Email: Kristy Miller

Friends,

How truly and deeply connected the race of man is across rivers, mountains, oceans, and cultures. Each so unique and different and yet breathing and sighing together in a unison we all feel but rarely recognize or see.

And how sweet the morsels of truth lay on our tongues and slide down our throats to fill our stomachs, only to leave us with a deeper ache and hunger for more. And yet always the fear of the bitter taste before or after the sweet.

I have glimpsed another reality of my fellow brothers and sisters—one that I have seen in part in America and from a flat screen, but today it reaches out its hungry arms and grabs a hold.  I am both glad and horrified in its tight grip, knowing the full value of each dollar, each morsel of food, the hunger and yet hope in my neighbors. A steady faith and deep joy forged in their daily struggle. I find myself trying to look at it sideways, trying to ignore something I thought I already embraced and fought for. To see truth and truly taste it though sweet can carry a bitter and heavy weight. The pleading of ignorance rings hollow in ears. I look into eyes that seem to know my ways and history better than I do, though rarely is animosity or blame in those eyes.

The wind blows as though frustrated that it has revealed a truth to this daughter—opened slitted eyes a little more­—only to face a slower comprehension and urge or need to act. To stop saying “I will if only I knew how,” to living out in so many small important ways these morsels of truth God reveals. To know in heart, soul, and mind the meaning of loving our fellow brethren, be it in our own home or across oceans.

Street children project

Godwin, a colleague at the church office, took us to meet Olivia, a middle-aged woman who runs a small shop just off the main market. She did not seek to run a street children program but found that God laid it at her feet. Though she did not ask for it, her heart is given to these children and she does what she can.

We sit in plastic chairs, filling a narrow alley clinging to the shade as she tells us about this program. Children come twice a week in the afternoon. The number of kids varies from week to week and with the seasons of school and farming. Many live in the market making their living by working for or stealing for older children or adults. They work in the market and then curl up at night under the crooked shacks. Some also come from poor families in the surrounding area of the market. They come as young as 3 years old and up to 18. They come weary, and yet by day two we had their trust, ever hopeful for the chance that they would be cared for. That they could please someone.  That for a moment out of their week they know joy, fun, and safety.

Some have learned to spend what little money they make on drugs or waste it in gambling or shows. Either way, the older and stronger get the money, sometimes taking it from them as they sleep or beating them up. 

Girls too young to be away from their mothers have already been abused and used. Olivia says that before you know it these young girls are pregnant. Babies often do not live past pregnancy or shortly after.

She asks of us the simple act of showing up and leading lessons or games for the day. To tell them and show them how God loves them. How we love them.  To give them a little positive attention, to see them, talk to them, and play games and sing songs. To simply be a positive part of their life. To be patient and calm as outbursts of anger or frustration emerge from these children who have so many reasons to be angry and so little teaching to love. And yet they are very well behaved and quick to hug.

Olivia smiles as she says they have been able to sponsor several children all the way through graduation from secondary school. They are now able to learn trades or have a chance at a job and a life more of their choosing. The number of kids they are able to sponsor depends on how much money the group is able to raise and how much her little shop makes. Though the church helps a little now,  it will soon take a larger role.  It seems that if given the chance the kids are happy to go and learn.

We are all eager to continue helping with this group and learning more as we go and getting to know the kids and their stories.

I ask your prayers for them as this year continues to unfold.

God bless and watch over you

Love,

Kristy