worlds apart

A couple of days ago I went to visit the homes of the children that play in my yard. My young friend Betty (almost 13) came with me, as we were bringing food for her family for the month up to her house. Upon reaching her home, she brought the food inside. The grandmother said thank you (the mother stays in the village and the father also lives elsewhere and neither one seems to care one bit about their three-four children). Grandma began talking to me in Ateso, I smiled, tried to listen for a bit, then got up and went to visit the mothers of the other children who come over most days after school. They all live in the same little area. I should have taken a photo, maybe next time. But try to picture...hmm...what to compare it with? maybe like single story apartment buildings, in a row, with 3-4 one room apartments each row...not one bedroom, but simply one room. this is where these guys stay. I greeted one mother, then moved on to another one, and as i sat down to talk with her many children came up to greet me, to shake my hand and to stare at me. I started patting one girl's belly, it seemed she had worms, i was praying for Jesus to remove the worms when Betty says to me, a funny thing happened to that girl, she was raped. I looked at that precious girl, and asked Betty what happened, if it was a relative or what, she said it was some drunk man from the nearby bars, and that he never ended up going to prison. I asked when it happened, she said when she was 3. I asked how old she is now, she said 3 and a half. wow. LORD HAVE MERCY! Then Betty casually mentions that those kind of things happen, where someone does something terribly wrong and then gets little to no punishment. She then proceeded to give the example of the lady who they just released from prison who had buried her child alive...LORD HAVE MERCY! So after this i continued to pray for this small girl, that Jesus would heal more than just worms in her stomach, those were the least of her worries, but heal her wounded soul. After visiting a couple more "houses" i left with Betty. She then mentions as we drive away that she doesn't like a certain woman whom I had just met because she's had two abortions. LORD HAVE MERCY! This group of apartments is less than a mile away from my house and yet it's a world apart. It's no wonder these kids love coming after school to play in my yard. It's just a beautiful green place where a kid can play and be a kid, instead of hearing and dealing with all the crap that is going on in and around their housing complex. Lord, have mercy on these kids, make my home a place of refuge, a safe place for people to come and experience the love and peace that only Jesus can offer. Come and let your life giving presence fill this place.

October 3

So we found out just in time that Hellen's birthday is October 3, 1979. She was able to ask an auntie who told her the correct date, just one week before the day of celebration. In some sense, I like knowing, now I can be prepared and really celebrate the day, however, I also, liked reminding her that I'm glad she was born every time that I saw her. How precious we are to our heavenly Father, we should be reminded every day, how glad He is that we were born, when we were born, where we were born, in which family we were born into....I leave you with the challenge today...tell someone that you are glad they were born, even though it's not their birthday and remind them of how precious they also are to our Heavenly Father, who has brought them about at such a time as this, and for a certain purpose. I've been learning just how important it is that we speak life into one another's lives. We choose to either speak life or death in whatever we say. Are we overflowing with the Living Water when we speak, or are we allowing the enemy to use our words to steal, kill and destroy? Let's speak life.

ok, so no one guessed the date of Hellen's real birth, therefore no one gets the prize, which unfortunately would have been a brand new helicopter. sorry.