On the 2 day trek home, my heart was hurting to see my 2 ladies. In africa I met so many parents who loved their children with wreckless abandon. They literally risked their lives to provide for their kids. Some parents were known to walk day and night to get medical attention for their babies. There was such a humility amongst the Ethiopian people that they came across as very shy. When I sat in their homes and asked them about their children, the shyness went away and they spoke in a firm and confident voice. Being a rookie father myself, I could feel the pain in the voices of these fathers. These men wanted more for their children and just couldn't seem to provide some of their needs. I sat with moms and dads who had to watch their children suffer, and yet they were quick to sing praises of God's goodness.
The pictures above are as follows;
1) you can tell this little girl was absolutely filthy, but her smile melted my heart. She was a little girl who hung around the church/compassion project, but was not in the program. While compassion has teamed with the local church to reach children in the name of Christ, hundreds wait outside the wall because there is no room for them.(I'll address this in a second)
2) Here is my Maasai Tribesman friend Peter who is also a follower of Christ. When I told him my daughter's name was Ruth, he began to recite the entire book of Ruth from scripture.
3) This is another Maasai named Tony. He had HUGE holes in his ears and he let me stick 4 fingers through the hole. (Kim grossed out when I told her this....but my thought is "when in Ethiopia, do as the Ethiopians do") Both Tony and Peter are missing a tooth in the bottom front of their mouths. They told me that Maasais do this to their children so they can still put water and medicine in their mouths when they are sick. I challenged both of them to a jumping contest.....I got crushed. (in case you didn't know...the Maasai are famous for their leaping ability, I saw this on the History Channel...so being the Alpha male I am, I had to challenge these guys.)
4) I found these boys in the middle of nowhere tending after the cattle. Each of them are shepherds who watch the family cows. They begin at age 7 and spend all day with the herd...we laughed when we thought of what we did at age 7 here in the states. These boys give you a good idea of what King David the shepherd boy may have looked like.
This is why my heart is heavy with conviction:I was exposed to so many African Christians who are devoting their entire lives to caring for the poor and sick in their homeland. We heard story after story of orphan children rescued from the streets who are now healthy, educated and giving back to their villages. Without a doubt I saw so much Hope in what I thought was a hopeless situation.
But here is the rub;
In Matthew 26 Jesus tells the disciples that the "poor will always be with us". I have always struggled with understanding this verse....I honestly wish Jesus didn't say it...but He did. As followers of Christ we must never have the mindset that we have arrived until we meet him face to face. I am reminded even in our own culture that the Harvest is plenty and the workers are few. Praise God for the children who have been reached by the global church. To those of us in the United States, we must "KEEP FOCUSED" because we have been given so much and now are required by God to act. Look at the first picture, this girl longs for the day when she can get the same attention the other children are getting. Due to a lack of resources, she might never get in along with millions of other children.
What can we do?
If you are interested in sponsoring a child from these projects, please let me know. Kim and I realized that one meal in a restaruant per month comes close to $32. This is a small amount of money now that I have seen how it is put to work.
COMPASSION INTERNATIONALGod is Good,
nate
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