, or not that we won't understand, but that we won't, that we're above. Those things, or that we, I think, that sometimes people are like, my mom is really sick and in the hospital, but that's nothing compared to what you deal with.
So I won't even talk to you about it. And it's like, we want to be part of a community and a life. And those things are still hard. And, um, I don't, we don't want to be set aside as like these people that serve overseas, therefore, can't relate to any life in the US because we spend a lot of time overseas thinking. With people overseas thinking that we can't relate to them because we have a life in the US.
Like it's on both sides, people just assume that we can't, we can't relate to them. And it's so nice to be able to be welcomed into a community group. This last time we were back for two months, it was only two months, but our friends invited us to be part of their life group and to come as if we were part of their life group. And our kids played with their kids, and we did part of their Bible study temporarily. And it was only two months, so they only met, I think, four times during those two months.
But it meant a lot to us to be plugged into a community like that. And now, of course, they've been meeting for 10 years and we were only two months of it. But it was really special to us to be part of that. Um so yeah, just not treating them like they're a little bit alien and and don't understand American culture. Yeah, it's going to be funny and different to us, but we still want to be like engaged with and invited places and We're not just going to be like sitting in our.
In our houses reading our Bible. Can't wait to get back to the field. We'd love to be part of the community, too. Yeah. My grandmother, she actually had an episode on here too, talking about the importance of scripture memory.
But my grandmother, she had such a heart for missionaries. And she's part of, they've been part of John MacArthur's church their whole lives. And she headed up a like a mission. I guess like a I don't know what to call it, like a missions ministry called Mindset for Missions. And she would do a handwritten birthday card for every single missionary and every single missionary child.
And she would include like $5 in every card because she was like, they don't get cards. They don't get a birthday from anybody, really. No one sends them stuff. And so she was so faithful. And that's part of my memories growing up: like, helping her do those cards.
But. I think so many people assume that the church as a whole, whoever you're sending churches, is Taking care of you in all those different areas. And it's not that they're not taking care of whatever your needs are. But I think sometimes we don't realize that, like, there's other needs beyond just financial support. You know, you need to feel like you're cared for and loved and known.
Are there ways for people like if people are listening to this episode and they said, I would love to just send Mandolin and her husband a card and just write to them and encourage them, is there a way for them to do that? Yeah, well, actually, getting mail all the way to us almost never arrives. And if it does, there's a lot of extortion to try to get it.
So we can't actually receive mail, but we do have like. I don't know, maybe once every six months, somebody will come visit us, either from our home church or like a family member, in which case they can bring, they can bring stuff.
Okay. Like letters or whatever. And so anything that's like sent to our home church at Radiant could be brought or things like that. Yeah, that just reminded me when when you were talking that, um Like sometimes I get really, I don't know, and not jealous or envious, I don't think that's the right word, but I miss. Um what it would be like to be in a safe Environment, like a safe environment for my kids, where there's like playgrounds and parks that we can go to, where we don't have to either stay on the compound or very briefly go somewhere that we know is secure.
There's There's a small community which we can kind of move around in, but for the most part, there's not really anywhere you can go and know that it, that. There's not going to be kind of like an attack or something going on, at least in our area.
So, going back, it just is really special to us as well to just be invited over for something simple, like making cookies or to watch a movie. Like, I just, those are the times that I most treasured when I'm back in the States: is like a friend just being like, Hey, you want to come over and watch a movie? Like, just something so simple like that was like, I do, I do want to come and do that, and I'll stop on the way and I'll get a A cheeseburger or something, or stop at the gas station, right? Yeah, like that, that is just moments of like you're safe, you're safe, and you can go somewhere and you're invited. And yeah, I think that those are the moments that we look forward to even way more than the idea of like, okay, maybe our family will go to this water park.
Or we have like big ideas and hopes for when we're home, but the little things like that of just going to a playground with a friend and being invited and not being like the weird missionaries, like that, that's the best. Yeah. Oh, it's beautiful.
So, kind of being reminded that, like, we're all at the end of the day, we're all the same, serving the same God in different capacities, and to kind of have that normalcy. I hosted a show years ago called A Place Missionaries Call Home. We have the Sloan Missionary Homes here in North Carolina. They have families come in all the time. And so I did this kind of work for a while and and you're speaking to a need that that That really is fun to meet if you're part of a church and you're thinking, like, wow, you're hearing this episode.
Well, you got missionaries in your own church. And I assure you, you know, what you're hearing is a very common, common, and so it's beautiful what your grandmother did. And it just opens up the door for our. all sorts of opportunity because those kids Ugh. Missionary kids.
