Hard times...God is always there.

The Lord has been teaching me so much these past few weeks. I have learned not only to be patient in certain things and also just trusting. I have struggled with trust but I know that God is in control in ALL things. Even the small issues of life. This past week at BBC we were able to get out in the community and help recent flood victims. We gutted houses, set up a small shop so that people who lost all their possessions can come and get what they need for free, and just loving the people who are hurting. It was so cool to see how God used us and I am so thankful we were able to go out and be apart of that. I am looking to be able to go again this next week with a small group. 

 Recently I have had a door open in the area of helping a new ministry in South Africa. This ministry is called ASSIST. The lady, Rene, has such a heart and passion for people. She is currently watching 10 children. With just her and her husband and their two children she is ready to help these people in whatever way she can. She is opening her door to hurting children and babies. Rene recently called me and was just in tears because of how discouraging and hard these times have been for them. I am trying now to be able to get the word out about their ministry to see if we as Americans can help in anyway possible. Right now there is a HUGE need financially. They need to be able to hire more help. These stories she told me were heart wrenching. Please be in prayer for a 10 year old girl who was put through something that no-one could ever imagine. Her brother and sister also saw everything that happened to her and are very distraught. Rene has taken the two siblings in and the 10 year old girl is in the hospital with kidney failure and many other issues. A shortened story of what happened is her organs were removed from her body because a man was upset with her. I do not want to go into details just because of how horrible it is but PLEASE be in prayer for those three sweet children. Also a 12 year old girl was raped and has now been pregnant for 5 months. When she has her baby she will be 13 and kicked out of the place she is in now because the government has made a law that when you have child you are considered an "adult". Please be in prayer for her as Rene will be taking her in and teaching her how to take care of babies and the necessities of being a mother as best she can.  These stories are horrific and just break my heart.


 As I am looking into going back in may please be in prayer that I will have the funds to go. Melissa, Karissa and I are trying to get a group of people to go and help in whatever way needed. Please pray for us as we need guidance and how we are suppose to do this. I am really excited about where God has me right now. I can do a lot here in the states for ASSIST. Also if any of you are more interested in this you can contact me and/ or look at their website: http://www.assist.za.org/.


Thank you all for supporting me and please be in prayer for all of these things! 


I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Patiently waiting: Psalms 27:14

I wanted to post another short blog. Its been one month and I want to tell you where I am at now. I have been learning so much this past month of being home. It has been a very hard time being away from the babies. I truly do miss them. But as I am home I am trying to continually look to God for what He wants for me in the future. However, right now I feel like God is just telling me to "Be still and know that He is Lord." This is very hard for me because I am one to want to constantly be moving...doing something. This song comes to mind regularly when this urge of wanting to do something:

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord, wait upon the Lord, we wil wait upon the Lord. You reign forever, our home, our strong deliverer. You are the everlasting God, the everlasting God. You do not faint, you won't grow weary. You're the defender of the weak, you comfort those in need, you lift us up on wings like eagles.  

I am just trying to patiently wait on the Lord for many different answers. God is good and I want to trust and obey Him constantly throughout my life. There are so many opportunities that I am looking forward to but for now I must wait:) 

Prayer Request:

    -This school year is packed full with wonderful opportunities...pray that I will be strong and focused on what I need to do and not get overwhelmed. 

   - For patience with all the things I want to do but I know I am to wait upon the Lord. 

 The more I look around me here its amazing the things I can do right down the road from me. So many times I get caught up and think I need to travel to another country to do things for God but in reality America needs to see His love just as much South Africa, India, Russia, etc.

Thank you all for your support and encouragement throughout my whole life and especially during this time of my life where I am just growing so much! 

~Home Sweet Home~

Well I am now home. It is such a bitter sweet thing. I absolutely love my family and SO happy that I can be home with them! However, I am completely sad that I am not at Door of Hope with the babies and all the wonderful people that I met...

Many tears fell from my eyes as I walked out of Door of Hope. As I was leaving they brought me my two babies that I absolutely fell in love with. I held one at a time and said goodbye. It was so hard. Saying goodbyes are not my favorite thing. Well as I got in the car and was about to drive away they brought one of my babies out and he smiled at me as I was leaving. It was SO hard BUT I know that God is definitely taking care of me! I will never forget the faces of those babies.

