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Hi, it's us again. We know this is long. When you have a chance, please read the whole thing. Then share it with everyone you can. You'll be glad you did. So will we (we really do appreciate all that you do for us)!

by Natalie Key

“In this room we just wait for the children to die…"

These are words that should crush you to your very soul. These are the very words that I heard just this past week. As I type this my heart aches, my mind is still reeling as I try to understand a brokenness that I believe to be completely God’s. As I’ve said from the beginning, every single life matters and if we were brought to this country for just one, then it was absolutely worth it! This however is so much bigger then I ever imagined.

A little over a year ago God heard the cry of my heart as I asked Him for someone to walk this journey with. I knew in my heart I needed someone more mature in their faith, someone who could teach me from their experiences in the mission field, who I could learn from as a mother and a wife. I prayed for someone who would continue to push me, hold me accountable, to pray for us as we seek to follow faithfully, and just be the ear that would listen as we often have to internally process the work we are blessed to do. Little did I know this prayer would be answered through one of the most generous and passionate people I have ever met in my life. She pursued this mission field because she knew this is exactly where God wanted her. This very sweet woman from Texas, well she’s exactly what I needed and God knew this. What started out on our end as a simple invitation to help her begin her work in Bulgaria, has turned into walking this ministry road as one. Mary is constantly pushing me to do the things that I have always felt ill equipped to do. The very things that I have prayed for someone else to faithfully pursue are the very things that God has used Mary to whisper into my heart- “Natalie, why not you guys?” The tiny match that was lit in us has been tossed into the kindling and the fire is growing and will not be contained as we pursue the impossible in God alone.

To look into the eyes of a dying child will change you forever. Their bodies so frail, their breath so weak. Several rooms are filled with these beautiful children but barely a sound is heard. No laughter, no tears, no child asking to play. In that moment you’d give anything to hear even the whisper of a tear because you’d hold hope that their delicate lives are still able to fight. Standing right beyond the bars of their bed my soul longs to scoop them up, hold them tightly in my arms, and prayerfully love them. I’ve held the hand of many in my life as they have taken their last breath here on earth and all I can think is that I would do anything to do the same for these children. They are absolutely surrounded by people who love them. Beautiful people who have made it their job, their life’s dedication and everyday they sacrifice of their own lives and families to love and care for these children, but one thing is clear. This isn’t enough! God has more work here. We must join in these efforts to love and fight for these children for Him alone.

Steps from here brings much more life. Here there is hope, yearning for these children to find their forever families. God’s babies, contained in their beds, arms outstretched saying play with me, touch me, hold me close because I need to be loved. The outsider may initially be intimidated by what they see. Many little heads show the effects of hydrocephalus, legs that are bent in unnatural ways, tubes nourishing the tiny bodies that seem trapped in a state of infancy. But when you really listen, when you stoop down close to the crib and look deeply into the eyes of these children, when they reach out and hold your hand, God overwhelms you with the peace that there is so much hope for these little ones. Their future is yet to be seen and beyond what seems humanly possible, I know that God is so much bigger than this.

Please hear me loud and clear. This particular home is one of love. The children are cared for by those who carry a sacrificial love, who give their very best every day to each and every child. And... God has absolutely commanded us to do more. “Natalie, why not you guys.” We cannot turn away and act as though scripture doesn’t directly speak to us. This unexpected door has been thrown wide open to us to come and to serve. These abandoned children are God’s children. They deserve more people who will fight for them. They deserve families who will fight to get them better medical care, to give them a chance to pursue the very best life imaginable. They deserve someone to hold them close, to kiss their cheek, and to pray over them as they take their very last breath. God never abandoned these children, and as Christians nor should we. I did not walk into this home blind. In fact, I see better now than I have in the over 15 years I’ve had the blessing to serve in this country.

The further this road takes us into ministry the weaker I feel as a human being. Every step down this road, though, only leads me to greater strength. I see those children reaching out, saying hold me close, take me with you. In this season of life I often find myself taking on the posture of a child reaching out to my Daddy, asking Him to teach me to lead the way, to take me by the hand as we seek to walk in this work faithfully. We are powerless and yet in Him we have The Way to fight for these lives, to hold them tight, and to lead and love for the Kingdom.

We thank you for walking this journey with us! We thank you for every prayer lifted up, every message of encouragement sent to us, and every single phone call we receive that reminds us how very loved we are. We thank you for your faithful and sacrificial financial support, because without it we could never remain in this mission field to serve the people we dearly love. And we thank you for pushing us always and constantly reminding us that this journey was never meant to be easy. We have been brought here to live the Life that is in us and we refuse to fall short of God’s perfect journey. What I have shared here is only a small piece to a much greater vision. We are excited as God opens more doors and calls us to what seems impossible. We are constantly in awe as we stand back and watch God orchestrate His perfect plan.

These lives that we seek to fight for have more value than could be put into words. Because of this we will continue to share our story, to challenge you to join us in different ways, and to ask many to help us meet these needs. We will be a voice for the weak and we will absolutely fight for where we know God is leading us. This journey is beautifully unknown, but we are powerfully weak, and faithfully His! Join us! Live the Life that’s in you, find joy even in the brokenness, and shout out hallelujah in the darkest of moments. We love you and we faithfully pray for how God will use you where you’re at!

