The story of this tiny short life puts things in perspective. It is told on Establish the Work of Our Hands, by Mary Beth Oyebade, a missionary in Jos, Nigeria who along with her husband Bayo oversees the Mashiah Foundation, a ministry to people infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS.
On August 14th, Mary Beth introduced Moses, an 8 month old whose mother had died of Aids in June. Relatives who had cared for him had waited for him to die and had even quit feeding him, but he refused to die. Esther, the matron at Bezer Home had picked him up at the hospital and named him Moses. Mary Beth closed the post this way: Does the baby have HIV? We don’t know. Does it matter? No. Every child needs to be loved no matter what their circumstances.
On September 4th, Mary Beth gave an update on Baby Moses (great photo), He’s keeping his food down, and responding very well to all the love and attention he’s getting. Whenever I hold him, I notice that he loves to make eye contact, and he also likes to be reaching out and touching people. Please pray for this little guy’s future.
On September 21st, Mary Beth had bad news that Baby Moses had been injured: This morning, as his bath water was being prepared, little baby Moses suddenly squirmed out of his caregiver’s hands, and fell into very hot (near boiling) bath water. He was instantly plucked out, but the damage was already done. We ran around this morning getting medical attention for him. He is now on admission at the hospital. Although he has improved greatly in his time at Bezer Home, he is still frightfully small—about the size of a normal 2 month old, when he’s actually about 9 months old. We do know that he is a survivor, and we believe that this little guy will fight for his survival this time too. Volunteers are taking turns with his round-the-clock care at the hospital.
On September 23rd, Mary Beth reported that Moses’s burn was not too severe and that his appetite was good. Despite his frail health and small body, she was hopeful.
Last night, the posting read: Baby Moses is in the arms of the Lord. We all thought he was recovering and would be discharged from the hospital soon, but he simply slipped away this evening.