This blog is going to be short but hopefully it will give you an idea of what I learned and did. I wanted to write this blog just to kind of “debrief” on my whole trip. It was amazing how God really showed Himself to me at Door of Hope. I know that He is calling me to missions and I am SO excited to see where He is going to take me.

Each baby, volunteer, auntie and staff made a lasting impact on my life. I can honestly say that even though there were challenges and things at Door of Hope that were hard at some points I know that for a fact each of those things allowed me to grow and learn for the future. Every day I was there in the back of my I knew that someday I will have an orphanage, if it’s God’s will. As I read my devotions and books I felt God calling me and just burdening me with the thought of all the babies that do not have homes. The babies they find in trash bags, card-board boxes and some other horrible ways. I want to be there for them one day and give them a temporary home. God has really been laying on my heart orphans for a long time and just seeing Door of Hope I know that God has a plan for me in the future.

Update about the babies. Well if I get started on one baby I will want to talk about ALL of them but I will refrain and just tell you about a few. Shepherd is about 6 months and he has just grown and grown just in one month. This adorable child escaped a likely HIV diagnosis before coming to us at the Door of Hope. When I first met Shepherd he was VERY small for his age, quiet, non-expressive, and refused to stretch out of a swaddled (arms crossed, legs crossed) position. Over just a few weeks he now smiles, giggles, screams for kisses, rolls to his side, kicks his feet, plays peek-a-boo, holds his own bottle, and interacts with interest. It has been an amazing and humbling blessing to be a part of how much he has developed. The second baby I want to tell you about, which I have mentioned him before, is Shadrack. Well I taught him how to say the first letter of my name:) He now says, “kuh”. It was so cool to see him grow and learn how to say things and just his personality really began to shine. He is a year and two months and we are all praying for him that he will be adopted in August.

I never thought I would miss changing another nappie, getting thrown up on at least 15 times a day, bottle time, crying, holding them and etc…but I miss it more than I could imagine. Please just pray for me as I am recovering from the time difference. It is a miracle that I am even up till 8:30 tonight! Also, just keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I am very sad about leaving those babies but I do know for a FACT that God is 

taking care of them.

To close out my blogs for this trip I just wanted to say thank you (for the hundredth time) because all of you who prayed and supported me- I would not have had this experience. A passage that was such an encouragement and basically sums up this trip is Psalms 91. It reminded me that God is watching over and protecting me and all the babies. I have to rest in His arms and know that He is God. You all have been such an encouragement and I really am thankful to God for blessing me with such wonderful people. I hope to present to Summit soon. I will let you all know when I am. Until then keep growing and seeking after God:)  Psalm 105:4 “Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.”

This Chapter is Coming to a Close...

This chapter is coming to a close. I can NOT believe that I am leaving in just 4 short days. I have learned SO much here and absolutely fell in love with the babies. God has shown me amazing things and I am so excited to tell all of you. The picture below is of Shadrack...such a cool picture because he is looking at the door of hope pamphlet and if you look closely it says: "In Johannesburg alone at least one baby is abandoned every day"

Well after working five days straight, I am worn out. You never realize how much work it is until you do it non- stop. I am now an expert at: changing nappies (diapers), changing their outfits, feeding them their bottles, washing dishes, and basically anything a mom would do times thirteen. We now have twelve babies because one of our babies was adopted. However, three total of our babies were adopted yesterday. One was from big babies. (the section I work in) One was from Starfish. (Special needs) And one was from Baby House 2. It was a bittersweet day because we love those babies and are going to miss them but we know that they are finally getting a home where they will be loved and cherished everyday! It was so cool to be able to see Luke off. We prayed and he was just smiling and smiling. He is about 10 months old and is going to be a ray of sunshine for his new family. We have a couple more babies being adopted on Friday.  This is also very bittersweet. God is going to protect every single one of those babies and we are SO excited to see him at work. 

I love the aunties! We have had some GREAT times with them and the stories could never end. They are so much fun and I know I will miss them a lot! We have had some crazy photo shoots and heard some pretty intense stuff but to be honest I have a learned a lot from them. Here is just two of the aunties that I have grown to love!

I had my first day off yesterday and we went to the market. What an experience:) It was so fun! I just love everything about South Africa. However, I know that God is calling me to missions but I am not sure it is to South Africa. I will hopefully be able to explain more when I am home! I am having a great time and seriously learning so much! Melissa and I started reading a little section of radical last night and just really made me think! It made me realize that God is SO powerful and so many times we diminish that in the Christian life. Honestly, I could go on and on about everything that God has done and shown me here but I will save that for when I am home.

