|
He says, “This little one stays with me now. Some time
ago his father tied him up in a sack and threw him out. Some women
found him and brought him to the shelter.” Lwabeya went to
his father and tried to bring the boy home—but the father
said that they have no money, no food, so no place for this little
boy.
A girl was orphaned at the age of 13 when her mother died. (Here
a child is considered an orphan when the mother or both parents
die.) Her father remarried. But her stepmother immediately forced
her to make money by sleeping with older men. She is now 14 and
has a baby. After she had the baby she was kept in the hospital
for three months because she couldn’t pay the bill. She wasn’t
released until an older sister sold some earrings and paid the
bill. She went to a church looking for help and they connected
her to the women and family center of the CPK where “Mama
Misenga” is in charge. They are praying with her and helping
her to find work. But her brother-in-law has now told her she
can’t go to church anymore.
Are there happy endings to any of these stories? We just don’t
know. But where the church has a place in their lives, there should
be a glimmer of hope. Our church partners here don’t have
occasional stories like this to deal with. They wrestle with the
fact that there are many many stories like these facing them every
day. Mama Misenga can tell you one after another. Thankfully,
she can also tell a few stories of lives turned around because
they found work, they found lives of faith and community in Christ,
and they found hope. They found Mama Misenga.
But, let these stories disturb you. Let them bring on questions
like, does the 14-year-old already have AIDS? What will prevent
her from getting it or spreading it? Will she ever know the love
of a family even though she has a family? How can families subject
their children to the things they do? How can someone die alone
with only her small children to care for her? There are no simple
answers other than the fact that it will take long-term commitment
by the churches here—and by the rest of the world¾to
make a difference. Please commit to praying for these churches.
Commit to trying to better understand the situation of AIDS and
poverty here in Africa. Commit to giving resources as God leads
you.
“There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole….”
May God give us all the wisdom and the abundant love necessary
to bring that healing balm to the lives of the many that are wounded
among us here.
With Christ's Love,
Caryl
The 2002 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 31
|
