Dear Friends,

Malawi is a country with about 12 million people and there really are 1 million orphans. Constantly our Malawian friends are living with death; last week the director of Total Life Care lost his 6 month old daughter. 1 in 4 children really do die before the age of 5. Mother’s and Father’s really do wonder if they will have enough food to feed their families, HIV infected people really are as high as 1 in 3. Despite this Malawian people continue to inspire us with their human spirit, resilience and warm hearts.

As you know Madonna has put Malawi on the map, somehow though, we have found ourselves embroiled in media hype surrounding Madonna and adoption. So we thought it may be helpful to clarify a few things. We are at present going through the process to adopt a beautiful little girl, Jessica. This is something that, because of its personal nature, we have chosen to keep confidential until things were official and our family and organisation were informed. I guess it is no longer confidential. And we do apologise to those people involved in our life who are reading about such a sensitive and personal issue in the paper; like members of our family.

The article is not true and the quotes attached to Angela are also not true. My understanding is the “human rights charter for children” should protect their identity, so we are disappointed at the article and feel that it is a violation of Jessica’s rights. We did speak to a journalist, over the phone, but are upset that this is the slant they put on the article. In contacting us we were given the impression that because he heard of us adopting children, he wanted to highlight orphans and poverty. It was later he brought up our present adoption process, which we were quite surprised by, due to the confidentiality. Unfortunately we are being used to create a story and we naively went along with it, allowing pictures to be taken of our family. My understanding is they are using all people quoted to create a story.

We are not involved in a ‘tug of war’ with Madonna. During Madonna’s time in Malawi she did visit the orphanage were this little girl is currently being cared for. Jessica was one of many children that Madonna spent time with and she has no intention of adopting Jessica, but that’s about where the story begins and ends. We are very sympathetic to and supportive of Madonna and appreciate her desire to respond to the world she lives in. We wish her, her husband and her children all the best in their adoption. It is not an easy journey to decide to adopt or to travel the road to adoption and we are just thankful our lives are able to go on without the scrutiny of press she is subjected to.

Thanks guys for your continued support of us. Poverty is a chronic problem and won’t end overnight, please don’t tire of hearing about it, praying for it and standing against it. Our lives really do make a difference.

We are not giving any further interviews, as our commitment to these beautiful people in Malawi and our duty of care to our children is one of dignity, empowerment and uplift and not for manipulation for the sake of a story.

Warmest regards

John and Angela Wilmot
(Michael, Shaun, Grace, Martha, Brian, Ruth and one day Jessica)

John and Angela Wilmot, John being a friend I studied with at BTC, have made the third page of the West. I suspect this story could grow, and we might see John and Angela on TV. It appears they are in a adoption row with Madonna. Angela and John have already adopted four boys and where well down the track of adopting Jessica when Madonna spotted her and expressed her desire to adopt her.

Angela has stated that Madonna has done the right thing in adopting David, the child in the middle of the previous controversy.

Story

The singer — who faced a public backlash when she took a 13-monthold boy from Malawi to Britain — is thought to be returning to the impoverished African country to adopt an 18-month-old girl called Jessica. However, the youngster, who was found abandoned under a bush, could find herself caught in a dramatic tug-of-war battle. Australian missionaries Angela and John Wilmot have spoken of their fears that their plans to adopt the little girl could be thwarted by the pop queen. In an interview with Closer magazine in Britain, Mrs Wilmot, 34, said: “We heard that Madonna was interested in a child, who we now hear is Jessica, but we are quite far down the line with our adoption.” The Wilmots said they were already in the process of adopting Jessica when the 48-year-old singer expressed interest in taking her to Britain and made a follow-up visit to the orphanage to see her. The couple, who already have two sons and four adopted children, moved to Malawi seven years ago. Madonna met Jessica at the Kondanani Orphan Care Centre at Blantyre earlier this year. She then “fell in love” with David Banda at the Home of Hope orphanage in Mchinji and took him to London amid a storm of controversy, with some critics claiming the move was not legal. “We knew Madonna was at the orphanage and she’d met all the kids, but we were already in the process of adopting Jessica and we hope we’ll be successful,” Mrs Wilmot said. Kondanani Orphan Care Centre’s Cherrie Martin said: “Madonna is a lovely lady. Very down to earth and very caring. She really loved Jessica when she met her.” Despite their concerns for Jessica, the Wilmots said they backed the singer’s planned adoption of David.
KATIE HAMPSON

Having a mad keen scrapbooker for a wife has its advantages!
Beautiful story books to hand on to our kids one day,
interesting journalled photo books to reminesce over.
I have set up a blog for my wife’s, and our churches, scrapbooking club.
I don;t think it will get many entries, maybe once a month,
but here it is anyway.

www.bedfordscrapbooking.blogspot.com

23 I know, Lord, that our lives are not our own.
We are not able to plan our own course.
24 So correct me, Lord, but please be gentle.
Do not correct me in anger, for I would die.

What a awe inspiring piece of scripture. The Weeping Prophet has an ability to get to the heart of the matter. He recognises his own frailties, yet also has a deep desire to be in the centre of the will of God.

What does it mean for God to correct us? How does He do this? Only if we are humble and open to His correction in this life. If we decline His offer of a gentle lead now, He will correct us later.

Prayer, “God that I would hear and listen and obey your voice now. God that You would make it clear what my path is to be today, tommorow. Cause me to make Godly decisions, made in the light of Your vision and will for my life.”

No, I am not blogging a gaffe like our serial fluffer Opposition Leader Kim Beazley. I am drawing a connection between the tradgedy of the passing of actress and singer Belinda Emmet, and our own Docker Shaum Mc Manus.

On the Channel Ten report of Belinda’s funeral, there were the wavy blonde locks of Shaun. I thought, only for a brief second, what’s he doing there? Then the connection was clear, Shaun is Rove’s cousin.
How sad, how terribly sad for the humorous lad from Willeton (Rove). Rove has always struck me as a very decent guy, with a strong and loving family. He once said that his sister had achieved far more than him in life because she had two wonderful children. Now Rove will not know that pleasure with his first love, Belinda. Terribly sad for the guy.

Seeing Shaun at the funeral brought home to me the reality of the situation. It is at these times that cousins, friends, people who really care about you gather around you. I wonder if Rove will ever recover? I think with his good humour and energy he will. Not for some time, but there will be hope and humour for him. I pray he finds peace and hope in the midst of his grief.

Bono will appear at Saddleback Church, with Rick Warren, at their World AIDS Day on Dec. 1.

And an up and coming politician Mr. Obama will also appear. He appears to be a strong possibility for the next White House candidate.

Purpose Driven Candidate