But it's also special, and it's cool to see how God uses all that too. Yeah, yeah. So, I guess shifting that a little bit as far as the way that people can stay connected with you or with your children, including people in your own church, or even giving people ideas that are sending missionaries, how we can stay connected. And you're saying that you oftentimes don't receive physical mail that is sent to you. But what about if people send you emails or if people were within like say within your church, if you had friends that were FaceTiming your children, like would those be things that make you feel like you're staying connected and like people are keeping you on the forefront of your mind and keeping your friendships?
not not just alive, but keeping them really as a priority, would that matter to you a lot? Oh yeah, for sure. If you can like remember my kids' interests and ask about them, like that that's huge for our kids. I mean, okay, we just had Christmas. And a good example is we did we did bring a few things over for Christmas morning, but realistically we're not We're not going to be able to give them an American Christmas, and then me and my husband can't get anything really for each other.
Um, and it's now eight years, probably now.
Well, other than the two, like we had a Christmas in the States for when we had a baby, um, where we don't, I don't get anything for Christmas, he doesn't get anything for Christmas, the kids get a few things, and that's totally normal and fine, and a part of our life, and good. And we have a beautiful, amazing Christmas, and we loved it. And I, and I really do treasure my Christmases here. And, but, same way with birthdays: what are we gonna do for birthdays? There's not like shopping unless somebody comes out with something.
Um, so a FaceTime call from a friend back in the States from our home church is huge for my daughter, for instance. Um, she is very, very social, loves people, and remembers everyone, um, and she loves to be remembered. And so, for her to have someone in the States call her on her birthday that's her age, um, that her mom like set up is like, oh my gosh, I'm loved, I'm loved all the way over there, even though I haven't seen this person. For seven months.
So absolutely, that can be huge. I love the way that you just said that. I think it's an important way for us to kind of catalog that in our memories: is that your daughter loves people and she loves to be loved. And that's like we all want to be loved and seen and remembered, right? That she's she's good at remembering people and she wants to be remembered too.
And I think that that's a good takeaway for us to all remember. And in addition to praying for your ministry, and we'll put a link down below where people can donate to your ministry. I think that that's a very important thing that you're doing. But faithfully praying, you know, when we say, I'll be praying for you, but we don't pray. It's they're empty words, right?
But when we say, I'll be praying for you, and we faithfully pray, there's nothing more powerful that you can do than that. But then also stepping in and making some of these tangible gestures where, you know, maybe the missionaries are in countries where you can send something, or if you can't, you can't. You know, connect through email, connect through FaceTime, get to know who the missionaries are that your church supports and find out their contact information and say, Hey, you have a 10-year-old daughter, I have a 10-year-old daughter. Can we just connect them and let them talk once in a while? And then I would imagine, too, those become friendly faces that you look forward to seeing when you are on furlough.
So, Mandalyn, we so appreciate your time and sharing your ministry with us. You really have not only a beautiful heart, but a very beautiful and needed ministry.
So, thank you so much. You have a smile, too, by the way. Yes, yes, that's beautiful. Yeah, I'm so thankful to have run into you even on Instagram.
So, you know, I really appreciate it. And I thank you for coming on and sharing your whole story and your ministry with us. And we will be praying for your ministry. God bless. Yes.
Thank you. So it really, it really is so encouraging and such a service, even to just to be able to talk about these. These precious lives that I love. And yeah, there's definitely moments where we feel a little bit lonely and loving them. And it's not true.
It's just that there are so many people that the Lord has directed their hearts and broken their hearts for what's going on. And yeah, just, I can't explain the encouragement that it can feel to be like, this is really hard. I love this baby, but gosh, hundreds of people via social media or via a podcast or something are also praying and love and value this life as well.
So thank you so much. Absolutely. And if you're watching this episode, we're going to put a link on here also to your Instagram so that people can come see your Instagram, see exactly what you're doing, and see some of these babies that you are nurturing because it is pretty amazing to see these babies go from teeny, tiny, and vulnerable to, as you put, this little fat bouncing baby. And it really, it's an encouraging thing to see that, but it's, it's hard work and it's work where you are. putting your faith above any fears that you may have.
And we want to come alongside you and help carry some of those, you know, as we titled your episode, help carry some of those unbearable burdens and place them on the Lord through prayer and through tangibly helping you.
So, Mandalyn, thank you again for joining us on Hope in the Morning. Thank you. Hope in the Morning is a nonprofit ministry that seeks to encourage the hurting, equip those who walk beside them, and evangelize the lost with the hope of Jesus Christ. to partner with our ministry or to make a donation in your loved one's honor. Please visit hope in the morning.org.
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