-Nat

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Matthew 25:40

Don't forget - many of our photos make great gifts, and can be purchased from www.thebighouse.photos. All proceeds from this site go directly to helping us do what we do.

Beautifully unknown, powerfully weak, faithfully his.

We have been working in homes for children in Bulgaria for twelve years now. A lot has changed during this time, and it's easy to be overwhelmed, discouraged or even angry if you only hear the heartbreak. I'm not going to lie - the fact that we even need these places should be enough to make your heart hurt, and the fact that what should be one of the most-funded services in any country, is often one of the least, is a problem. But it's a problem that we can and will do something about, if we work together.

During the communist years, children with no families or families too poor to care for them should never have existed in a perfect society. So instead of working to fix the problems, they were basically hidden - out of sight, out of mind. This is particularly true of the special needs homes, which most often were located on the outskirts of remote villages. Sadly, many children were sent to these homes for very minor things that could have easily been fixed or managed (e.g. lazy eye). Kids who could have thrived in community with a little bit of extra care (e.g. Downs Syndrome) were instead institutionalized, with little care and few staff.

Over the past decade, much has changed in Bulgaria, mostly for the better. Are the standards what we would expect (or honestly, what we take for granted)? Absolutely not. Sixty years of communism dug a hole that is hard to climb out of. Bulgaria is still the poorest nation in the European Union, and many families struggle to provide for themselves, much less think about others.

But there is hope. We serve a God who knows every one of these children by name, and calls them his own. Who has told us repeatedly that if we love him, we will care for them (Matt. 25, James 1:27, etc.). Our goal, of course, is to see every one of these children adopted - God-willing, this will someday be primarily by Bulgarian families, but until that is possible, by families from the U.S. and other countries, who will give them a forever home. Bulgaria is emerging from darkness, and we believe that God will use her to make his name famous throughout Europe and the rest of the world. That is why we are here, and why we need your help.

So what do you need to know?

1. There is a problem, and it needs help.

As I already mentioned, these homes are SEVERELY underfunded. Things that we consider basics are often beyond the means of the meager budgets available. In one home we work in, just turning on the heat during the winter months takes 30% of the annual budget (partly because of the amount of the budget, partly because of an old and inefficient heating system). This means that the director is faced with an almost impossible decision, and that things like clothes, toys, games, school supplies and often even heat and sufficient food rely on outside help.

2. The greater the needs, the greater the problem.

So if the home happens to be one for children with special needs, adding in things like medical care, medicine, special dietary needs, etc., means that much more help is needed. Aside from treatment that just isn't available yet in Bulgaria (e.g. early intervention for hydrocephalus, etc.), there is often no consideration for individualized treatment for specific needs - so kids who need special nutrient-rich food only get the same food as any other child (which is barely enough for a healthy child). Many of the directors of these homes spend a lot of time looking for help from outside sources - like the BigHouse Foundation. We have been able to help provide funding for special formula, for medical tests and treatment at the home Natalie mentioned above, and are working with its director to find more ways to help.

3. It's about more than just stuff.

These kids need people who love them and are committed to being present as often as possible. They need to know that they matter, and that people want to hear their stories, laugh with them, cry with them, and help them figure out what life is all about. Because most homes are severely understaffed, many kids struggle with things like school, interpersonal relationships, and even learning to care for themselves. Imagine spending your entire life in a home like this, and then when you are eighteen and sent out into the world realizing that you don't understand anything about how to get - much less keep - a job, shop for groceries, or even fix your own breakfast. One of our goals is to be on-site at as many homes as possible, to be an advocate for the staff as well as the children. Ideally, we would like to have full-time staff living close to the home, being a recognized face and also helping to manage teams of Bulgarians (for example, students who will come regularly to tutor and mentor the kids) and mission teams coming to spend time with the kids.

So, help us. Pray for us. Help us financially. Organize a fundraiser. Bring a team! If you can do any of these, or are interested in summer internships or in working with us for one or two years in the field, either reply to this email, or send an email to shawn@isalt.org.

"Religion that God the Father accepts as pure and faultless is this; to look after widows and orphans in their distress, and to remain uncorrupted by the world."
James 1:27

Will you help us?

We cannot do what we do without faithful support from people like you. You can give either to our personal support, or now directly to the BigHouse Foundation and our work with orphans and others who desperately need help. Either through direct giving, through bringing a team to come help us, or through volunteering to organize fundraisers in your community, we appreciate every bit of help.

Thank you for allowing us to share the vision God has given us. Would you please pray about how you can be a part of this important cause? If you have questions, or if you know that God is calling you to help us out, just reply to this email.

To support us financially, you can make a donation online at www.beautifulfeet.us. Just click on the "Donate" link on the main menu, then choose us (0334 - The Key Family) from the "Individual Support" dropdown. You can now also choose to donate directly to the BigHouse Foundation by choosing it from the dropdown.

To mail a check, the address is:

Beautiful Feet
3720 S. Hiwassee Rd.
Choctaw, OK 73020

All donations are tax deductible, and 100% goes directly to us in the field.

If you have any questions about this, please let us know!