So for my last blog from South Africa! I really am thankful to all of you that made it possible to come and I know that God’s hand was in this whole trip! Please pray for my trip home on Sunday night and that I won’t get lost in the airport! Haha But I will see you all when I’m home and hope to tell you all the amazing things I have learned!

Much love all the way from South Africa for the last time here! :)

Time flies: 2 weeks left.

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9

What a verse. God has really been stretching me in SO many directions. He is truly amazing. This past week I do not even think I can put into words. We received thousands of DOLLARS worth of donations on Saturday from a company. We also had many answered prayers. Received food when we did not think we had enough. And the list could just keep on going. This is truly been quite an experience for me.

As I said in my last blog, Shadrack one of our kids, is VERY sick. We found out on Saturday that he has tonsillitis and his mouth is infected while he is teething. It is so hard to see a YOUNG child go through that type of pain without understanding what is happening. As I was just watching him try to eat he was so confused on what was happening and he was just in so much pain. Well Melissa brought to my attention how similar that situation is to how adults go through things. When we are going through pain or hardships and we just cannot figure out why it is happening. Some day (if he remembers this) Shaddy will understand what the pain was he was experiencing. And I know that the hardships that we face every day here or even at home are all for a reason. God has His hand in EVERYTHING. Without explaining the whole entire story, one night I was reading a book that my sister (Jessica, thank you so much) gave to me right before I went on this trip and I opened it and the page I opened it to was EXACTLY what I needed to read. I then shared with Melissa and Kelley. We were able to rejoice and grow together. It was amazing that God is so good. I am so thankful for those two girls. I am so glad God brought them into my life.

Here is a little update about all the babies. They are doing WONDERFUL. We just had 2 NEW babies come in this last week. One baby is only 8 days old. His name is Cozi. The little girl who came in is now 10 months. She was severely malnourished because her mother was not sure how to take care of her. Her mother is only 14 years old. Well she brought her to the hospital and Dudizulle and she was there for 3 months as the doctors took care of her. Her mother would come and visit when she was able. Well the hospital/ Social Worker then released the baby to Door of Hope without telling her mother.  So be in prayer as the mother may show up at door of hope any day and want her baby back but we are not allowed to give the baby to her. Dudizulle is in “isolation” right now because of a cold but she is such a beautiful baby and will be out within the next week or so. As I said Shadrack needs prayer because he is just SO sick and we want 

him to get better. He is SO close to being adopted.

I also was able to attend Berea Baptist Church on Sunday. The husband and lady who started that church were also the ones to start the Door of Hope ministry. It was an incredible experience and so cool to see people who do not have very much just praise and honor God for ALL that they DO have! I will have to tell you more about the church later. I also was able to see Baby House 2! It was beautiful. It is right behind the Berea Baptist Church. It was really great!

I have SO many MORE “God stories” but I definitely want to share them with you in person. Especially about a new opportunity that we have found, that I will definitely give you more information about as soon as I am able. I hope that you all are growing closer to God through this summer and that my blog is uplifting and encouraging. I would love to hear from you and if you have any questions about this ministry here pleaseeee ask.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. It is very much appreciated. I want to talk to ALL of you but as the internet is not working quite as well, I will be able to talk to all of you when I am home.

I want to end just with a quote:

'"When we can't piece together the puzzle of our own lives, remember the best view of a puzzle is from above. Let HIM help put you together."

Such a great encouragement. Thank you all again for praying. 

Im in love...with these babies!

Sorry this blog is going to be like three sentences. BUT I am doing SO WELL! I love it here and want to stay forever! I put a link below that you can hopefully be able to see the picture! I am not sure if it will work but its the only way I can upload things as of now! :) I will write a longer blog next time!

file:///C:/Users/Katlyn/Pictures/Africa%202011/Facebook/090.JPG

Day One!

