Give STL Day Supports a Different Kind of Orphan

In 2010, I attended a gathering where Tim Baldwin (Director of Refuge of Nations) made a support appeal on behalf of Mama Georgette. She wanted to open a childcare facility in Burundi, similar to the one she had been running in St. Louis on Bates Street. There was a dilapidated house in Bujumbura that she wanted to rent, renovate, and open as a daycare center.

True confession: I remember sitting with a friend and saying something to this effect: “So Mama Georgette is not so young. What’s her long-range plan? How can this idea of hers possibly be successful? Supporting her sure doesn’t seem like an investment with guaranteed returns.”

Oh boy, did I have a lot to learn: Mama Georgette is no ordinary widow.

In  2011, Mama Georgette began renovating that house, and in 2013, it became the home to 5 orphans. Today, this orphanage is home to 23 grateful children. After the orphanage, she started other endeavors, including a food program that ensures 600 children have ingredients to eat a meal each day, several farms for growing crops, and raising animals, and a family care center. Then, in July 2023, she opened Sunrise Home, Burundi's first-ever, private assisted living facility. Mama Georgette is no ordinary widow.

When meeting with some of Mama Georgette’s friends last month, I heard on two different occasions that they thought her stories sounded like they came from the Bible. They were simply amazed at what an eighty-three-year-old widow can do.

I think I understand where they're coming from. First, Mama Georgette "visits the widows and orphans in their afflictions" (James 1:27). Second, she has given up everything to serve in Burundi, like the widow that Jesus noticed, "who, out of her poverty, has given everything she had—all she had to live on" (Mark 12: 41-44). Third, she has witnessed God multiplying the food she distributes, like the widow who did not run out of oil when Elisha told her to fill as many jars as she could find (II Kings 4:1-7).  

 To Mama Georgette, being a widow appears to be an invitation from God to have COURAGE:

     ~to dream about what the Lord might do for Burundi's forgotten children and elderly 

     ~to believe that anything is possible, even though the situation in Burundi is difficult right now

     ~to trust that the Lord will provide needed funds, even though she has no money of her own

     ~to pray with thanksgiving, trusting that the Lord already knows what she needs

     ~to depend fully on the Lord and to wait for him to work things out in His perfect timing.

If Mama Georgette's courage and work inspire you, let this be your invitation to get behind an extraordinary widow. For Give STL Day in May, we raised funds to support her work at Sunrise Home, and there is still time to be a part of this campaign to care for the elder orphans of Burundi. Consider giving to Burundi Miracle Project today to fund the important work of this extraordinary widow.