africa-day six

july 21, 2010

wow. as i sit here and write this it is hard not to cry. today was tough. let me first explain it was our last day at "our" church. before i talk about that let me explain how much i adore my team (random, i know). oh yeah. i am a little obsessed.  they are so fantastic and i have made great relationships with them that will last a lifetime. 

attempting to carry the bucket full of avacodos.
you can just figure out if it worked or not:)

okay, back to my journey. we went to the church today knowing we would be giving away clothes as well as food in the community. best group leader ever (sandra) went to the store and bought some food and we took it to our community. rafael and president took my group (kelli, megan, brandon, and i) to four homesteads. homesteads have a few TINY buildings where a family lives including their extended family. my heart broke during this time because all of the pictures you could imagine came alive right before my eyes. i have never experienced a need and poverty like this. the homes were squares of cement "brick" or mud and sticks made by themselves. the roof was made of thatch. trash was everywhere. wild dogs and cats, chickens and cows roamed the area and it was completely unsafe. it was hard for me to imagine allowing my family or children to stay in a place like this, but this is all these people know. the people were amazing. everyone pulled out mats (rugs) for us to sit down on. we sat and read the Bible to them, prayed for them, and gave them their gifts. i have never seen someone so spiritually and physically hungry. they were so pleased to hear the Bible. the Bible is a luxury in this country. only churches have them (makes me thankful for the countless copies i have under one roof). all these precious people wanted was to have God's word read (if only more people were like that). many wept and some even gave us gifts. yes. you heard me. they went to their beautiful gardens and gave us their prized possessions. 

when we got back to the church we got bible school ready. the kids started coming so we turned on their new favorite song and danced to "happy day." (as soon as i can figure out how to upload a video i'll share) as we danced and sang i looked over only to see this precious boy who looked sad. i am a fixer, so i went up to him grabbed his hands and started dancing. he just looked at me with his little sick eyes and was silently crying out for help. when he opened his mouth he looked like he had just eaten a red sucker, but much to my surprise his mouth was full of blood. tears started pouring. i wanted to know his story so i asked and he wasn't afraid to talk. as he started to talk that precious boy gave me more than i could ever have given him. he asked me if i knew the scripture. after answering yes, he went on to recite more scripture than i know. he told me he was born with aids and his mother and father were dead. he didn't have any money to go to the hospital, but Jesus was his comforter and he was being taken care of. chills? yes. tears? yes. i couldn't contain it. what do i have to complain about? nothing. my heart was ripped out and is still there. i can't believe people in our world live this way and no. it. is. not. their. fault. 

the kids at worship.
lindee is in the blue sweater in front.

i wish i could say we were able to take him and make him better, but that wasn't the case. when we left the kids were hugging us and telling us Jesus loved us. as i was crying (yes, i do believe my tear ducts work just fine) i couldn't believe what had happened that day. we took lindee (the little boy) home. forty minutes later we arrived at his home. he walks that far to and from school on a daily basis. how blessed are we in america?! lindee is on my mind and i won't ever forget that precious little prophet. the Lord just continues to break me and fill me up. i don't know if i can take it anymore.