Well I am finally here. This is like a dream come true! I have learned SO much already its amazing to see how much you can learn in just a few days. I have now been here for one full day and I really think its going to be great. At first I wasnt sure exactly how things were going to work out and what exactly was going to happen but now I know that NO MATTER what I am going to learn so much! The babies are great! They immediately just come to you and want to be loved! Which of course I love so much because I love to just hold and take care of babies! Tonight we are going to go out with some of the other volunteers we have met and get to know them! I am really excited and just so ready to work! I have my schedule which its like a three days on two days off type of thing. So I will be off on Thursday and Friday. The days that I am on  I will be working 7am- 6pm. Today is training day:) So I will be going back to the baby house in just a little while to be trained and love on the babies! Melissa and I went grocery shopping yesterday. Well let me just say it was not that best thing to do since we were both in such a daze and basically slap happy because we were SO jet lagged. But it was fun and got to know our way around a little bit. Then we got back to the house and this dog like came out of nowhere barking and looking like it was going to attack us so we both screamed and ran inside. haha Thats just one of the funny things that have happened so far. Some exciting news is that we will be getting a new baby at our baby house today. She is "graduating" from the baby house which is downtown. Mom and Dad, you will be happy to know that even though where I am not in the safest place. The downtown house is even more unsafe:) SO dont worry. One prayer request is that a baby was kidnapped over the weekend at the downtown baby house. They have the police looking for her so if you could just pray that they will be able to find a lead quickly and that there was no harm to the baby. Lastly, while I was reading in my devos I came across the verse Joshua 1:9,  "Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid: do not be discouraged, for God is with you wherever you go." This really reassured me of so many doubts I was beginning to have. God really has given me a GREAT peace that is so comforting to feel.  Sorry that this blog is ALL over the place but hopefully my next  blog will be more understandable and not so scattered! I want to thank you again for yours prayers. This is definitely going to be stretching but so GREAT! If you have any questions or things you want to know just facebook me or comment on the blog and I will try to answer:) love you all :)

Well this is it.... the moment I have been waiting for!

I am SO excited to tell you that I will be on my flight in approximately 10 hours. I know that God is in all of this because I feel such a peace about going. God is amazing and has provided EVERYTHING I need and MORE! I cant wait to be able to update my next blog by telling you that I am IN Africa and I am sure there will be some stories to tell=) Thank you all for your support in prayer and financially. It has been a huge blessing.  Just continue to pray for safety and wisdom! I am really looking forward to just loving on these little kids. And being able to encourage the workers there. For now I will leave it at this but the next time I blog I will be there! Thank you all for everything! This verse (a very common verse) has been such a GREAT encouragement to me: Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." So excited to see what God has for me to learn! 

"Courage is the power to let go of the familiar. "

Ever since I was little, I have LOVED kids. Whenever me and my sisters or cousins would play school, I would want to be the teacher. haha Its amazing how God works. During highschool I definitely "strayed" from Gods plan and got lost with what and where He wanted me. God used some specific circumstances in my life and used them to help me grow in Him. Which leads me to today....

I always dreamed of starting an orphanage or working in one possibly in Africa. So about a year ago I decided that I was going to do it. I was going to find an orphanage somewhere and work in it. So I put in Google "Christian orphanages in South Africa". And this is where my journey began. I looked into a few different places and really prayed about each one. I decided that I would apply to a couple and see where God led me from there. Well God showed me EXACTLY where He wanted me to be. The only place that I heard back from was  Door of Hope in Johannesburg, South Africa. God made it perfectly clear where He wanted me to be. So I began the process of applying and getting everything together. There were definitely some challenges involved seeing as we only communicated over email. Before I knew it I was beginning to send out letters and raise support for my trip. The second amazing thing God did was allow me an opportunity to fly over to South Africa with a girl named Melissa. (This was definitely a relief to my parents. haha. They were a little bit nervous about me flying over alone.) Although, we have never met she is going to the same orphanage and we will meet at the airport. I will be leaving  from the Philadelphia airport on JUNE 4th..arriving in London June 5th and then arriving in South Africa June 6th. I will then leave South Africa July 4th and arriving at home July 6th. Throughout my time there I will definitely try to up date this blog and facebook as much as I can. Hopefully posting pictures and staying in touch. However, internet in the place I am going is very hard to know if it will work every day. So, if I don't write everyday...don't worry mom I probably was not kidnapped;) just kidding!

 So as I end this blog, I want to thank ALL of you who have supported me financially and in prayer.
Thank you all again, I love you all.

Have a wonderful week:)

Katlyn Pollock

The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he
trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, for in GOD the LORD, we
have an everlasting Rock.
~Isaiah 26:3-4 ~