Acres of Love

(Interview taken from Sisters of Africa Magazine)

TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY, AND HOW YOU CAME TO HAVE A PASSION FOR HELPING ORPHANED CHILDREN?
I am a mother of 4 children and wife of Ryan Audagnotti. I live in San Juan Capistrano, California. I am the CEO and co-founder of Acres of Love SA and Acres of Love Inc. California. I head up a dynamic team of 100 therapists, social workers, management and staff in Johannesburg, South Africa who are focused on the operational and day to day care of infants and children residing in the Acres of Love Forever Homes. I am also proactively involved with fund raising in the USA and in South Africa and strategic planning with the development team in the USA and Australia. We were moved by the plight of the South African children who were being abandoned in ever increasing numbers as one or both of their parents succumbed to the rampant disease.

HOW AND WHEN DID ACRES START?
In 1998 we felt the Lord say we should use what we have. We had a second property in Bryanston that we rented out. It was the first home for our own growing family. We applied to the government for a license to bring in children who are orphaned and abandoned.

We renovated it to meet health and safety codes. We underestimated our neighbours and friends who would become so intimately involved that they would help provide resources for the program to expand. The incredible thing in retrospect was that the first home was in an upper-middle-class neighbourhood; we got all the schools involved, and parents brought their children. They all became volunteers. Then, corporations got involved by word of mouth.
The children in our extended family aren’t delivered in the normal fashion. They are delivered to our doorstep by police and social workers. These children are found locked in corrugated iron outhouses. They are discovered living with dogs. They wander alone in parks. They are abandoned in hospitals. They are thrown at birth down long-drop toilets. They are often found beside their mothers’ dead bodies. Their own families refuse to or cannot help them. They are starved and beaten. They are often no more than 5 years old...
Our mandate from God was not to just provide a bowl of food and a blanket for these children; our mandate was to provide each child with a hope and a future. We were to do for them exactly what we would do for our own children. That meant naming the children, applying for birth certificates, providing AIDS testing, medical treatment, an education and a stable home environment. It also meant we would anoint the children with oil and pray for them to be healed.

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR JOURNEY SINCE THE START OF ACRES?
Once we started the journey – we were baptised in fire. It has deeply and profoundly changed me and my walk with our Lord.

HOW HAVE YOU BEEN IMPACTED ON A PERSONAL AND SPIRITUAL LEVEL THROUGH THE ACRES JOURNEY?
We have seen God performing healings and miracles. He has healed children and so many little lives saved and children adopted today living all over the world. On a personal level, I will mention but one. It was a lovely day in South Africa when Ryan and I accepted an invitation to go horseback riding in the mountains. Ryan, mounted on an Arabian stallion, lost control when the horse spooked and bolted. By the time I reached his broken body, he was barely alive. In the intensive care unit, Ryan clung to life as a ventilator forced air into his punctured lungs and collapsed diaphragm. I paid careful attention as doctors explained that due to the critical nature of his injuries, Ryan could not survive.
Sitting by his bed, I listened to the whir of the respirator. I have never lacked faith for orphans and children the Lord sent to us. Now death was stalking my house, and Ryan’s only hope was a miracle. Opening my New King James Version Bible, I read Psalm 41:1-3, “Blessed is he who considers the poor; The Lord will deliver him in times of trouble. The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive... The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness; You will sustain him on his sickbed.”
“Lord,” I prayed, “I come to You on behalf of my husband. I would remind you that Ryan has considered the poor. He has not turned away from orphans. Because he loves You, he has become a father to the fatherless. Now I ask that You deliver him in his time of need and trouble. I ask You to protect him and keep him alive. Refresh him and strengthen him on his sickbed and restore him from his bed of illness.”
There in the intensive care unit, a creative miracle occurred. Ryan Audagnotti’s lungs were knit back together. His diaphragm was made whole. The Lord delivered him in his time of trouble. The Lord protected him and kept him alive. The Lord refreshed and strengthened him. The Lord restored him from his bed of illness. The Lord healed him!

WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT YOUR WORK?
I love every child at Acres of Love. They belong to their Heavenly Father. It is incredibly inspiring to know that He is the Father of the Fatherless and that we are about our Father’s business. I feel it is the highest calling and a huge privilege to be a part of every child’s life through this work.

WHAT ADVICE CAN YOU GIVE THOSE WHO WANT TO HELP IN THEIR COMMUNITIES, BUT ARE OVERWHELMED BY THE HUGE NEED, AND UNSURE WHERE TO START?
Every believer is called and has an assignment. As assignment is always to solve a problem for another. We do not choose our assignment – we discover our assignment. The most important step is to start. He will provide every need when He calls you to His work. Never look down on small beginnings. If He calls you to do His work – do it beautifully in every way.

WHERE DO YOU SEE THE FUTURE OF ACRES AND OF THE CHILDREN OF SOUTH AFRICA HEADING?
The children have a hope and a future. They are the future business and Christian leaders of South Africa, they will reach out to the lost and hurting in their communities. They will be confident of the love of their Saviour and that God called them each by name.

ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO SAY?
I give God all the glory. Today Acres of Love owns and operates 20 homes around Johannesburg. More than 400 children have come through the program. Many are living in countries all over the world – adopted by loving Christian families. God has supplied every need.

ABOUT ACRES OF LOVE:
The mission of Acres of Love is to provide the most vulnerable, affected and infected infants and children with the highest possible quality of care and love, a strong early childhood development foundation, a community-based safety net and hope.
More than 350 infants and children have spent time in an Acres of Love home over the organization’s first 10 years of operation. The large majority of these children have been placed in adoptive or long-term foster home. Some have been reunited with their families. Sadly, a precious few have died of AIDS.
With medical advances in the treatment of HIV, Acres is committed to the belief that the future is bright and full of promise for the HIV-positive children in its care.
For more info, visit www.acresoflove.org